Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration Executive Summary

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1 Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration Executive Summary Key findings from a major global Dimension Data and Ovum study

2 highlights Create a UCC strategy and have a budget to invest Consult your users and let them influence your decisions Approach BYOD as part of your overall enterprise mobility strategy Think about standard UC, mobile UC clients and social collaboration Choose your delivery model

3 Executive Summary why now? Why now? There s nothing new about unified communications and collaboration (UCC). Yet, many organisations are still challenged by different UCC technologies, even a decade after the first IPbased PBX. Recent developments have caused IT decision-makers to formulate often for the first time comprehensive UCC strategies, and to invest in them substantially. Smartphones, the bring your own device (BYOD) trend and strained budgets are compelling IT divisions to act. Meanwhile, advances in enterprise video technologies and services, and the adoption of social media for business use provide more collaboration options for employees... and more headaches for IT. Dimension Data wanted to know how IT decision-makers in large organisations view UCC. What aspects do they prioritise in their strategies and how do they react to market pressures? We also contrasted decision-maker responses with those of their employees. Somewhat worryingly, we discovered a significant difference... Our method Decision-maker survey: > 1,320 respondents all enterprise ICT decision-makers with significant UCC policy and procurement influence 18 countries most respondents (23%) from manufacturing financial services, banking, insurance, IT/telecoms each > 10% of respondents education, healthcare, retail and transport each > 5% of responses User survey: web-based interviews of 1,390 employees demographics mirrored countries, industries of decision-maker survey size bands mirrored decision-maker survey, as did questionnaire Which of the following best describes the main business sector of your company? Business & Professional Services 68 Education 61 Financial Services Banking Government / Public sector Life Sciences / Pharmaceuticals 35 Healthcare Provider 67 IT & Telecoms 146 Manufacturing 315 Retail / Wholesale 85 Transport / Logistics 59 Energy 31 Other 253 Source: Ovum 1

4 Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration what does the research say you should do? What does the research say you should do? Create a UCC strategy and have a budget to invest Of all IT decision-makers, 78% report they already have a strategic plan and a budget for at least some components of UCC. This is good news, but it will also compel them to measure their UCC investments and demonstrate positive results. It s risky not to consider users: their adoption of your technology is critical to ensuring UCC success. Consult your users and let them influence your decisions Decision-makers report that they frequently consult line-ofbusiness managers, local managers, and users, but only 20% of respondents felt users contributed significantly to the UCC strategy. It s risky not to consider users: their adoption of your technology is critical to ensuring UCC success. Approach BYOD as part of your overall enterprise mobility strategy It s important to support UCC applications on the majority if not all of the devices used for enterprise collaboration, including mobile phones and tablets. Just under half (46%) of large businesses provide support for corporate approved employeeowned devices, but reactions vary and plans are still being formed. Think about standard UC, mobile UC clients and social collaboration There s keen interest in and concrete plans for further investment in the next year across the array of UCC applications. Of large organisations, 22% plan to roll out standard UC within a year, and 22% have such plans for mobile UC. Social collaboration uptake will double in two years: by 2015 the majority of large businesses will have deployed an enterprise social collaboration tool. Choose your delivery model Of UCC applications, 21 36% are currently premise-based but managed by a third party. There s good interest in cloud: 20% of businesses plan to seriously consider cloud for UCC deployments in the next 24 months. But there s even greater interest in the managed service model. In two years, 34 42% of large businesses will seriously consider UC as a premise-based, but managed service. Don t ignore cloud options, especially as more become available for large organisations. But also look for a services partner to manage your evolving UCC assets and investments. 2

5 Executive Summary strategy Strategy Large businesses view UCC strategically and have budgets to invest 19% 20% All aspects of UCC Most aspects of UCC Some aspects of UCC No aspects of UCC 29% 32% Source: Ovum UCC is seen as important and there are strong plans to roll out new solutions and expand the scope of existing ones. This commitment doesn t vary much by geography. 42% large enterprises have a budget to invest in all or most aspects of UCC a surprisingly strong result, especially in the current economy and with the typical operational constraints. It s important to note the strong link between planning and budgeting. 3

6 Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration user influence User Influence Users are consulted but rarely have influence Telecoms manager Regional/global IT director Local/in-country IT manager WAN manager/network manager Global support function Local support desk / manager Users Line-of-business manager Consulted and some contribution Consulted and major contribution Source: Ovum Regional and global IT Directors, followed by local IT Managers, make most UCC investment decisions. WAN Managers and Telecoms Managers also have some say. Almost 60% of organisations with a UCC investment budget consult their end users, but don t allow them to influence their UCC plans. In fact, only 7% of decision-makers say users have a high degree of influence. Organisations don t seem to be taking user feedback as seriously as they should. This is critical because UCC users expect multiple device support and applications that match their requirements. If these expectations aren t met, user adoption will lag. 4

7 Executive Summary the BYOD challenge The BYOD challenge The BYOD challenge should be approached as part of an overall enterprise mobility strategy Support now 27% 46% Expect to support in 12 months 20% 24% Expect to support in 24 months 7% 13% No plans to support 27% 37% Support for corporate approved employee-owned smartphones / tablets Support for any employee-owned smartphones / tablets Source: Ovum While there s reaction to BYOD, it s complicated by a device landscape that s in flux. Employees have different BYOD expectations and practices: BYOD investments and support may miss the mark if these are ignored. It will become increasingly important for businesses to deploy UCC applications on devices used for work communications, including employee-owned devices. If not, businesses will miss the opportunity to encourage user uptake of UCC. 5

8 Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies and features Technologies and features Some emerging signs of a unified approach Telephony (IP-PBX) Telephony (Microsoft Lync voice) Instant messaging and presence Standard UC (unified messaging, presence, softphone etc.) UC client on smartphones and tablets (softphone, presence, video) Audio/web conferencing Personal video (video clients, personal video terminals) Room based video conferencing or telepresence Consumer applications (Skype, Twitter, Facebook) Enterprise social software (Yammer, WebEx Social) Team workspaces and content tools (SharePoint) Have now Expect to have in 12 months Expect to have in 24 months No plans Source: Ovum Despite investing in IP telephony (IPT), only 40% of respondents (just over half of those that have IPT) support unified messaging, presence management or softphone clients on devices other than desk phones. It s likely that these companies are not getting the most out of their IPT investments. There s good uptake of instant messaging (66%) and web/ audioconferencing (62%). These applications have crept into the organisation quite successfully but are often not linked in any substantial way to IPT or other UCC infrastructures. 6

9 Executive Summary managed UC Managed UC At the global level, there s a marked preference for managed solutions 38% Telephony (IP-PBX) 21% 52% 8% 30% Telephony (Microsoft Lync voice) 31% 46% 13% 33% Instant messaging and presence 24% 48% 12% Standard UC (unified messaging, presence, softphone etc.) 12% 32% 28% 49% 29% Audio / web conferencing 10% 21% 54% 30% Team workspaces and content tools (e.g. SharePoint) 29% 50% 14% Premise-based and managed internally Premise-based and managed by third party Dedicated hosted or private cloud Multi-tenant hosted or public cloud Source: Ovum The immediate future of UCC seems to lie in managed services; cloud services are just emerging. Businesses are turning to systems integrators, telecoms carriers, value-add resellers and even vendors for such management and support. While the approach to cloud UCC may be cautious, premisebased managed UCC is already significant it s almost as pervasive as premise-based internally managed. Businesses understand that UCC can be complex and often don t have the in-house expertise or budget to support the UCC evolution on their own. This is reassuring because the next wave of UCC investment will depend on how well UCC can translate into increased business agility. 7

10 Strategic, User-Driven, and Managed: The Future Of Unified Communications and Collaboration further reading Further reading This report provides a snapshot of our global research into UCC and explores some results which illustrate how global trends are affecting the UK market. While most trends have a direct and similar impact on local enterprises as they do on large businesses in more mature markets, we ve also taken the opportunity to tease out some differences between the UK and global UCC landscapes. For further information and insight, please request our full global report, Strategic, User-driven and Managed: the Future of Unified Communications & Collaboration, from your local Dimension Data contact. About Dimension Data Founded in 1983, Dimension Data plc is an ICT services and solutions provider that uses its technology expertise, global service delivery capability, and entrepreneurial spirit to accelerate the business ambitions of its clients. Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Group. About Dimension Data s 2013 Global UCC Study In August 2007, Dimension Data commissioned research firm, Ovum (then Datamonitor), to conduct a primary research study on the attitudes towards unified communications, its adoption and perceived benefits. 390 IT Managers and 524 technology users from 13 countries where interviewed. This year s study has drawn even greater levels of participation with over 2,700 respondents from 18 countries. The report provides managers with a tool to understand current market conditions and identify best practices. The content of the report is ideally leveraged in the development of a UCC strategy. About Ovum Ovum is an independent ICT analyst firm with international presence. Ovum occupies a unique position with detailed insight across the increasingly overlapping worlds of enterprise technology and telecommunications. We provide our clients with independent and objective analysis that enables them to make better business and technology decisions. This research project was led by Ovum s Enterprise Communications practice, which examines companies adoption of communications services, working alongside Ovum s Consumerization practice that examines the rising tide of smart consumer devices and their impact on the enterprise IT function and its broader business. Disclaimer All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Ovum (an Informa business). The facts of this report are believed to be correct at the time of publication but cannot be guaranteed. Please note that the findings, conclusions, and recommendations that Ovum delivers will be based on information gathered in good faith from both primary and secondary sources, whose accuracy we are not always in a position to guarantee. As such Ovum can accept no liability whatsoever for actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect. 8

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