Lync Adoption and Challenges: A Survey of Microsoft Lync Users January 2014 1
METHODOLOGY AND PARTICIPANTS 2
Goals and Methodology Research Goal Methodology Participants The goal of this survey was to evaluate current use of Microsoft Lync and identify adoption challenges. An online survey was sent to independent databases of technology professionals responsible for their Lync implementation. Dell was not revealed as the survey sponsor. A total of 204 individuals participated in the survey. All had responsibility for technical oversight of Microsoft Lync. All worked at companies with more than 500 employees. 3
PARTICIPANT DETAILS 4
Demographics Company Size Industry More than 5,000 35% 500 1,000 37% Financial services 19% Technology 17% Healthcare 14% 1,000 5,000 28% Manufacturing Services 10% 13% Evaluating and purchasing 14% Customization, engineering, or architecture 19% Role with Lync Day-to-day administration 34% Government 9% Insurance 5% Legal 3% Pharmaceutical 3% Other 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% Implementation and maintenance 33% 5
DETAILED FINDINGS 6
Lync deployed to improve communication and collaboration Why did your organization deploy Microsoft Lync? Choose all that apply. Improve internal communication 86% Increase employee collaboration 81% Reduce costs (i.e. travel, telecommunications) 53% Reduce need for physical meeting space 49% Minimize email load 39% Meet goals for our "green" or environmental initiatives 20% Other answers include executive preference, required by 3 rd party, remote desktop sharing, and replacement for messenger. Other 7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 7
Travel and other tools top of cost savings expected from Lync What costs did your company hope to save by adopting Lync? Choose all that apply. Travel budget 80% Costs of other web and teleconferencing tools 76% Meeting room space 66% Traditional telephony (i.e. desk phones) 55% Email expenses 36% Other answers include employee time and end-user support costs. Other 4% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 8
Significant savings expected by adopting Lync How much did your company hope to reduce costs in each of these areas by adopting Microsoft Lync? n= deployed Lync to save money Costs of other web and teleconferencing tools 21% 33% 33% 12% Traditional telephony (i.e. desk phones) 23% 27% 33% 17% Less than 10% Meeting room space 25% 36% 31% 8% 10% - 20% 20% - 50% Travel budget 32% 36% 14% 18% More than 50% Email expenses 55% 25% 20% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 9
Half don t know Lync has met cost saving goals Has your company successfully met these cost saving goals by adopting Microsoft Lync? n= deployed Lync to save money I don't know 52% Yes 41% No 7% 10
Almost half don t know how much their company has saved with Lync How much has your company saved on travel, communication, and other expenses by adopting Microsoft Lync? n= deployed Lync to save money Less than 10% 15% I don't know 46% 10-20% 19% More than 50% 9% 20-50% 11% 11
Participants unable to track savings using Lync Why don't you know how much your company has saved by using Microsoft Lync? Choose all that apply. n= don t know Lync cost savings We can't easily report on our savings 69% It is not important to track savings 23% Other answers include too soon to realize data, savings not tracked at this level of granularity, and non Lync tools are still in use. Other 9% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 12
Only 29% chargeback Lync costs to their business units Does your organization chargeback the cost of Lync services to the business units? No, we do chargeback for some IT services, but Lync is not one of those 36% Yes 29% No, we do chargeback any IT services to the business units 35% 13
81% have concerns about Lync quality of service Do you have any concerns about the quality of service of your Lync deployment? Choose all that apply. Network bandwidth availability 47% Network congestion Video performance and quality 33% 32% Mobility support Multiple device connection support Desktop sharing quality 25% 25% 24% Instant messaging and presence performance 14% Other answers include voice quality, platform support, sudden disconnection, poor performance with heavy usage, and sharing attachments. Other 5% No concerns 19% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 14
Quality of service impacts user adoption for almost half of Lync users Is quality of service ever a barrier to user adoption of Microsoft Lync? No 52% Yes 48% 15
Almost half lack ability to track Lync feature adoption Do you track which Lync features are being adopted by end users? Yes 24% No, I don't have the ability to easily track this 48% No, I could look it up, but it's not important 28% 16
Inability to troubleshoot causes challenges with Lync management Do you face any challenges with the management of your Lync environment? Select all that apply. Unable to effectively monitor and troubleshoot Designing and implementing Lync voice is inherently complex No insights into health of Lync environment to help optimize deployment No reporting or tracking capabilities to measure adoption and usage 26% 29% 36% 38% Unable to perform Lync usage chargebacks 16% Lack of networking expertise in our company 12% Other answers include lack of integration with current voice system, address book download issues, implementation on mixed network, and integration with other platforms. Other 5% No challenges 21% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 17
Only 17% have dedicated Lync administrator Who administers your Lync environment? Choose the one answer that most closely applies. Messaging admin who also works with other solutions 60% Other 10% Telephony engineer who also works with other solutions 13% We have a dedicated Lync administrator who does only that 17% 18
For more information About Dimensional Research Dimensional Research provides practical marketing research to help technology companies make smarter business decisions. Our researchers are experts in technology and understand how corporate IT organizations operate. Our qualitative research services deliver a clear understanding of customer and market dynamics. For more information, visit www.dimensionalresearch.com. About Dell Software Dell Software helps customers unlock greater potential through the power of technology delivering scalable, affordable and simple-to-use solutions that simplify IT and mitigate risk. The Dell Software portfolio addresses five key areas of customer needs: data center and cloud management, information management, mobile workforce management, security and data protection. This software, when combined with Dell hardware and services, drives unmatched efficiency and productivity to accelerate business results. For more information, visit www.dellsoftware.com. 19