Osterman Research Executive Summary Report Focus This report focuses on demand for unified communications and related technologies in the North American market. The research conducted for this report, as well as the report itself, are focused on the needs of vendors, investors and others who are interested in participating in the unified communications market in some fashion, whether as providers of the underlying technology, security systems that are focused on protecting a unified communications infrastructure, archiving systems or other systems. The information presented in this report is designed to help these organizations to make informed decisions about the future opportunities available in this market. The research was conducted, and this report was written, from an objective viewpoint, not with any predisposition for or against unified communications. Because multiple vendors were involved in funding this report, no particular vendor s viewpoint had an influence on shaping the research focus, although early subscribers to the report were given the opportunity to provide input to the questions fielded to the survey audience. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Executive Summary... 1 Chapter 2 Background and Methodology... 7 Chapter 3 Where Unified Communications is Today... 9 Chapter 4 Difficulities in the Current Messaging Environment... 15 Chapter 5 Drivers for Unified Communications... 21 Chapter 6 Inhibitors to Unified Communications... 31 Chapter 7 Cost and Budget Issues... 39 Chapter 8 Purchase and Management Decisions... 41 Chapter 9 Communications Deployment Preferences and Plans... 47 Chapter 10 Unified Communications Vendor issues... 51 T: +1 253 630 5839 F: +1 253 458 0934 info@ostermanresearch.com www.ostermanresearch.com twitter.com/mosterman
List of Figures Proportion of Users Employing Unified Communications, 2010-2013... 3 Views on the Desirability of Integrating Communications... 9 Proportion of Users Employing Unified Communications, 2010-2013... 13 Proportion of Users and Organizations Employing Unified Communications, 2010-2013... 14 Problems in Managing Various IT Systems... 15 Median Minutes of Monthly, Unplanned Downtime... 16 Perception of How Well Equipped Organizations are to Archive Various Content Types... 17 Concern About the Need to Archive Voicemail for E-Discovery... 18 Importance of Various Initiatives... 21 Importance of Various Unified Communications Capabilities... 22 Drivers for Considering Moving to a New Unified Communications System... 23 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on Various Groups... 26 Value of Various Attributes of a Unified Communications System... 28 Value of Various Attributes of a Conventional Communications System... 29 Factors That Keep Organizations From Deploying Unified Communications... 31 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on Storage Requirements Compared to Conventional Communication Systems... 32 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on IT Labor Requirements Compared to Conventional Communication Systems... 34 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on Overall Communications Costs (Including Telephony) Compared to Conventional Communication Systems... 35 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on Implementing and Enforcing Corporate Policies Compared to Conventional Communication Systems... 36 Anticipated Impact of Unified Communications on Managing Nightly or Other Regular Compared to Conventional Communication Systems... 37 Perception of the Impact that Unified Communications Would Have on Security Issues... 38 Estimated Monthly Costs per Seat for Email and Telephony... 39 Confidence in Cost Estimates for Email and Telephony... 40 Final Decision Makers for Unified Communications Purchases... 42 Importance of Various Factors in a Unified Communications Environment... 43 Groups That Manage Unified Communications... 44
List of Figures (concluded) Level of Political Difficulty Between Email Management and Telephony Management if Organizations Were to Deploy (or Have Deployed) Unified Communications... 44 Timing for Migration to a New Messaging System... 47 Desirability of Various Delivery Models for Deploying Email and Unified Communications Systems... 48 Operating System Preference for Deploying Unified Communications... 49 Distribution of Unified Communications Systems in Use by Vendor... 51 List of Tables Importance of Various Initiatives in 2010... 10 Distribution of Users by Messaging Platform... 11 Delivery Models for Various Capabilities... 12 Roles of Various Functions in Purchasing Unified Communications Systems... 41 Likelihood of Considering Various Unified Communications Vendors... 52
About Osterman Research, Inc. Osterman Research, Inc. provides market research, cost modeling, benchmarking and related services to vendors of messaging and collaboration products and services. We help vendors, IT departments and other organizations make better decisions through the acquisition and application of relevant, accurate and timely data on markets, market trends, products and technologies. We also help vendors of technologyoriented products and services to understand the needs of their current and prospective customers. Part of what makes us unique is our market research panel: a large and growing group of IT professionals and end-users around the world with whom we conduct our research surveys. This allows us to conduct surveys quickly and accurately. was published in May 2011 and is available immediately for $2,495 For more information on Osterman Research, or if you have any questions about this report, please contact us at: Osterman Research, Inc. P.O. Box 1058 Black Diamond, WA 98010-1058 Tel: +1 253 630 5839 Fax: +1 253 458 0934 Email: info@ostermanresearch.com http://www.ostermanresearch.com twitter.com/mosterman
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