The majority of enterprises have passed a tipping point in terms of unified communications (UC) adoption.
This is according to a global survey of 200 firms by Arkadin Collaboration Services, which discovered most firms are now in the UC race (67%).
However, the report notes a sizeable minority remain stuck on the starting grid (26%), although only 9% of respondents express no interest in UC, with 17% expressing interest but having no immediate plans to adopt.
Of these firms, the majority are confused about the immediate value of UC to their business, leaving them unable to reap the full ROI from their existing digital estate, skills and expertise, Arkadin explains.
The survey complements a recent ITWeb study done locally which found the majority of South African organisations are investing or plan to invest in effective UC strategies.
Describing the benefits of UC solutions, Arkadin says UC is about doing the job a lot quicker and slicker, allowing companies to interact with clients and colleagues much faster, and knowing where everyone in the organisation is at any given time.
According to the study, the connected businesses understand UC is vital to turbo-charging their operational efficiency.
"We discovered a growing consensus on the benefits of UC, with 70% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the proposition claiming they understand the benefits of UC and are committed to implementing it," says Hugues Treguier, Arkadin director of products - UC.
"Businesses identify the top three benefits of UC as increasing productivity, improving support for mobile workers, and improving customer service," he adds. "They also expect to secure these benefits quickly, with 40% anticipating a positive return on UC investment in year one, and 70% by the end of year two."
The analysis also suggests UC momentum is likely to grow, with only 7% of respondents completely unconvinced by the ROI case of implementing UC. This reflects the growing maturity of UC solutions and a growing business understanding of how they can use UC within their businesses, says Arkadin.
It also emerged from the survey that the biggest barriers to a successful UC roll out were employee resistance to giving up existing tools (41%) and established ways of working (50%).
"There is a precious short window in embedding UC deployment in terms of user engagement, because after a few short months, if the experience isn't working and responding quickly to user needs, frustrations will soon emerge and employees will go back to old tools and methods," says Treguier.
"If employees don't want to or can't use the new tools you've provided them, your ROI is in serious trouble," he explains.
The second major bump in the UC road identified by the survey respondents (65%) as the biggest obstacle to successful UC roll outs, is the fact there is no single solution suitable for all employees.
This suggests some recognition of the need to tailor UC to user needs, but also an overestimation of this factor as a potential obstacle to UC implementation and deployment. Indeed, businesses need to embrace the idea there is no "off the peg" UC deployment if they are to reap ROI quickly, Treguier notes.
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