Turned on or turned off?
End users will benefit from communications unified across environments, says Marc Aghili
Businesses worldwide are seeking agility through a more mobile workforce, and end users understand that unified communications (UC) can improve communication and collaboration.
For our company, a key theme is technology’s role in the decentralisation of the workforce. Many people we have spoken to in the UK have cloud-based UC adoption as part of their 2012 communications plan.
UK businesses we have surveyed acknowledge the advantage that advanced communications brings, but note that staffing issues are slowing adoption. Many employees, they say, do not have the appropriate skills to implement and use UC.
The old-style notion of the business headquarters is dead, given the shift to an agile workforce that needs to access information and deliver business operations in the office, at home or on the move.
There is potential here for channel partners, although as usual they will need to continually tailor their offerings to suit their customers’ needs.
UC will deliver maximum benefit only if it is embraced by the whole organisation. I believe that almost half of employers have staff who do not yet have the skills to take advantage of all the communications tools available to them. With support, advice and training, end users will overcome this, though.
Could this be an untapped opportunity for resellers to provide training alongside implementation?
Delivering UC itself remains a challenge, and VARs need to offer step-by-step technical and product support to their customers.
End users worry that implementing UC on the back of a particular benefit such as instant messaging will lead to a complete rip and replace. This often stops customers bringing UC into their infrastructure.
But system overhauls are not necessary and if firms continue to take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, they will continue to lose out on wider cost savings and enhanced business productivity. VARs can drive implementation by offering innovative portfolios that are flexible, scalable and cost effective.
One of our research’s most exciting findings is the scope for network cost savings from migration to IP networks. Pure IP communications platforms can offer firms large annual savings over legacy PBX.
With the right architecture and product portfolio, organisations can scale their UC deployment up or down. Such flexibility should ensure limited disruption to the business - which is one of the major concerns of organisations thinking of moving to UC. Updates and new products can be integrated with the system so the architecture never becomes obsolete.
There is an opportunity for resellers to not only meet the demands of their customers, but support and boost their skills to achieve transformation via technological trends such as UC.
Marc Aghili is senior vice president of indirect channel sales at Siemens Enterprise Communications
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