In recent times much has changed and continues to change in communications with the most obvious catalyst being the emergence of the cloud as the force behind application deployment.
The result is that communications is no longer an IT silo, but rather a software capability easily consumable from the cloud and ready for integration within business applications and processes.
It means that communications and collaboration platforms are gaining in strategic importance, becoming centralised hubs for getting work done.
In today’s multiple collaboration tools environment employees play a significant role in deciding what technology they want to use.
And getting work done is a priority in today’s fast-paced environment where companies need their employees to perform smarter and work more productively.
Achieving that objective requires many things enabled including collaborative technologies integrated with business processes, which in turn will encourage collaborative behaviour throughout the business – all of which is seen as critical enablers for digital transformation journeys.
In today’s multiple collaboration tools environment employees play a significant role in deciding what technology they want to use. They can now choose from a wide range of tools and technologies, including; voicemail, instant messaging, audio, video and web conferencing, group diaries and address books and more.
For example, increasingly, internet-based collaboration tools are being used to replace face-to-face meetings, allowing staff to work with a team in another office, in another company, or Unified Communications and Collaboration tools provide employees greater flexibility in how they work together and the better people work together, the more agile and profitable the business becomes.
The rate of change in technology this century has been significant so it is reasonable to expect more and more from each new wave of collaborative technologies as they evolve.
As a deployment method for delivering Unified Communications and Collaboration applications to business via the cloud (UCaaS), 2018 marked an inflection point.
According to Nemertes, the research-advisory firm that specialises in analysing and quantifying the business value of emerging technologies, 67% of organisations now have at least part of their UCC applications in the cloud, while nearly one-third are all cloud.
So what is needed?
Looking ahead, there is a challenge within workforces in getting them to understand that collaborations tools are more than instant messaging tools. Suppliers that recognise these issues will therefore focus not just on the adoption of collaboration
tools, but also on how to integrate workflows and external applications into team collaboration apps so they become a true hub for internal and external collaboration.
For enterprises considering the adoption of UCaaS there is a lot to consider, not least of which is the number of suppliers and applications available.
What is needed is practical advice from providers such as Gamma.
The key is to act now!
