ConnectSolutions, the trusted professional and managed solutions provider for Skype for Business, unveiled findings from a survey conducted by Osterman Research that shows while interest in Unified Communications (UC) runs high, many IT and business decision makers are hesitant to deploy.
According to the survey, 26% of IT decision makers and 39% of business decision makers are either “somewhat” or “very” fearful about migrating to UC with nearly half (48%) of those surveyed admitting that they don’t fully understand the full impact UC would have on their organizations. Meanwhile, one out of six organizations admit their legacy investments in telephony and related systems is a key factor for not immediately adopting a UC solution. While nearly a third of decision makers agree that a full return on investment from legacy technology is preferred before moving to UC, another two-thirds would consider improvements in employee productivity as reason enough to justify the migration.
Fears and hesitation notwithstanding, 71% of those surveyed believe there are “significant” and even “enormous” benefits to be realized from the deployment of UC. Osterman Research predicts the amount of users served by Unified Communications will jump from 45% today to 68% in 2017 with some of the boost coming from a remote workforce that is expected to climb from 14% to 22% in that time.
Skype for Business: Gaining Ground
The survey also revealed a change of heart among IT decision makers with a majority of them (55%) now recognizing Skype for Business as a legitimate productivity enhancer. With over a quarter of those surveyed already using Skype for Business as their primary voice solution, 61% intend to fully migrate to Skype for Business-71% within the next 12 months.
“Despite some valid reluctance among organizations to immediately deploy UC, the forecast is for rapid growth especially as more businesses begin achieving the desired ROI from legacy systems and better understand how to prepare for a successful migration,” said Michael Osterman of Osterman Research. “Skype for Business in particular is in a strong position to benefit from the adoption of UC thanks in part to its widespread brand recognition among consumers.”
For more about this survey, please click here for a free white paper written by Michael Osterman of Osterman Research.
Connect with ConnectSolutions:
About ConnectSolutions
ConnectSolutions (CoSo), a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and Adobe Gold Solution Partner, is the trusted private-cloud solutions provider for Microsoft Skype for Business and Adobe Connect. With more than 8 billion minutes of cloud collaboration delivered, CoSo products, services, and unrivaled expertise are relied upon by mid-market businesses, global enterprises and government agencies to deliver a superior customer experience in the deployment and ongoing management of mission-critical collaboration solutions.
The CoSo Suite of managed service offerings exceed the security, reliability and quality requirements of typical collaboration systems and are trusted by such commercial organizations as General Motors, KPMG, Citibank and Raytheon as well as such government organizations as the General Services Administration, FEMA, and the Transportation Security Administration.
For more information about ConnectSolutions and the CoSo Cloud offerings, visit: http://connectsolutions.com