Unified Communications (UC) has reached mainstream adoption with approximately two thirds of businesses engaged or actively planning UC upgrades. However, most organizations prioritize UC applications, such as integrated messaging, conferencing, video, presence and IP telephony but do not necessarily connect all UC applications into a UC framework at the same time. During the coming year we will see the continued advancement in UC acceptance and adoption, as UC is a key factor in enabling real time connectivity and supporting multi-modal applications for anytime, anywhere communications. Key trends I see dominating the UC space during the coming year include:
- Continued Investment at a moderate pace. Based on Constellation Research 2011 UC survey there is a decline in the rate of future investment after 2011. This is most likely due to tighter budgets for IT spending and an indeterminate economic recovery. However, in areas that offer direct short-term payback, companies will continue to invest in UC upgrades. According to this same survey 64 percent of respondents report a positive ROI investing in UC and another 30 percent broke even on their investment within two years. This positive response to UC upgrades should promote the continued adoption of UC during 2012 based on the need for increased business productivity and agility.
- Increased use of tablet across the enterprise. Tablets support a wide range of application and serve many functions that previously required a PC. In many areas, such as retail and healthcare that require mobile employees have immediate access to data, tablets are a cost-effective means to help workers become more accessible and productive. Not all IT managers favor the additional data and application management needed to support tablets but the demand for them will counter their reluctance for additional device upkeep. Although less fully featured than a PC, I expect tablets to become a replacement for many occupations currently requiring mobile access to data.
- Smart devices continue on parallel path. Most UC vendors offer dedicated UC features for integrating cell phones and smart devices into a common UC framework. However, there does not appear to be a strong uptake with business on mobile UC integration. One drawback is that mobile UC integration often requires the installation of client software for the management of its features. With smartphones and tablets offering many features that connect the employees to their company, such as email access, Internet access, directories, and texting many do not see the need for UC integration. However, UC features such as presence, access to corporate directories, security controls and seamless routing of business calls to mobile devices offers an incentive for others to make this investment. Mobile policy will be split between companies that want better control over their employee mobile devices and companies who support employees’ personal devices with partial reimbursement plans.
- Virtualization to the desktop. Unlike the widespread adoption for data, virtualization for voice and video has come to market more slowly due to concerns regarding high reliability and availability for voice and video. It was not until last year that vendors announced virtualization for several UC applications. Progress in this area continues and Mitel moved one step ahead recently announced a virtual UC suite for its softphone. Most likely other vendors will follow this initiative. A softphone on a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) will reduce the number of landline phones in the office as many workers will use virtual softphones and smart phones as primary voice communication devices.
- Social software UC integration. Companies are adopting social software for communicating with employees and many view it as a better alternative to email and other forms of internal communications. Enterprise social software promotes collaboration and supports faster decision making by promoting the sharing of information on an immediate basis. Due to its ease of implementation and customization, enterprise social software will become a major application for business communications. Integration of social software into a UC framework supports additional features to facilitate knowledge exchange, such as access to experts, presence and directory integration.
- Mobile applications increase in range and usage. Mobile applications provide easy access to many features that business users commonly seek, such as audio and Web conferencing, video conferencing, file sharing, and information posts and business communities. Business applications on mobile devices enable a collaborative experience and facilitate connections due to ease of use to launch the application and ability to share information on an immediate basis across communities of interest. Additionally, the growth in mobile applications will also create the need for more support for customers using a company’s mobile application.
- Cloud services for UC. As additional UC applications are moving to the cloud, companies have more choices in their adoption of UC applications. Cloud services today offer a full range of UC applications on a subscription basis and offer scalable and affordable solutions. Many companies will adopt a hybrid approach to cloud services and deploy both cloud and premise based UC. Examples of hybrid deployments are using cloud services for conferencing, video, messaging and premise based services for telephony.
- Name change for Unified Communications- I predict that unified communications will be renamed by vendors to indicate its new expansiveness and unification of media types. New enhancements and services that improve business connectivity and agility put more emphasis on the business advances made possible with UC application than on the software and servers that deliver this solution. As vendors increase support for openness and interoperability new terminology may better indicate the full possibilities for UC.
