12 01732 759725 IT CHANNEL What are the opportunities and challenges in unified communications in 2022? To find out Nuvias UC, the Unified Communications business of the Nuvias Group, polled more than 1,500 IT decision-makers in the UK, Benelux, Sweden, France, Spain and Italy Almost half (45%) of UK respondents feel UC helps enhance business continuity. Hybrid working boost Continued spending on UC is also being driven by new hybrid working models as organisations need a flexible UC infrastructure to simultaneously accommodate remote and in-office operations. For example, 43% of UK respondents say users within their business would like better integration tools or communication tools that work easily on any device. Seamless UC can also help overcome some of the risks associated with a hybrid working model, including a cultural divide between in-office and remote workers (cited by 73%) and the formation of cliques (cited by 53%). More positively, 55% of UK respondents believe modern UC can help improve work-life balance for employees. Plugging the skills gap Vendors make much of the extent to which businesses have come to rely on MSPs and resellers as trusted partners to guide them on their transformation journey, and this view is supported by Nuvias UC’s poll. More than four in 10 UK respondents (41%) said they had noticed a lack of IT and technical skills within their in-house IT teams over the last 18 months, with 55% turning to IT consultants for advice on UC challenges and 50% relying on IT resellers for technical expertise. Reseller opportunity With 38% of respondents citing technical complexity as one of the biggest barriers to the success of a unified communications deployment, Nuvias UC CEO Jeremy Keefe believes there is enormous potential for resellers to increase their value to customers. He said: “There is a clear opportunity for IT resellers to optimise on post-pandemic demand through taking a consultancy-led approach and establishing themselves as the technical experts on all things UC. Building close relationships with these experts will separate the leaders from the laggards when it comes to businesses achieving seamless communication and collaboration in a post-pandemic era.” www.nuvias-uc.com Spending surge Not surprisingly, 67% of UK respondents said that in the past 18 months their spending on unified communications was more than they had planned for. This trend looks set to continue, with 47% of UK respondents expecting to exceed original spending plans this year. For some, this is to make up for under-investment over the last two years: 22% of UK IT decisionmakers cited not investing enough to start with as their biggest regret about their digital transformation during the pandemic. Preparing for the worst Almost nine out of 10 respondents (89%) claim collaboration tools had a positive impact on how their employees coped with the transition to remote working during the pandemic. With 45% citing another wave of the pandemic as one of the biggest challenges IT teams and IT resellers will face in the next 12 months, there is a strong case for continued investment in modern UC tools, if only for business continuity reasons. Nuvias report highlights opportunities in UC Channel businesses put focus on resilience New Agilitas report highlights a more proactive approach from IT resellers Resilience is a key focus for UK IT channel leaders in 2022, according to CONNECT for Stronger Resilience, the latest report in Agilitas IT Solutions’ channel insight series CONNECT – Voice of the Channel. This reveals that 90% of UK IT Channel leaders give resilience a score of 7 or above out of a possible 10, where 10 is very important. IT resellers appear to be taking the most proactive approach to resilience, with 66% planning for it on at least a quarterly basis. This was followed by MSPs (60%), with almost a third (29%) planning on an annual basis; general technology solution providers (58%); IT distributors (54%); and independent software providers (49%). In the most recent Channel Confidence Index: New Horizons from Agilitas, decision-makers were optimistic about IT Channel businesses’ ability to build a resilient business model to survive external factors, with an overall score of 7.4 out of 10. This confidence is being driven from the top-down, with 45% of all CEO/MDs surveyed giving 10 out of 10 for confidence in the channel’s resilience. Agilitas found that COVID-19 has forced decision-makers to put significantly more emphasis on future resilience plans, with 80% giving it a rating of between 7 and 10. Of this number, almost one quarter (24%) gave it a maximum score of 10. Shaun Lynn, CEO of Agilitas, said: “The last two years have taught us a valuable lesson in what it means to be resilient, both in business and everyday life. For the UK IT Channel, there is no doubt that this change has forced leaders to place a sharp focus on how they ensure the safety of their business and plan for any eventuality that might impact their people, planet and partners. It is hugely positive to see decision-makers show such commitment to growing stronger, more adaptable and buoyant in a world of continuous change. Should the sentiment in our findings become reality, we are certainly on the precipice of a more resilient and sustainable ecosystem.” www.agilitas.co.uk Jeremy Keefe, Nuvias
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