06
magazine
agenda
Businesses embrace
benefitsofUC
Unified communications technology that
integratesmultiple channels, suchas instant
messenger, email, telephoneandvideo
conferencing, is deliveringmeasurable
benefits to83%of organisations that have
adopted it, according to theMitel report
Creatinga communication-ledbusiness:
UnderstandingUCadoption
.
Tangible benefits come from improvements
in employee productivity (31%), cost savings
(30%) andflexibleworking (25%).
Almost half of the 355 ITmanagers
surveyed say they have already implemented
(27%) or are planning (21%) to implement
unified communications.Themain reasons for
doing so are to improve employee productivity
(49%) and create amore flexibleworking
environment (24%).
The biggest concernsmanagers have is
how to get endusers to embrace newways of
working (55%) andhow to ensure applications
are used to their full potential (46%).
Thepriceof failure
TheBusinessContinuity Institutehighlights
the importanceof havingabusiness continuity
strategy inanew report
Counting the cost –a
metaanalysisof the cost of ineffectivebusiness
continuity
.
The study cites recent research into the
cost of business disruption caused by IT and
telecommunications outages, data breaches, cyber
attacks and adverseweather conditions.To download
a copy, please visit
.
Time-consuming software costs billions
TheUKeconomy is losing£3.4billion
everyyear due to technical glitches and
software crashes, according toa surveyof
SMBdecision-makers byApple subsidiary
FileMaker.
SMB decision-makers in theUK lose an
average of 2.6hours eachmonth dealingwith
problemswith their office software.This rises to
3-4hours permonth for C-level executives in
organisationswithmore than300 employees.
The report states that technology is lagging
behind changingworking habits: 92%of survey
respondentswork remotely, yet 40% feel that
the technology they have limits thework they
can dowhen away from their desk.
Poor knowledge of software is also reducing
productivity,with80%of decision-makers
saying theywould bemore valuable to their
business if they knewmore and92%wishing
their employees had a better understanding of
technology.
As an example, Filemaker cites the fact that
75%of respondents can complete advanced
Excel functions, such as pivot tables, but only
5%use the program’s basic collaboration tool to
share spreadsheets electronically.
GenerationY frustrated
by comms provision in
theworkplace
Employees in their 20s and30s aremore
demanding thanolderworkerswhen
it comes to communication services
andmore confident that collaboration
technologies lead to increased
productivity, according toanew studyby
BTandAvaya.
The survey of 500 ITmanagers and
business executives in small andmedium-sized
businesses found that 62%of respondents
fromGenerationY (under 35)were frustrated
with the technology available to them in the
workplace, compared to42%of baby boomers
(aged50 plus) and38%of GenerationX
employees (aged35-50).
GenerationY respondentsweremore
positive about the impact of collaboration
technologies on productivity,withmore
than two thirds (68%) saying that better
sharing toolswouldhelp them to bemore
efficient, compared to54%of GenerationX
respondents and52%of baby boomers.
People’s choice of communications
solutions is not just influenced by their age.
Employees’ character is also a factor,with
extroverts generally preferring face-to-face
meetings and instant feedback via video
conferencing, telephone or text,whilemore
introverted employees tend to favour email,
IMor conference calls.
BT andAvaya say that theAvaya IP
Office collaboration platform, part of the
BTOne Enterprise portfolioof Unified
Communications andCollaboration (UC&C)
solutions,meets the needs of all employees
regardless of their age or personality by
delivering a seamless experience for users
of voice, video,mobility and collaboration
services.
More than three quarters (78%) of
respondents view better communications as
essential for business success and believe that
UC&C solutions offer streamlined processes
(67%), increased productivity (64%), better
management (59%) and a better enduser
experience (55%).
/
products/avaya_unified_communications
Switzerlandprofits from
data security concerns
Switzerland, famous for its luxurious consumer
goods, is fast becomingan international
powerhouse in ITproducts and services,
exporting six timesmore IT technology than
chocolateand cheese, according toanew
report from ICTswitzerland.
Foreign trade statistics from the Swiss
CustomsAdministration show that in2011,
export volumes of Swiss IT products and services
reachednearly nine billion Swiss Francs (8,814
billionCHF), compared to1,335 billionCHF in
exports of cheese and chocolate.
MateoMeier, director of Swiss data storage
companyArtmotion, says that demand for Swiss
IT services is growing thanks to the country’s
strict privacy laws.
He said:“Within the IT industry, private data
storage using dedicated servers has become
highly sought after.No longer happywith cloud
computing andUS data storage companies, firms
are turning to so-called ‘Silicon Switzerland’ to
entrust important data and business secrets.”
