Unified Communications and Flexi- Work: Perspectives from IT Managers and Users. A White Paper for Dimension Data

Transcription

1 Unified Communications and Flexi- Work: Perspectives from IT Managers and Users A White Paper for Dimension Data September 2007

2 Unified Communications and changing work patterns Unified Communications enable flexible working patterns through the compression of spatial distances Revolutionary innovations in communication technology render distances less restrictive. The transition from analogue to digital has increased the carrying capacity and richness of communications and has further accelerated the process of distance compression. Regardless of the successes of digital communications, it is important not to overstate the gains. Even with ever-improving digital communications we are still bound by the physical reality of space. The avalanche of bold predictions spurred by the popularity of the Internet in the late 1990s evaporated after the dotcom bubble precisely because the vision did not correspond to the reality. The current generation of communications tools could fare better. Less encumbered by hubristic visions and backed by a solid network infrastructure, today s digital communications are already making a tangible difference to everyday lives. One of the aspects of these changes is the engendering of new working patterns. Today, the workplace can be anywhere and workers can interact with colleagues and clients wherever they are. Flexible work patterns bring real benefits by enabling a more responsive organisation and reducing demand for expensive centralised office space and the associated commuting costs, both financial and environmental. This can also open entirely new business opportunities by widening the pool of employees, collaborators and clients. Finally, flexible working can improve the morale of the existing workforce by accommodating their preferences in terms of location and scheduling. This paper endeavours to explore the impact of new digital communications technologies, primarily IP-based communications, on patterns of flexible working. For the purpose of the current research, flexi-work is considered to be any variable work schedule both in terms of time and location. In order to illustrate the attitudes of enterprises and their employees to flexible working, IT solutions and services provider Dimension Data commissioned Datamonitor to survey 390 IT managers and 524 IT users (those using a personal computer in the workplace for 15 hours a week or more) in 13 countries across North America, EMEA and APAC. Attitudes to flexi-work vary across countries, enterprise size-bands and organisational roles The survey confirms an absence of a clear stance on flexible working due to different legislative frameworks, communications infrastructures and operational conditions present in different countries, enterprise size-bands and organisational roles. According to IT managers surveyed, almost one third of organisations (29%) do not offer flexi-work at all, over a half of organisations (56%) support flexi-work actively and the remainder offers flexi-work, but not with active IT support. With respect to attitudes towards flexi-work, organisations from different countries exhibit distinct traits. Some countries have a high incidence (up to 75%) of organisations that support flexi-work and provide active IT support. If the organisations that offer flexible working without active support are included, the number offering some form of flexi-work reaches 90%. This, in fact, is the case in France, the leading country in terms of flexi-work support. Switzerland and Australia may be viewed as equally good examples of such a pattern. By contrast to its widespread support in most of the markets surveyed, only 55% of US organisations actively support flexible working. A mere 5% offer flexi-work without active IT support. This makes organisations in the US more akin to those in Asia than those in Western Europe and Australia. In Asia, just under a quarter of organisations offer flexi-work and IT support. In MEA a majority of organisations offer flexi-work, but most of them do not offer active support to go with it.

3 Figure 1: The survey identifies several distinct attitudes to flexi-work across the markets IT Managers: Does your organisation offer flexible working and associated IT support? Offers flexible working and IT support Offers flexible working without IT support Does not offer flexible working 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% France Switzerland Australia Germany Benelux United Kingdom United States MEA** As ia* 390 respondents *Asia - Hong Kong, India, Singapore. ** MEA - United Arab Emirates, South Africa. Although the pattern can be interpreted in a variety of ways, it is clear that the adoption of unified communications is not the principal reason behind the decision to support flexi-work. For example, the Composite Unified Communications Maturity index (see appendix), indicates that the first and the third most advanced markets in terms of unified communications adoption, the US and Asia lag behind in terms of offering flexi-work. Clearly, the reasons are to be sought in regulatory frameworks and the structure of the employment market and not in the communications infrastructure. It is also interesting to note that in the US very few organisations offer flexible working without IT support associated (5%), whereas in the MEA region a far higher proportion (37%) do. The US pattern can be explained by highly regulated IT governance that restricts the scope for the informal support of flexi-work. In MEA, less established infrastructure is forcing enterprises to delegate IT support for flexi-working to employees. IT managers and IT users have conflicting definitions of active IT support for flexi-work Another clear discrepancy in flexi-work provision emerges between the perceptions of IT managers and IT users. The two groups differ in their assessment of the number of organisations offering flexible work and associated IT support. Whereas 57% of IT managers consider that their organisations offer both flexi-work and active IT support, only 33% of IT users declare that their organisations provide both. The discrepancy revolves around what constitutes IT support for flexible work. Given the survey results, it could be that organisations are offering IT support for flexible working, but many employees are not aware of the resources at their disposal. Furthermore, the survey reveals the gap between user expectations and organisation provision of active support as some organisations may be defining active IT support more loosely than users.

4 Figure 2: IT managers are more likely to state that their organisations offer flexi-work and active IT support Does your organisation offer flexible working and associated IT support? 60% 50% IT users (n = 524) IT Managers (n = 390) 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Offers flexible working and active IT support Does not offer flexible working Offers flexible working but not IT support

5 Flexible working is one of the primary drivers behind unified communications adoption Several indicators imply that one of the principal drivers behind the adoption of unified communications is the provision of flexible working. When asked to rate eleven objectives for their unified communication investment strategy, IT managers gave the highest rating to raising productivity, ahead of cutting costs and increasing customer satisfaction. IT users are even more emphatic, rating the facilitation of working from a different location as the principal benefit of unified communications. Figure 3: IT users are not cynical when appraising organisations motives for offering flexi-work Users: What is the principal motivation for organisations offering flexible working and ubiquitous communications tools? 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Increase in employee productivity Keeping up with the advances in ICT technology Increase in employee s atis faction Compliance with the home work initiatives Employee retention Extension of employees working hours Tighter control of employees activities 524 respondents The link between unified communications, flexible working and an increase in productivity is expressed emphatically when questions are posed explicitly. IT users are not cynical about the motives behind organisations offering flexi-work. The majority of IT users believe that the principal motivation is productivity, rather than the extension of employees working hours or tighter control of their activities. Flexi-work is perceived either as a productivity enhancement or an employee retention strategy Although the responses of IT managers reflect the sentiment of IT users insofar as an increase in productivity is the primary motive, the picture varies significantly between countries. In most markets, particularly those in Europe, the emphasis is on employee productivity. The exceptions are the United States, Australia and Asia, all of which prioritise retention. This implies that European markets have reached a consensus that flexi-work increases productivity. Some of the EU countries have integrated this principle in regulatory frameworks, and several others plan to do so. Organisations outside the EU do not perceive flexible working arrangements as a viable productivity enhancement strategy. Instead, employers in markets such as the US, Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom (albeit to a much lesser degree), seem to believe that the provision of flexi-work is a last resort for retaining workers.

6 Figure 4: The European markets prioritise productivity and compliance while employee retention is an important factor in other regions IT Managers: What is your organisation s motivation for offering flexible working? Increase in employee productivity Compliance w ith the existing home w ork initiatives Other 100% Employee retention Compliance ahead the forthcoming home w ork initiatives 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% MEA** Germany Australia France United Kingdom Benelux Switzerland United States As ia* 390 respondents *Asia - Hong Kong, India, Singapore. ** MEA - United Arab Emirates, South Africa.

7 Flexi-work is currently based primarily on mobile telephony, web and VPN access Today, flexi-work enablement is primarily based on the three most ubiquitous communications technologies. Organisations rely primarily on conventional fixed and mobile telephony, web-based and VPN access to enable employees to work from remote locations. These technologies are pervasive and it is no surprise that they support flexi-work the most frequently. The latest unified communications tools based on IP-based telephony and converged voice / data networks are still to be deployed widely by organisations. Videoconferencing, VoIP telephony and web collaboration tools are yet to be deployed by more than 30% of organisations. Although a relatively small proportion of organisations have deployed these new technologies, many would like to do so. Nevertheless, even if all the current interest in these technologies is to be converted to deployments, traditional communications tools for flexi-work will not be eclipsed instantly. Figure 5: Organisations offer well-established communication technologies more frequently IT Managers: Which technologies are currently available for flexible working within your company and which, if any, do you plan to make available within 6 to 24 months. Mobile Voice over IP telephony Softphone (e.g. Skype) Instant messenger Offer for flexi work Would like to offer Web collaboration tools Voice over IP telephony Video conference Mobile push (Blackberry) Conventional fixed-line tel. Web VPN Conventional mobile telephony 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 390 respondents It is important to note though that company adoption of technologies like mobile push , does not imply mass adoption by employees. Often companies offer these tools to a select group of employees in the organisation, i.e. executive management and sales people. User adoption of unified communications for flexi-work support shows a similar pattern of reliance on conventional fixed and mobile telephony as well as , although the frequency of VPN use is markedly lower. Clearly, many organisations enable VPN access, but are reluctant to offer it widely throughout the organisation. Instant messaging usage features highly, just behind the leading technologies. The popularity of instant messaging indicates that employees will use this technology to support flexible working even if it is not sanctioned by IT departments. Other technologies are used less frequently, but employees are showing interest in their deployment.

8 Given the disparity between technologies companies claim to offer and adoption by IT users, it does become important for organisations to consider how these technologies should be deployed in the end user base, based on their work patterns. By profiling users based on their work patterns (i.e. work from home, work from a client environment or on-the-road workers), organisations could better segment the technologies available and how to maximise the availability into the organisation. Figure 6: In addition to conventional telephony and , IT users also rely on instant messaging Users: What tools do you currently use or would like to use to facilitate flexi-working? Podcast Blog Currently use Would like to use VPN IP telephony soft phone Mobile push Unified Messaging Video conferencing Application sharing Internet telephony Instant messenger Conventional mobile telephony Fixed-line telephony 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 524 respondents

9 IP-based communications will make a greater impact on flexi-working in the future Considering the current adoption of unified communications technologies, it is clear that IP-based communications are poised to make more of an impact in the future. Mobile and fixed forms of VoIP telephony will become available in increasing numbers of organisations. If they deliver on their deployment plans, the use of mobile VoIP will quadruple, albeit from a very low base. Consequently Datamonitor believes that, the aggressive growth in softphone and VoIP usage may be more significant. Figure 7: Mobile push tops the list of technologies that users would like to see deployed IT Managers: Which technologies are currently available and which do you plan to make available for flexible working? Users: What tools do you currently use or would like to use to facilitate flexi-working? Ratio of enterprises or users currently using a technology to those that would like to use it or plan to make it available Fixed-line telephony Conventional mobile telephony Enterprises (n = 390) Users (n = 524) Instant messenger Application sharing VPN Internet telephony Video conferencing Mobile push IP telephony soft phone Mobile VoIP telephony Potential expansion rate within the forthcoming two years Although the trend is positive, it is important to note that technologies such as VoIP, softphones and mobile VoIP are going to improve rather than transform existing patterns of flexi-work support. These technologies will render existing conventional telephony more cost efficient and ubiquitous, but the fundamental principles of their use for flexi-work will remain much the same. More innovative and potentially disruptive technologies, such as web collaboration tools or video conferencing, may also be adopted aggressively, although they are obviously not as high on the list of priorities. Users are also expecting more from optimising existing technologies such as softphones or internet telephony and, most notably, mobile push . The latter records the highest ratio of users that would like to use it to those that already do. For every employee using mobile push , two employees would like to do the same. Obviously, users demand that should be delivered to mobile devices, in the same way that telephony has been. Although many enterprises have deployed mobile push , due to the current associated cost only a select group of users is benefiting from the technology.

10 Future prospects: attitudes to flexi-work depend primarily on the perception of its value Flexible working is clearly an important topic for organisations. However, attitudes to flexible working and associated IT support vary according to the perception of the value of flexible working. In the geographies studied, communications technologies are a limiting factor in the provision of flexible working in only one region. Unified communications are presently both advanced and adopted widely enough to facilitate the provision of flexi-work, should organisations choose to embrace this concept. Organisations currently rely on and conventional modes of telephony for mass use as well as mobile push and VPN access offered as a premium service. Investments in IP-based communications will lead to a greater adoption of unified communications for flexi-work in the guise of VoIP telephony, softphones or mobile VoIP. IP-based communications will be increasingly important in the coming two years Datamonitor expects that VoIP-based services will improve existing channels of communication by rendering them cheaper and more flexible, rather than enabling radically new approaches to unified communications. The technologies that may support flexible working in novel ways, such as application sharing, video-conferencing or web-collaboration will be increasingly prominent, but not omnipresent as voice-based communications and are. Users are unequivocal in demanding access to mobile push , VPN access and instant messaging. All three technologies are already deployed in a considerable number of organisations, but they are reluctant to offer wider access to those technologies within their organisations. While the cost of devices may be a limiting factor in mobile push propagation, restricted support for instant messaging and VPN access is due to perceived difficulties in consistent management of these technologies. Should enterprises continue to ignore these two technologies, they risk preventing users from capitalising on the considerable potential of these technologies for the facilitation of flexible working. In the case of instant messaging, a lack of a positive proactive policy will only serve to encourage unauthorised usage. The imminent advent of mass usage of VoIP technologies will make flexible working even more affordable and costeffective. The principal limiting factor will continue to be in the organisational structure of enterprises, namely in the perception of flexi-work. Enterprises in Western Europe and Australia seem to have established a link between productivity and flexible working. Consequently enterprises in these countries are more likely to support alternative work configurations. By contrast, enterprises in the US and Asia still perceive flexi-work as a disruption and are willing to treat it as a last resort strategy for employee retention. Prevailing macroeconomic forces will eventually drive the adoption of flexible working Regardless of the scepticism towards flexi-work in some countries, dominant macroeconomic forces will eventually drive the global adoption of flexible working. The first vector will be the demand from users, an active factor of unified communications adoption. Further pressure will come from the need to adapt to the challenges of loosely structured, less hierarchical but increasingly global operations. Most importantly, those organisations that continue to ignore flexible-working may fail to capitalise on the considerable savings that could be realised from associated infrastructure costs. Although the savings on infrastructure can be considerable, potential losses due to a restricted pool of employee talent could be even more drastic.

11 APPENDIX Unified Communications Maturity Index In order to estimate and compare the state of adoption of unified communications technologies across the geographies studied Datamonitor has developed a Unified Communications Maturity index. The index is a composite measure of the state of adoption of unified communications calculated on the basis of 390 IT managers responses to the following question: Which of the following communications technologies does your company offer to employees and which does it plan to offer within the next 6 to 24 months? Table 1: Unified Communications Maturity Index (scale 1 to10 where 1=low adoption, 10=high adoption) UC Maturity index Country Index value US 8.5 Australia 8.0 Asia* 7.9 France 7.4 UK 7.3 Germany 7.1 Benelux 6.7 Switzerland 6.1 MEA** 5.3 Average 7.2 *Asia Hong Kong, India, Singapore. ** - United Arab Emirates, South Africa. As part of the survey 390 IT managers were asked to declare which communications technologies their organisations offer to employees. The results were then collated by region and for each technology the percentage of organisations currently offering the technology is divided by the highest percentage among the regions, multiplied by 10 and rounded to the nearest integer. The scores for each communication tool were then averaged to derive a Unified Communications Maturity index.

12 Definitions Application Sharing - a video communications mechanism that allows each participant in a session to simultaneously use the same copy of a program on their screen, working with one document and able to see the working process of other participants. Audio-conferencing - voice-only connection between three or more locations. Flexi-work - a variable work schedule in contrast to traditional work arrangements. It includes flexible working arrangements both in terms of the time and the location of work schedule. Internet telephony - end-user softphone / IP telephony providers. Instant messaging - an instant messenger is a client which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network such as the Internet. IP telephony - infrastructure hardware and software (routers, networks, PBX) and end-user hardware (IP telephones) for IP telephony suppliers. Mobile push - systems that provide an "always-on" capability, in which new is instantly and actively transferred (pushed) as it arrives by the mail delivery agent to the mail user agent, also called the client. Mobile VoIP - the application of VoIP technology to mobile handsets. Softphone - an application based on VoIP technology enabling you to make calls direct from a PC. Video-conferencing - a set of interactive telecommunications technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It differs from videophone in that it expects to serve a conference rather than individuals. Voice / data convergence - These are solutions that enable the integration of all traffic types - voice, data and video - onto a single IP network. VoIP - a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls. Voice data is sent in digital data packets using the IP network rather than by traditional POTS circuits. VPN - a network connected together via securely encrypted communication tunnels over a public network, such as the global Internet. Unified Communications - the convergence of all related communication applications to enable a seamless communication process and accessibility regardless of location or device. Unified messaging - unified messaging (or UM) is the integration of different streams of messages ( , fax, voice, video, etc.) into a single in-box, accessible from a variety of different devices. Web - a web application that allows users to read and write using a web browser. More Information

13 Dimension Data: Karen Pretorius Group Markeitng Manager, Solutions Datamonitor: Vuk Trifkovic Analyst, Technology Tim Gower Research Director, Technology