77 per cent of UK enterprise has adopted videoconferencing and collaboration in last three years
Are we finally moving beyond just voice calls?
A massive 77 per cent of UK enterprise has adopted videoconferencing and collaboration tools since 2014, in an encouraging forecast for the unified comms industry.
The finding is part of a research paper produced by Computing, in association with Fujitsu, and comes from data covering 132 senior IT decision-makers in UK medium to large enterprises.
Other findings include the fact that 75 per cent of UK firms are now using specific collaboration platforms such as Slack and SharePoint, while half are now consolidating premises while running hot desking schemes.
On top of this, 46 per cent of firms have complete flexible working policies built around these now-solidifying adoptions of mobile and collaborative technologies.
The report finds that "the position of collaborative tools at the forefront of the new ways of working shows the direction of strategic thinking," and is all about "joining departmental dots, linking previously isolated entities within the broader organisation to increase engagement and understanding".
Avoiding a wasteful duplication of effort and resource, said the report, is of paramount importance to organisations, with better communication giving all business stakeholders a finer level of control over goals and outcomes.
"Teams feel more connected, better informed, and closer to the business goals," explained one IT leader, speaking about the accelerating general uptake of connected technology.
"There's a desire to be more effective communicators", another IT leader concluded.
A total of 79 per cent of UK organisations see the addition of new collaboration and video technology as a way of helping IT departments become business enablers in their own right.
IT is becoming "more focused on connecting people and providing tools to enable, rather than being the gatekeeper to technology", said one leader.
Another described it as "providing the building blocks and platforms that allow other business units' strategies to be realised".