There's something in me that likes the idea of a digital whiteboard. Maybe it's the ability to annotate notes at the same time as my coworkers or improve collaboration with a bit of visual technology. Perhaps it's my appreciation of all-things new and novel. Either way, I'm not the only person who's feeling the love for digital whiteboards. It appears that countless companies have introduced their own version of this device into the market over the last year or so, with offerings from Google, to Microsoft.
The Growth of the Digital Whiteboard
Digital whiteboards are such a popular new product, that they've got their own "segments" to fit into. For instance, you've got the group collaboration systems that are designed to provide more immersive UC&C experiences by projecting content across multiple screens, like Bluescape and Nureva Span.
On the other hand, you've got basic touch-screen systems that help to connect remote workers for instant collaboration, like Cisco Spark, Microsoft Surface Hub, and Google Jamboard. Then, you've got the screen-sharing device, that helps to make web conferencing a little simpler, without the need for meeting rooms or cable switching, like Polycom Pano, and DisplayNote Montage.
The possibilities are endless, and yet despite all this potential, companies still aren't sure if digital whiteboards are right for them. In fact, according to one study from Nemertes Research, only 23.5% of people said they were going to deploy a whiteboard, while 47% said that they were going to think about using them in the future.
Problems with Adoption
The unfortunate truth is that while digital whiteboards might seem like a great idea on the surface, there are many problems that they'll need to deal with before they'll earn the respect and attention of their target market. Most businesses today are really only using these systems in unique spaces, such as R&D, or marketing teams. Part of the reason for that has to be the significant dent that such a device would put in your technology budget.
Sure, they're impressive, but most organisations would rather not shell out for a device that costs thousands of pounds before they know whether it's going to deliver any real ROI in terms of efficiency and productivity. On top of the whole "cost" issue, many IT developers still don't know as much about digital whiteboards as they should - making it hard to justify such a huge investment.
