2016 represented a great year of rapid transformation and growth in the world of UC&C (Unified Communication and Collaboration). As various businesses and organisations continue to make their way towards the Cloud, apps for team collaboration like Cisco Spark, Slack, and Facebook have all started to make an impact on the scene. These brand-new services are forcing IT and business leaders to rethink how their workforce collaborates across a host of platforms.
Since the mobile workforce is predicted to make up around 75% of the U.S. employment network by 2020, business leaders should continue to rely on UC to elevate their workplace productivity and collaboration solutions. Indeed, growth in the UC&C market is predicted to hit a value of $96 billion by 2023 so, how can VARS make their UC&C collaborations more successful?
1. Separate Clients from Multi-Vendor Environments
2017 will be the year when more companies are going "all-in" with a single vendor. Predictions suggest that more than 40% of enterprises will be converging their apps around a single provider, with most choosing Microsoft or Cisco, according to research. Larger businesses are mostly looking to consolidate vendors to create better user experiences and smoother deployments, while many small businesses aren't ready to commit to a single vendor.
2. Keep an Eye on Disruptive Tools
Over the recent years, team chat solutions like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Cisco Spark have all surged in popularity, enabling more consistent internal and external communications. The casual format of instant messaging allows teams to interact more frequently, and stay updated with projects in real-time, yet it remains to be seen if these tools are actually going to replace more traditional UC solutions, or they'll simply serve as boutique options.
