Digital Transformation has always been inevitable, but it’s happened at rapid-speed over the past few months. Today, millions of knowledge workers across the globe know a new reality, their work environment which is their home. “As European countries start to see lockdown measures lessened, the noise we’re hearing across the region is ‘work from home,’ but ‘working from home’ is only one option. You can work from anywhere, and that’s been the case for a while now,” Centile UK Director, Justin Hamilton-Martin, told me during a recent interview.
He added, every organization has its needs and preferences, but the recent necessity for widespread remote-working has paved the way for more flexibility and freedom in the workplace. “Users and companies can choose how they communicate and work, none of which should be dictated by infrastructure,” according to Hamilton-Martin.
Hamilton-Martin attributes the shift toward remote working to what he calls a ‘Huge opportunity for businesses, resellers, service providers, and vendors.” These stakeholders now have a possible backdoor into higher levels of unified comms and full mobile convergence. He said he’s seen an overnight flip in attitudes, adding, there’s finally been a shift away from the voice-centric market – people haven’t had a choice and many have stopped hanging onto legacy technology.
“This shift’s in favour of those working within more integrated ecosystems, where voice is only one of many interconnected services offered, not the focal point”
As expected, according to Hamilton-Martin, the need for omni-channel solutions, and not ones only focused on voice, have been essential during the COVID-19 period. So have the applications that make it possible to connect fixed and mobile networks, endpoints, unified communications systems, contact centers, scheduling, and other apps that businesses rely on to operate. Not everyone has had seamless remote working experiences and this pandemic has caught all of us off guard to some degree at one level or another. “I am confident we can all learn some valuable lessons, however.”
Hamilton-Martin further mimicked this sentiment, adding, this is where vendors and channel partners come into play, as we return to a sense of ‘normalcy.’ He maintains they can help navigate through all the noise and highlight technological aspects that can impact ways of working, the steps needed to move through the digital journey, and the rapidly evolving fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) opportunities surfacing during the COVID period. The demand COVID-19’s created for advanced UC and collaboration systems have made it the most suitable time in the history of the cloud to harness its potential, he noted.
Today’s enterprises can leverage cloud telephony and collaboration to create a more integrated, seamless, productive, and cost-effective experience, which is a large part of the appeal of what Hamilton-Martin’s advocating, and what could catapult many companies with legacy technology into the digital age.
As the market continues to change before our eyes, Hamilton-Martin predicts there are still tough times ahead for businesses moving into the digital world, but added, “We’re at the tipping point that will lead to this industry’s next evolutionary steps forward.”
