Establishing effective hybrid working environments will require trial and error from both end customers and UC providers, according to market analyst Zeus Kerravala.
Kerravala will be delivering a keynote at next week’s UC Summit, in which he will outline the trends set to take hold of the unified communication and collaboration industry over the course of the next 12 months.
Kerravala praised the industry for the way it has adapted over the past 48 months, but cautioned that it will take time for businesses to land on a hybrid working model that works for their employees.
“One of my predictions is that the initial wave of hybrid work is going to be a disaster,” he said (light-heartedly).
“I think that’s because nobody has any idea how to do this; they’re throwing things at the wall, trying to figure out what sticks”
“But I think, by the end of 2022, the leading companies will have figured it out. They will have gone through a phase where they tried something that failed and then figured out what does work for everybody.
“I think we’ll see that UC vendors will have responded accordingly, and we’ll get closer to the point where people have an identical experience in office, on the road and at home.”
Kerravala will also talk through emerging technologies that he sees as playing a more important role in hybrid working, claiming the industry has seen as much innovation over the past 12 months as it had done over the previous five years.
The analyst will be speaking on the first day of the five-day UC Summit, which is a virtual event and free to attend.
Elsewhere on Day 1:
- Kerravala will host a fireside chat with Garry Sorrentino, Global Deputy CIO at Zoom
- A panel discussion featuring Calltower’s William Rubio; GoTo’s Joe Walsh; 8×8’s Andy Rawll; and AudioCodes’ Jason Wyatt will discuss the importance of UCaaS in hybrid work environments
Register to attend the event here
