The results also reveal that while 67% of companies have begun their UC journey, challenges persist which cloud their ability to achieve the full transformative benefits of the technology. Respondents said employee resistance to giving up established ways of working and resistance to relinquishing their existing technology tools were the biggest barriers to successful UC launches. The findings underscore the importance of a user-driven focus around UC to ensure employees experience the empowering productivity advantages of having all collaboration and communication applications, such as voice, video, presence and web conferencing, in one simple-to-use interface.

Increased Productivity is Key UC Driver

While challenges complicate adoption, the majority of companies agree on the benefits and importance of implementing UC, with the top benefits related to increased productivity, improved support for mobile workers and improved customer service. A sizable number of businesses expect to secure these perks quickly, with 40% anticipating a positive ROI in the first year, and 70%) within two years.

“It’s gratifying that the large majority of organizations understands the productivity benefits associated with UC, however, unless they put the user at center stage and quickly and decisively communicate the benefits they won’t reap these advantages,” says Hugues Treguier, Arkadin Director of UC. “A distressingly low (12%) of companies are doing this today which suggests the need for a radical change in how the industry approaches UC.”

Other key findings:

• A sizable minority of businesses (26%) are stuck at the starting grid, with the majority confused about the immediate value of UC to their businesses.
• (65%) of respondents said the lack of a single UC solution for all employees is a major obstacle for successful roll-outs.
• (70%) of respondents reported cost as a major factor for implementing UC.

“While progress is clearly being made, it’s imperative for the industry to overcome the challenges to UC adoption so that more businesses can benefit from it,” continued Mr. Treguier. “This is especially critical in a global and connected workplace where access to information anytime, anywhere and from any device is critical. Fortunately cloud-based UC helps to eliminate many of the barriers to adoption, by making implementations more cost efficient, simple and scalable, compared to the traditional on premises solutions.”

Download the complete report here: The Missing ‘U’ in UC