ADVERTORIAL
The Consumerisation of IT: The Channel’s Critical Role
Research from Mitel has revealed that as many as 67% of UK workers1
This is where the right use
at least one of their own devices for work purposes. It also uncovered a lack of confidence in IT
departments to deliver the latest technologies.
With the workforce driving the consumerisation of IT and ideas of technology ‘best practice’ diverging between the end user and IT manager, Andy Elliot, Marketing Director, International, Mitel, discusses the critical role the channel can play in helping organisations accommodate the growing ‘bring your own device to work’ trend, while
satisfying the requirements of the IT director.
communications solution can come into its own, providing a flexible, scalable communications platform that makes the user experience as easy and intuitive as possible, while reassuring the IT manager through consistency and central management.
Solutions like unified communications (UC) demonstrate how IT departments can develop a single platform upon which to build - free to mix and match the best-in-class communications technologies that correspond to their business objectives, support their employees and meet their own standards for IT effectiveness.
Andy Elliot
The end user-IT manager disconnect The business world is transforming and the consumerisation of IT in the workplace is driving lasting changes. As Mitel’s end user research revealed, today’s workforce, many who have grown up using the web and advanced personal computing devices, now expect the same array of communication tools and devices at work as those they have at home.
The study also found that almost a third of workers (32%) believe their personal devices are more advanced than those provided by their employer, and one in ten believe they know more about the latest technology than their IT department.
Embracing end user demands can help to deliver real value to the business, in relation to productivity and employee retention. But these demands - while of paramount importance to the end user – form only a part of the challenge currently facing today’s IT manager.
1
According to a survey commissioned by Mitel and conducted online in June 2011, with over 1,000 office workers in the UK.
The ‘work from anywhere’ culture and prevalence of mobility means IT managers must deliver the same tools and applications to every end user, regardless of their location or device
64 COMMS DEALER OCTOBER 2011
they are using, while grappling tight IT budgets and managing increasingly high expectations from the business. All the while, the need for a resilient, secure communications infrastructure that is fit for purpose remains critical.
Unifying the end user and IT manager To survive and flourish, businesses of all sizes need to have a communications architecture that provides them with the freedom and flexibility to adapt to end user demands and rapid change.
IT departments need to understand and respect end user requirements and desired business outcomes, rather than enforce rigid and restrictive tools, applications and communications networks. This means being able to offer users a choice of devices and capabilities/ functionalities based on the needs of specific jobs or functions within the organisation and taking into account personal preferences.
But the challenge for the IT manager is to maintain control and guarantee a secure and reliable communications infrastructure that will support the entire business, both now and in the future.
The critical role of the channel The channel is ideally placed to guide the IT manager through today’s communications challenges. Channels are experienced in the art of “consultative selling”, in understanding business issues and then applying relevant solutions from their multi-vendor portfolio to address them. This broad knowledge and ability to integrate best-of-breed technologies allows the channel to deploy agile unified communications architectures that give end users the freedom to use the technologies and devices they want, wherever they are, whilst keeping the IT department in complete control.
Through Mitel’s Freedom architecture, the channel can play a critical role in enabling businesses to adeptly evolve their communications infrastructures for business success, and put in place the right solutions, at the right time, to satisfy every stakeholder in the organisation. As Mitel’s research illustrates, today’s workforce is clearly intent on using their Apple, Blackberry and Android devices to stay connected to both their social and professional networks. The channel is ideally placed to help IT departments get their businesses ready to embrace this new, open and consumer-driven communications age.
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