TRENDS IN FOCUS Consumer trends that tran
For decades there has been a clear line in the sand between consumer technology and enterprise-class solutions used in the workplace, but increasingly that boundary is blurring, writes Jan Lawford, Senior Director of EMEA Channels, Avaya.
T echnology has
become such a large part of our world away from work
that we expect our favourite devices and applications to transfer seamlessly to the office. Organisations with the courage to innovate are finding ways to harness popular consumer technologies and transform the way they do business. As a result, they are able to offer less expensive and more effective communication choices and promote faster and easier collaboration with customers and colleagues. Here are three consumer- driven trends that are beginning to take hold in businesses around the globe. We’re living in an app-driven, mobility hungry world and the technologies available to consumers today will only become more sophisticated. Smart resellers are already engaging clients to ensure they are meeting the needs of tomorrow’s customer.
Consumer devices are displacing work devices Smartphones, tablet PCs and other personal communication tools are making their way into the workplace. In fact, many employers are providing
employees with a stipend and telling them to ‘bring your own device’. It’s a development that’s getting a lot of attention these days, but with good cause. Increasingly employees want the convenience of a single device that meets both their business and personal needs, and they know what they like. It’s clear they prefer the latest gadget they’ve selected on their own. That’s especially true among members of the Hyperconnected Generation born after 1980. These tech-savvy individuals have never known life without the Internet, mobile devices and social networking. They now represent 25 per cent of the world’s population and an increasingly large percentage of our workforce. Studies show nearly eight out of ten of them want to work while on the go, and well over half want the flexibility to choose when they work as well. Companies who want to recruit and retain younger workers would do well to embrace their interests, helping them work seamlessly from anywhere, at any time, and on whatever device they choose.
The trick, though, is blending personal devices into an
Jan Lawford
The channel plays a critical role in ensuring that social media and applications are truly integrated
enterprise architecture. We know from our conversations with our partners that our customers are looking for more sophisticated and flexible platform technologies to accommodate bandwidth hungry devices. SIP technology and unified communications can be major enablers, allowing companies to bring enterprise-class applications to a wide range
of consumer devices and manage them seamlessly and securely. The result is greatly expanded capabilities – accessible through the device the employee prefers to use. For example, Unified communications applications can be easily ported from the desktop to a personal smartphone or tablet PC. With the full functionality of the office communication
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