Despite the
bullish predictions that are made about the positive outcomes
that it could deliver, unified communications (UC) may in reality
take a long time to accomplish the objectives that supplier
promise.
This is the bottom line finding of a new report buy In-Stat that
criticises what it says is
industry hype surrounding UC making it, in the analyst’s
opinion, sound like it will cause seismic shifts across the
business world.
In-Stat does accept that in the long term even what is says are
the ‘most grandiose’ predictions may prove accurate, but only
because definitions of UC are so broad. It points out that some
reports on uptake quote numbers, such as 50% of enterprises
evaluating, installing, or running
UC applications. Yet In-Stat claims that these include minor
steps such as a unified messaging installation or a web
conferencing subscription.
"Real transformational changes will take more time, perhaps even
a generation, to accomplish," explained David Lemelin, In-Stat
analyst. "But, it's possible that a new generation, dubbed
'Millennials,' bringing to the workplace communications habits
formed in their early years (text messaging, social networking,
blogging, etc.), portends more rapid adoption."
For its part, In-Stat regards messaging as the most mature
aspect of UC and that conferencing is the most compelling near-term
opportunity for service providers. In all, In-Stat predicts
worldwide UC product revenues to reach $18 billion by 2012.