Technology
Trends 2015
An Olive Communications report into
which approaches are proven, which
are safe for early adoption, and which
should be planned with care.
This report is a peer-to-peer exchange of the views, experiences and plans of IT teams drawn from large UK private sector businesses.
It is designed to help inform the big decisions IT leaders need to make about what to include in their 2015 strategy.
Executive summary
1
The main learning from this
research is that emerging
technologies, in the
words of the IT executive
respondents, have proved
less risky than expected.
In fact the reverse is true. The average satisfaction levels of early adopters, and the return on investment (ROI) these emerging technologies are delivering, actually exceed that of better established, more proven, trends. Specifically:- Fixed Mobile Convergence is delighting early adopters: Of all
the emerging technologies, the increasingly popular practice of unifying mobile and fixed line contracts (Fixed Mobile Convergence – FMC) is of particular interest. Although still
experiencing fairly low adoption levels, it has seen particularly high levels of satisfaction amongst early adopters, and high levels of ROI. This would explain why 2015 is clearly going to be a big year for this trend.
- CYOD is beating BYOD for
satisfaction: The competing Bring
Your Own Device and Choose Your Own Device models are both proving increasingly popular as a tactic to speed up the widespread deployment of smartphones across large businesses. In fact a majority of large businesses will have implemented one or other by the end of 2015. Interestingly, CYOD seems to be delivering significantly higher levels of satisfaction and adoption is
gaining pace, whereas BYOD is proving less satisfactory and adoption seems to be slowing down.
- Cloud deployments are on the rise but on-premise telephony upgrades are dragging on despite poor experiences: It is no huge
surprise that more businesses are still upgrading their
on-premise telephony systems rather than move telephony into the cloud. However, there is a stark difference in satisfaction levels between those adopting these two opposing approaches: there is a substantial 25% satisfaction premium from those who have moved their telephony to the cloud.
This research (carried out independently by Inbox Insight
in Nov/Dec 2014) was deliberately highly focused, targeting
IT executives within large (500+ employee) UK private
sector organisations. The breakdown of respondents is as
follows:
Who took part?
The company size of respondents
2
Retail Financial S ervices Transpor t & L og istics Eng ineering, C onstruction & Man ufacturing IT & T elecoms Pr ofessional & B usiness Ser vices Hospital ity & L eis ur e Educ ation & T raining Heal thc ar eUtilities Other
5%
5%
4%
4%
5%
17%
15%
13%
12%
10%
10%
Job roles of respondents
21%
IT Team Members IT Leaders IT Managers51%
28%
47%
3%
%
1,000-4,999 5,000-9,999 10,000+40%
500-99910
The industry
sectors of
respondents
The graph opposite shows the proportion of respondents
that have implemented the technologies we are focusing
on in this report.
When the lighted shaded areas are similar in size or bigger than the deeper shaded areas you can assume that this technology approach is still growing in popularity. This is because it is in the early stages of maturing, or becoming established for the first time.
During the period between 2013 and 2015 smartphone adoption is significant – this graph shows that we are in the midst of a smartphone revolution, with these devices becoming a must-have device for employees of large organisations.
The graph opposite demonstrates this:
Technology Adoption
Levels 2012-2014 &
Priorities for 2015
3
Enhanced an existing on-premise telephony system 3%
28
%
16%
Introduced industry-specific
software application 26% 13% 12%
Widespread introduction of smartphones 3%
40% 13%
Introduced other collaboration tools 8%
23% 17%
Introduced Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) 24% 3% 16%
Introduced videoconferencing via the desktop 3%
30% 17%
Introduced Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) 10% 2% 8%
Unified mobile and fixed line contracts/
systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) 16% 2% 13%
Moved an existing on-premise telephony
system to the cloud 7% 2% 14%
Introduced Cloud based email productivity
applications 16% 3% 17% E ST ABLISHE D EMER GING MA TURING
Enhanced an existing on-premise telephony system 3% 28 % 16% Introduced industry-specific software application 26% 13% 12%
Widespread introduction of smartphones 3%
40% 13%
Introduced other collaboration tools 8%
23% 17%
Introduced Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) 3%
24
%
16%
Introduced videoconferencing via the desktop 3%
30% 17%
Introduced Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) 2%
10% 8%
Unified mobile and fixed line contracts/
systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) 16% 2% 13%
Moved an existing on-premise telephony
system to the cloud 7% 2% 14%
Introduced Cloud based email productivity
applications 16% 3% 17%
E
ST
ABLISHE
D
EMER
GING
MA
TURING
Implemented in past 2 years In progress Planned for 2015
This has led to two different tactics to encourage adoption: Bring Your Own Device (where employees own a device/contract for personal and business use) and Choose Your Own Device (the employee chooses a single device for
personal and business use, but the business owns the device/contract).
Notably, a majority of large
businesses will have implemented one or the other approach by the end of 2015, and where CYOD seems to be speeding up and delivering high levels of satisfaction, BYOD is proving less satisfactory and adoption seems to be slowing down.
5
In terms of “what’s next?”
other exciting developments
where future adoption is
similar or higher than past
adoption are:
1. Unifying mobile and fixed line contracts: This is particularly
interesting because it has seen a great deal of satisfaction amongst early adopters.
2. Moving telephony and email productivity applications into the cloud: The cloud has been
a hot topic in the media for some time now and it is great to see it finally moving off the trade press pages and into enterprise deployment in these two key areas. It is probably no surprise that email and productivity applications are moving into the cloud faster than telephony, but it is worth noting that over the
same period, substantially more businesses are still upgrading their on-premise telephony systems, negating a move into the cloud. Possible explanations for this are sunk investments and financial investments in existing systems, giving firms less room
for manoeuvre.
However, there is a stark difference in satisfaction levels between those adopting these two opposing approaches. As the next section outlines, there is a 25% satisfaction premium from those who have moved their telephony to the cloud, over upgrading an on-premise system. The early adopters of cloud appear to be realising financial and operation gains from this new deployment model.
What’s next?
The graph on the following page shows how likely
respondents would be to recommend specific
technologies. We filtered these results to give us
just the views from those who had actually
implemented the technology.
As you can see, hindsight is a powerful thing, and the recommendations of those with experience vary tremendously from one decision to another:
Which technology
approaches would
respondents recommend
to their peers?
67% 63% 52%
57%
Introduced Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) Unified mobile and fixed line contracts/ systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) Moved an existing on-premise telephony system to the cloud Introduced Cloud based email productivity applications
32%
45% 55%
Enhanced an existing on-premise telephony system Introduced industry-specific software application Widespread introduction of smartphones
E
ST
ABLISHE
D
EMER
GING
53% 50% 67%Introduced other collaboration tools Introduced Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Introduced videoconferencing via the desktop
MA
TURING
Which technology approaches
delivered a return on investment?
7
In the words of the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT): “The CIO
can and must add value, or
IT will be seen as a problem
instead of a recognised
strength.”
With this in mind we asked “Which are delivering a net ROI?” and we defined this as “those that are delivering, or probably will deliver an improvement in productivity or performance worth more than the investment.”
The graph on the following page shows the proportion of those who have adopted each, and also ticks the ROI box. 100%, for example, would mean all those who have
adopted it agree it adds value in excess of the investment – so well worth considering.
It is no surprise that this graph bears a resemblance to the graph about recommendation, but it’s not quite the same. Clearly the more value it adds, the stronger the recommendation, but that is not the only factor – the pain associated with implementation and the benefits felt across the business were also major factors.
Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) is still the front runner of the emerging technologies here, and the best performing of the mobile communications options.
Introduced Choose Your Own Device (CYOD)
Unified mobile and fixed line contracts/ systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) Moved an existing on-premise telephony system to the cloud
Introduced Cloud based email productivity applications
EMER
GING
Introduced other collaboration tools Introduced Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Introduced videoconferencing via the desktop
MA
TURING
48% 42% 64% 44% 61% 43% 45% Introduced industry-specific software application Widespread introduction of smartphonesE
ST
ABLISHE
D
48% 52% 42%Enhanced an existing on-premise telephony system
In large organisations,
like those we surveyed,
IT departments are large
enough to offer career paths
through multiple layers of
management.
Ultimately it is up to the
departments’ most senior leaders, the CIOs and IT Directors of this world, to make the big decisions – but do their direct reports
support them?
In the survey we asked people whether they were the most senior member of the department, and if not, how many levels of management down.
What was striking was that the support for some emerging technologies varied tremendously between the levels of management.
- The IT Leaders seem to be, in general, the strongest advocates of many emerging themes. Examples here include the widespread introduction of smartphones (which more junior colleagues are surprisingly less in favour of), videoconferencing and cloud-based email productivity applications.
- IT Managers appear to be a rather cautious bunch and there are no areas where they are dramatically more in favour of an emerging theme than IT leaders.
- IT Team Members are similarly cautious but seem to be the strongest supporters of CYOD. Clearly they want a device for both business and personal use, but can see the value of the business owning it more than their senior counterparts.
8
How much do IT leaders truly embrace
new technology approaches?
E
ST
ABLISHE
D
EMER
GING
MA
TURING
IT Leader IT Manager IT Team MembersEnhancing an existing on-premise telephony system Introduing industry-specific software application Widespread introduction of smartphones
Introducing other collaboration tools Introducing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Introducing videoconferencing via the desktop
Introducing Choose Your Own Device (CYOD)
Unifying mobile and fixed line contracts/ systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) Moving an existing on-premise telephony system to the cloud
Introducing Cloud based email productivity applications
E
ST
ABLISHE
D
EMER
GING
MA
TURING
IT Leader IT Manager IT Team MembersEnhancing an existing on-premise telephony system Introduing industry-specific software application Widespread introduction of smartphones
Introducing other collaboration tools Introducing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Introducing videoconferencing via the desktop Introducing Choose Your Own Device (CYOD)
Unifying mobile and fixed line contracts/ systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance) Moving an existing on-premise telephony system to the cloud
Introducing Cloud based email productivity applications
9
A consumer, when buying
products online, will often
look at buyer ratings. The
two key variables are:
1) How popular is the product?Sometimes having a lot of reviews is reassuring, but it could also indicate that the product has been around for some time and is therefore not the latest version.
2) How satisfied were previous buyers? Clearly the average satisfaction score, whether stars or a score out of 5.0, is hard to ignore.
We have therefore applied a similar principle here, but as a quadrant rather than star system.
All the options explored in this research have been laid out on one graph (see following page), with the two axis being the two metrics above.
Of note is how the three
categories used in all the graphs have bunched together, with the emerging technologies in the top left quadrant. They have all generally outperformed the maturing and established technologies in terms of satisfaction.
In fact, the technologies least likely to deliver satisfaction are the maturing technologies. This would indicate that 2015 is a good time to be an early adopter.
The 2015 technology
approach adoption
quadrant
Widespread introduction of smartphones Introducing BYOD and device management Introducing Choose
Your Own Device (CYOD) Moving an existing on-premise telephony
system to the cloud
Introducing Cloud based email productivity
applications
Safe to
adopt early Proven
Tread with care Too soon
to adopt
Unifying mobile and fixed line contracts/
systems (Fixed Mobile Convergance)
Enhancing an existing on-premise telephony system
Introducing industry-specific software application
Introducing other collaboration tools Introducing video conferencing
at the desktop
The Technology Adoption Matrix -
likelihood of recommendation vs. popularity
10
All businesses will have unique legacy systems, culture,
needs and strategy. However, if you are in the process
of deciding your priorities, why not learn from the
experiences of your peers?
We appreciate that deciding whether these approaches to
technology and telecoms are right for your business isn’t necessarily straightforward.
So if you have any questions about the findings or about how Olive could help you move forward, please email [email protected] or call on 0203 675 3300.
Dan Roche | Marketing Director Olive Communications
About the research sponsors
Olive Communications is the UK’s fastest-growing business communications provider, recognised by the 2014 UK IT Industry Awards, 2014 CRN Awards, and 2014 Comms Business Awards as the best in their sector. They hold accreditations with all the major networks and vendors, including Vodafone, 02, Microsoft and Mitel as well as a range of Mobile Device Management (MDM) providers.
Olive provide its customers – who range from SMEs to large enterprises – with a range of telecommunications-related services from provision of mobile devices through to a comprehensive managed service, covering mobility, fixed line, data networks, contact centres and business applications.
