How organisations are using information
and communication technologies
Australian
e b u s i n e s s r e p o r t
January
2014
"Too much information can be overwhelming.
Making it so people can act on information… so they get
notified of what’s important without being overwhelmed… see
what’s going on and act on it… that’s where the value is."
Contents
Introduction
5
Summary
6
2014 - Next steps
10
Telecommunications
15
Computers and software
16
Internet
22
Internet use
24
Websites
26
Technology adoption
27
Sources of IT advice
28
Get business advice
29
Prefer business advice
30
Future IT objectives
31
IP Telephony
33
Mobility
36
Teleworking
40
New digital customer
43
Cloud computing
50
Disaster recovery and security
59
Case studies
64
IP Telephony
65
Blink mobile
69
Tweed council
76
Vision6
79
Salesforce
84
Bizeo
88
Macquarie Telecom
93
IMS
97
UnrealAR
101
Xero
105
Apache
109
Microsoft Dynamics
113
Bridge Point
116
Interactive
120
Background
123
Introduction
This report presents the findings from surveys of information and communication technology (ICT) use conducted during 2013 in Australia. There are 5,090 responses included in the report.
Industry sectors all use ICT in different ways. Individual businesses use ICT in different ways. Results from all 45,000 DBi surveys over the last twelve years show there is considerable difference in the way individual business categories (canegrowers, lawyers, moteliers, food manufacturers, transport operators, dentists etc) use ICT in their business to improve productivity and performance. There are also big differences in the way organisations of varying sizes use ICT, and differences in how quickly organisations adopt and use ICT.
What do all businesses in Australia have in common in their use of ICT? Nothing.
Do all businesses use computers? No. And not all businesses are connected to the internet. But most do and most are. And of the majority of Australian businesses that use computers and are connected to the internet, there are some things that they have in common.
Most businesses use mobile phones, email, internet banking and search. Most use the Microsoft Office software suite and many use the Adobe Creative suite and Adobe PDF.
Beyond that, there is no such thing as a complete ICT solution for a business delivered by a single ICT vendor or solution provider. Businesses are all different.
Does every business need a website, social media or the cloud? No. It all depends on how its relationships with customers are established and conducted. Which creates a challenge for businesses trying to identify the best way forwards.
There are a wide range of solutions in use that vary according to each business’s type, age, size, existing IT capabilities, activities, processes, relationships and future plans.
This report gives some insights into the differences and similarities across industry sectors. There are differences WITHIN each industry sector as well. Accountants use ICT differently to Lawyers and Advertising Agencies and Consulting Engineers and Software Developers – all in the
Professional, Scientific and Technical sector. Printers (manufacturers) use ICT differently to Food or Furniture manufacturers. We will publish a series of sectoral reports in 2014 looking at these differences in more depth.
General advice can promote consideration. But specific advice can promote and support action. In an Australian economy that is steadily becoming a digital economy, evidence based advice on digital issues is increasingly important.
What are the “best of breed” ICT solutions for my business category and industry sector? Which customer relationship tools (website, CRM, social media, email newsletter, telephone) are most useful for my business category and industry sector? What consideration should I be giving to “cloud” services for my business category and industry sector, if any? How do I manage the risks? How do I leverage the opportunities?
The answers for each business are different. But the provision of Information resources and workshops customised for each industry sector will help considerably to address these challenges and concerns, and increase understanding of the practical benefits.
Summary
5,090 organisations were surveyed during 2013. Responses came from all industry sectors (excluding agriculture, utilities and mining) and from all parts of Australia.
Telecommunications
Overall, organisations are very well connected, using a wide variety of devices to suit their own business communication choices and customer needs. 57% of respondents use Smart phones. 45% of respondents say they supply smart phones or iPads to their staff.
Organisations are increasingly using IP based telephony services (28%) and this will increase as the National Broadband Network is steadily implemented replacing copper wire with fibre optic cable, supported by wireless and satellite in remote and regional Australia.
PABX system
24% of respondents use a PABX system, with an increasing number moving to an IP telephony system as their existing system fails or needs upgrading. A wide variety of vendors were named in the survey with no outstanding preference.
Computer operating system
Most respondents use one or more versions of Windows as the computer operating system, mainly Windows 7 (54%) and Windows XP (43%). 19% of respondents use a MAC operating system, 14% iOS and 8% Android.
Apple use has increased for two main reasons. The Intel chip allows use across Mac and Windows operating systems, and the adoption of iPads and iPhones by the market has introduced new users to the Apple platform. 53% of organisations use Windows as the server operating system. 6% use Linux.
Computer device use
84% of respondents use a desktop computer, 82% a laptop and 43% use an iPad or other tablet device for work purposes. Businesses use multiple devices to suit their business practice.
Teleworking
31% of respondents are teleworking, with one or more staff members working from home for some part of the week.Finance & Insurance (67%), Real Estate (63%) Professional services (55%), Information Media and Telecommunications (45%), Manufacturing (45%) and Wholesale (44%) organisations are the leaders in this area.
The more “hands on” sectors of Construction (10%), Arts & Recreation (20%) and customer facing sectors of Health Care (24%) and Other services (22%) have the smallest percentages of organisations with staff that telework.
Digital camera use
Two thirds of respondents (67%) used digital still or video cameras for work purposes.
Email Software
Microsoft Outlook is still the outright leader among respondents with 71% using Outlook and an additional 15% using Outlook Express. 26% of respondents use web-based email, either as their main email program or to complement another email program.
Accounting software
78% of respondents use accounting software. On the whole respondents are still happy with the most popular accounting software packages – MYOB (47%) and Quickbooks (13%). 3% of respondents use Xero.
Database software
61% of respondents use database software of some kind. Larger organisations (100+ employees) use MS Access (42%), SQL (50%) and a variety of other database programs, including MySQL and Oracle.
Customer Relationship Management software
Overall, 16% of respondents say they use CRM software. Software is available as “shrink wrapped” CRM, cloud CRM services such as Salesforce.com and open source CRM products, and a wide variety of email marketing software tools.
Even social media collaboration tools such as Facebook and Linkedin should now be included as part of a strategy for managing the relationship with customers, which includes CRM software, website, email marketing and social media.
Data storage and backup
Most respondents (62%) use an external hard drive for back up. For small organisations and sole operators the simplest back up device is a memory stick (44%). These are cheap and easy to use, especially for home offices.
A growing percentage of organisations (13%) are using “cloud” storage to supplement other backup methods or act as a temporary storage option.
24% of respondents have Network Attached Storage (NAS) and 10% of respondents have a Storage Attached Network (SAN). Magnetic tape storage on cassette (9%) is reliable, affordable and portable, and can be easily stored off site.
Internet connection and security
98% of respondents are connected to the internet at work. 97% of respondents are connected by broadband, mainly DSL (63%). 16% are connected by wireless, 5% by coaxial cable and 6% by fibre optic cable.
With the NBN rollout over the next ten years, in whichever form it finally takes, it is expected that nearly all Australian businesses and households will be connected by fibre optic cable, satellite or wireless. Only 30% of respondents overall are happy with their internet connection speed at the moment, but this percentage should rise as the NBN slowly becomes available.
99% of connected organisations use one or often a combination of security measures to protect against attacks of all kinds. 79% use anti virus software. 64% use a spam filter, 43% a hardware firewall, 36% a software firewall. 29% use a content filter, 22% an intrusion detection system and 1% use no measures at all.
Internet use
Email is the number one use of the internet (97%) and this has not changed for many years. Second to email is banking (81%) and research (77%), followed by buying (63%) and ordering products and services (63%), then recruiting staff (34%) and the integration of voice and data services – VoIP (23%).
Organisations are now using the internet to improve relationships with customers through a wide range of communication, conferencing and collaboration tools.
48% of respondents use Facebook, 30% use a regular email newsletter, 33% use Linkedin, 27% videoconference mainly using Skype, 22% use Twitter for news and events, 20% publish videos on YouTube, 19% publish blogs, 16% use online chat and 7% Podcast.
Technology adoption
Respondents were asked to rate their technology adoption from a choice of “leading edge, fast follower, average, lags behind and in trouble”. 9% rated themselves as leading edge, 23% fast followers, 46% average and 20% lagging behind. 3% rated themselves in trouble.
Websites
Most respondents (82%) have a website and increasingly web-tools are being used for a variety of business reasons beyond publishing an online brochure of capability. Organisations are now understanding that their website should and can be included in a broader customer relationship strategy that involves CRM, email marketing, and both traditional and social media.
41% can gather data and update their dynamic website, 34% use their website for sales
transactions online, 26% have an internal website (intranet) to share information and 10% have extended that capability to selected customers or suppliers (extranet).
Trusted IT advice
Trusted advice on information and communication technology (ICT) comes from three main sources:
a) Friends (10%), family (9%) and colleagues (7%),
b) IT retail suppliers (4%), IT services (16%) and consultants (17%)
c) For larger organisations with IT staff, advice comes from internal staff, systems integrators (16%), the internet (13%) and IT staff networks.
Get advice and information
Most organisations (73%) get advice on new technology and best practice from other businesses, newspaper articles (68%) or from workshops and seminars (67%).
The source of information is important – preferably from a trusted source (industry association or other industry colleague). The practicality of information is also important - workshop or seminar rated highly.
Government websites, whether State Government or Federal are invariably and consistently rated lowest of all options and the department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy website has been rated lowest in all surveys over the past six years.
Prefer advice and information
Most organisations (71%) would prefer the opportunity to experience new technology – hands on, get information via a regular email newsletter and/or through specialist workshops and seminars (69%). These options have been consistently rated highest in all surveys over the past six years.
Future IT objectives
Most respondents (74%) want to protect and recover their most critical data, rating this objective 8.0 out of ten. 74% want to be able to detect threats to the IT system (7.6 out of 10). Security and disaster recovery are important to businesses when IT is the business platform.
Getting more from the existing IT system is important to 74%. Being able to better analyse data to manage and inform the business leadership is also important rating 7.3 out of ten. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is slowly growing in importance for respondents with every survey, along with mobility. Interest in the “cloud” is now not far behind and is moving onto the radar for 58% of respondents, but still rated lowest in importance across all objectives, along with voice and data integration.
2014 - Next steps
Most businesses and non-profit organisations are now ready, willing and able to participate in the digital economy to a greater or lesser extent.
This needs stating because it is only just a short time ago that the majority of organisations in Australia were still using dial up connections or ISDN, there were no smart phones or tablets, web sites were very expensive, social media was embryonic and clouds were in the sky.
Now most organisations are well connected, using a wide variety of devices to suit their needs. There is a comfort level with technology in organisations at least with the basics – mobile phones, word processing, accounting, spreadsheets, email, online banking, buying and ordering goods and services online and websites.
This critical mass of organisations willing to communicate, share, collaborate and transact online provides the new connected marketplace, and communication and collaboration platform for the digital economy.
Quite simply, organisations have to be ready, willing and able to participate. And now most of them are. Overall, organisations are ready to engage, and the main task now is to optimise that engagement and ensure that nobody is left behind that doesn’t want to be.
Organisations also need a clearer understanding of the wide variety of opportunities, options and digital tools available, to help them become more informed, agile, productive and successful. You can’t start a game until all the players are in position on the field and in many ways it seems that we are only now ready for the new game, and willing and able to engage effectively with the digital economy.
Opportunities
From the survey results, there are obvious places to focus in helping organisations move forwards – IP Telephony, Mobility, Telework, Software options and choice (including cloud), Customer Relationship Management through email, websites, social media, CRM software and other tools, and backup, storage and disaster recovery.
Organisations want to know more and need to know more to be successful and at the local level they need to be able to find the right IT services, training and support to help.
Also, on the plus side about a third of respondents are teleworking and this has implications in other ways – for developers of commercial property, for commercial property leasing, transport operators and town planners looking at peak hour travel densities, business location and decentralisation, carbon emissions and pollution reduction and so on.
The value of technology in informing and improving health, economic, social and educational outcomes is dependent on the willingness, ability and readiness of individuals to use technology. For example, only 5% of Australians have an electronic health record, so there is still a long way to go.
But this is a digital journey and businesses and non-profits are well placed to capitalise on the benefits and opportunities available today as well as those promised in the near future. Ultimately, the digital economy is not about the technology it is about people. And online
connection, communication and shared value options have to be reflected in the offline, real world collaboration among all participants – SMEs, not-for-profits, industry associations, councils, RDAs, vendors and state government if success is to be the outcome.
Main issues
The issues of concern highlighted by respondents in the surveys are mainly in the areas of software expense, internet connection speed and the perceived slow roll out of the NBN, “comfort” with technology, trust, identification of IT services and access to training and advice, lack of support, problems with specific software applications, and integration – businesses wanting their software applications to “talk to each other”.
If we look at these more closely, most of them overlap to some extent. And some we can do little about.
Software expense
The cost of the most popular software products (MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite etc) used by Australian businesses is largely controlled elsewhere in the world. Government has initiated a number of enquiries into why software in Australia is more expensive than elsewhere, with little positive outcome to date.
“Not happy with how much a licence for Autodesk Revit is. There has been a Commonwealth investigation into price gouging by international companies such as Microsoft, Adobe & Autodesk. However this has made no difference to their pricing.”
Professional services. Internet connection speed
Most respondents have a broadband connection to the internet, but 70% of respondents are unhappy with their current broadband connection speed.
Speed of connection impacts other things.
“Not happy with internet speed and connectivity. All my software is in the cloud. If the internet goes down, my business goes down.”
Professional services. “It can take hours to download even a days worth of emails.”
Retail “Tried off-site cloud storage via the web but it is way too slow.”
Professional services
As the quotes illustrate, universal roll-out of NBN (fast broadband) is essential for the delivery of reliable cloud services and other managed IT services delivered across the internet for a
business, region, state and beyond. Businesses and other organisations across Australia need faster, affordable and more reliable connection to move forwards comfortably.
Whether it is for access to a cloud based software application such as Xero or for the more popular web based email or for storage applications such as Dropbox, sooner or later speed of connection becomes an issue.
Fast, affordable and ubiquitous broadband access is the platform on which the digital economy will be built, and without it Australia will not be able to compete effectively in any industry sector. Comfort
With any new ICT product or service there is a standard pattern of adoption as firstly individuals hear about, take up and use the new product or service. Next they become familiar and
“comfortable” with the product or service and finally the number of “comfortable” adopters grows large enough to create a sustainable market or platform from which other new opportunities arise.
For example, one fax machine was only useful for copying. Multiple fax machines in multiple business locations enabled the easy sharing of text and image based documents.
The degree of comfort with change (most don’t enjoy it) affects the adoption and use of
technologies. Only 8% of organisations in the surveys are early adopters or leading edge users of ICT.
Technology adoption takes time. Even though most organisations now rely on the basic tools of the digital revolution – information and communication technologies (ICT), it has taken a long time (20 years) for the majority of businesses and non-profit organisations to become familiar and then finally comfortable with ICT use.
Once somebody gets over the strangeness of adopting a new tool and begins to use it regularly, familiarity breeds innovation, not contempt. “What if?” is the question that CEOs then begin to ask, once they are comfortable and trusting of the way things are running.
Trust
But trust is a fickle thing. Adoption of a range of internet services has slowed significantly because of media revelations by Edward Snowden about the NSA “hoovering up” online communications – emails, telephone calls and social media and website use.
People who were once unconcerned, or knew nothing of the Patriot Act are now aware and interested to know more.
This is impacting all the major American ICT multinationals, who are finding it harder to make sales, not just in Australia, but across the world. It is a problem of their own making and isn’t going to be solved any time soon.
But it raises some questions.
Does it matter if the NSA or others can access all my business communications and information? Is privacy important to me? Where is my data anyway? How do I get it if something goes wrong? Who do I call? Will they listen? What can I do about it?
Each organisation should to be able to answer these questions, and should probably discuss them with a trusted advisor, local Australian systems integrator, IT service or lawyer.
This represents a window of opportunity for local Australian ICT vendors, providing them with a powerful argument for local data storage, local hosting, local IT services and local software. It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out in 2014.
Training and education
A third of respondents are “very comfortable” with technology. And 46% are “comfortable”. But 23% defined themselves as “lagging behind” or “in trouble”. And 10% of respondents to the surveys expanded on their concerns about ICT, giving examples.
“Not happy when software keeps changing and upgrades are rarely as good as the original and take time to learn and constantly cause problems.
Agricultural business “I need more education on how to maximise performance.”
Professional services “I find it all a bit too overwhelming to forge ahead with confidence.”
Technology is not core business for most organisations and many current business owners, senior decision makers and CEOs didn’t learn about IT at school.
This will change over time of course as generations X, Y and Z move into higher management, but the issues of comfort and confidence can and should be addressed through workshops and by providing access to relevant training.
The key to success here is relevance and this can be addressed through matching workshop and training content to real needs, illustrated by the survey results.
Most organisations get advice on new technology from other businesses, newspaper articles and workshops and seminars.
Workshops are the preferred method of gaining “hands on” experience of new technology and innovation. The opportunity also exists to tailor advice and workshop content to match local economic development objectives and strategies.
Software support, applications and integration
We can’t do anything to stop the large software vendors updating their products regularly, often for marketing and sales reasons, and not always for functional improvement, but we can help businesses gain a clear picture of the options, and provide them with a roadmap for the journey ahead.
Not every business has IT staff or can afford to pay for consultants and systems integrators. So providing access to research and evidence based options supported by workshops and seminars will level the playing field.
Organisations also need to be able to identify and find reliable, proven local IT services and support if required.
“I am currently trying to set up a network with RAID and backup - finding it difficult to find someone to do this for me.”
Professional services “Struggling to get all my software to integrate and have flow of data.”
Manufacturing
Australian systems integrators, software developers, voice services, web services and IT services are the unsung heroes of the digital revolution.
But most articles in the IT press and general media are dominated by the multinational IT vendors promoting their products and services, yet none of these can offer the local help, support,
integrated and tailored services that Australian organisations need to become more productive, effective and competitive.
This support comes only from the Australian IT industry and more needs to be done to promote, support and showcase its capabilities.
Other issues
Beyond the main issues identified in the surveys are some broader issues, which need to be addressed if we are to successfully build capability in our industries, cities and regions. Barriers and inhibiters in businesses
Australians as individuals are early adopters of computers, mobile phones, smart phones and tablet devices. But Australian businesses and non-profit organisations are somewhat behind other OECD countries in applying these and other technologies productively and effectively in their day-to-day operations. So our individuals are leaders, but our organisations are followers.
The reason for this is the direct and indirect impact and influence of key decision makers, CEOs and management teams on what happens within organisations. Vision, commitment and
leadership starts and ends at the top.
CEOs and other stakeholders have to personally understand the value of the digital economy to invest and lead transformation and digital change.
And most still don’t.
CEOs and management teams have to understand the changing digital business environment and tectonic shifts in industry sectors caused by the digital revolution. And most still don’t. Many industry sectors are being disrupted by the digital revolution – publishing, film and video, music, real estate, travel, printing, advertising, TV, associations, employment, retail, insurance, finance, law, property development, accountants, GPs, education, training, politicians and more. And the digital revolution can be personally intimidating to older CEOs, Chairs and Boards who may be uncomfortable with technology themselves. So they don’t lead the way, they hesitate. They didn’t learn this stuff at school.
While demonstrably successful in the old world, the new world has left them behind, high and dry. This is humiliating and affects their ability to lead. Sound business decisions have to be based on real knowledge and understanding and can’t be handed off to consultants or the CIO.
So, CEOs postpone bringing the “digital disruption” issue onto the agenda.
This is a major problem not only for individual organisations, but for whole industries and regions. Many countries are moving more swiftly and with more vision than Australia to address some of the big picture issues – education, training, communication and connection (South Africa, India, China, Brazil, Canada and the EU).
Leadership is critical when it comes to effective change management and if our leaders still don’t “get it” (and they don’t), then any and all digital change will only come from the grass roots – early adopter individuals and the IT industry itself.
Barriers and inhibiters in industry associations
There are also barriers to adoption created inadvertently by industry associations and peak bodies. Rather than encourage and inspire their members and constituents to adopt and use ICT, some industry associations see technology as not relevant to their industry, most don’t fully understand the potential value, and many see ICT as a threat (which it can be), rather than an opportunity.
And associations always have more “important” things to do, responding to the day-to-day crises that crop up in every industry sector.Digital technology is not core business. Meanwhile, the digital world continues to change their industry and the world around them.
Grasping the wide reaching, game changing and subversive aspects of the digital economy is a major issue for associations and peak bodies, and there is a national need for industry and regional forums to outline the digital opportunities clearly, but more importantly to define and explain the underlying drivers of digital change and the associated threats to specific industries. There are huge opportunities for industry in adoption and use of technology, but there has to be synchronisation of understanding across all parts of industry - individual businesses, unions, associations, peak bodies and the IT industry that services them.
At the moment these organisations are out of sync. They need to align. Barriers and inhibiters in local government
The historical, parochial and local view of economic and social responsibilities endemic in councils is at odds with the new 21st century interconnected, regional and international digital capabilities and possibilities, offered by broadband, the internet and related technologies.
Local political views, constituency borders, election driven short termism and the question of “who pays”, “who leads”” and is “responsible for what?” are barriers to new digital opportunity.
These are not subjects that most economic development policy officers learned about at university or have real world practical experience of in their day jobs. Outside of systems integrators, most people have little real perception and knowledge of how fundamentally the digital revolution is changing the world.
So it is not their fault, but they have to deal with it. And learn more about it.
Collaboration is the only real option and that brings its own issues and problems. This needs leadership, which ideally should come from the local government associations at the state and national level, but they are struggling with these issues themselves.
Once again, digital technology is not core business. Its impact has grown relatively quickly. What degree of responsibility should a peak body accept? What services should it offer? And so on. The existing Regional Development Australia structure of 55 regional RDAs is probably most useful in this regard, because it takes a broader regional view, which is more aligned to the new digitally interconnected, economic reality than the historical council framework.
RDAs can and often do “connect the dots” in a collaborative and holistic manner, and hopefully the current federal government will recognise the value of this existing framework and build on what is already established to support our industries, regions and their connections to the cities and markets, within and outside of Australia. They are all interconnected and interdependent. 2014 offers huge opportunities to governments, associations, peak bodies, the ICT industry, businesses, organisations and individuals across Australia.
Understanding the impacts of the digital revolution and responding appropriately is critical to the future control of destiny and continued success of our nation.
And understanding the opportunities clearly is the key to improving productivity, transforming industries, supporting startups, creating jobs and sustaining economic development in the future.
Telecommunication services
Overall, organisations are very well connected, using a wide variety of devices to suit their own business communication choices and customer needs.
Organisations are increasingly using IP based telephony services and this will increase as the National Broadband Network is steadily implemented replacing copper wire with fibre optic cable, supported by wireless and satellite in remote and regional Australia. 45% of respondents say they supply smart phones or iPads to their staff. This raises the issue of the best way to manage mobile device use within an organisation, especially where data is being shared across a wide range of different devices.
Telecommunications use - location
Region Internet Phone Mobile Fax Smart
phone VoIP Unified Comms Total Victoria 91% 86% 81% 57% 66% 26% 6% 1739 Queensland 92% 89% 85% 67% 38% 16% 3% 934
New South Wales 94% 93% 77% 73% 48% 20% 3% 891
ACT 95% 81% 84% 45% 83% 36% 9% 540 Western Australia 94% 89% 80% 69% 58% 24% 4% 529 South Australia 92% 90% 80% 64% 44% 22% 3% 326 Tasmania 91% 94% 84% 70% 49% 22% 0% 87 Northern Territory 95% 97% 86% 73% 51% 11% 0% 37 Average 93% 88% 81% 62% 57% 23% 5% 5,090
* red = above average, blue = below average, black = average
PABX system
24% of respondents use a PABX system, with an increasing number moving to an IP telephony system as their existing system fails or needs upgrading. A wide variety of vendors were named in the survey with no outstanding preference.
Computers and software
Computers and software applications offer organisations an information platform for business. Technology provides the information storage, analysis and networking resource necessary for management, reporting, transaction, strategy and collaboration.
Business software packages such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe PDF and so on offer a suite of tools that address the basic business operational needs of most small
organisations – word processing, financial management, idea presentation, database and communication.
Operating system
Most respondents use one or more versions of Windows as the computer operating system, mainly Windows 7 (54%) and Windows XP (43%). 19% of respondents use a MAC operating system, 14% iOS and 8% Android.
Apple use has increased for two main reasons. The Intel chip allows use across Mac and Windows operating systems, and the adoption of iPads and iPhones by the market has introduced new users to the Apple platform. 53% of organisations use Windows as the server operating system. 6% use Linux.
Computer device use
84% of respondents use a desktop computer, 82% a laptop and 43% use an iPad or other tablet device for work purposes. Businesses use multiple devices to suit their business practice.
Device used - size
Employees PC Laptop Tablet –
iPad etc Total 1-2 74% 78% 34% 1,989 3-4 87% 82% 43% 676 5-9 92% 82% 42% 730 10-19 91% 84% 43% 562 20-49 91% 85% 47% 506 50-99 93% 93% 63% 241 100-499 90% 91% 67% 303 500+ 92% 93% 76% 83 Average 84% 82% 43% 5,090
* red = above average, blue = below average, black = average
Teleworking
31% of respondents say they telework, with one or more staff members working from home for some part of the week.
Finance & Insurance (67%), Real Estate (63%) Professional services (55%), Information Media and Telecommunications (45%), Manufacturing (45%) and Wholesale (44%) organisations are the leaders in this area.
The more “hands on” sectors of Construction (10%), Arts & Recreation (20%) and customer facing sectors of Health Care (24%) and Other services (22%) have the smallest percentages of organisations with staff that telework.
Teleworking - location
Region Teleworking Total
Victoria 39% 1739
Queensland 19% 934
New South Wales 20% 891
ACT 53% 540 Western Australia 32% 529 South Australia 13% 326 Tasmania 14% 87 Northern Territory 19% 37 Average 31% 5,090
Digital camera use
The majority of respondents (67%) used digital still or video cameras for work purposes. Cameras were used for recording events, training, property damage, assets and maintenance, record keeping, work progress and proof of job completion, health & safety issues, security, staff ID, website, professional development and advertising and promotion.
Cameras were used externally for recording client activities, assessment, product evaluation, proof, business intelligence, insurance, therapy progress, YouTube channel, Facebook, Blogs and other social media, field days, concerts, performance, coaching, short films, recording spontaneous ideas, presentations and seminars.
Digital camera use – location
Region Still or video digital camera Total
Victoria 64% 1739
Queensland 73% 934
New South Wales 70% 891
ACT 63% 540 Western Australia 68% 529 South Australia 65% 326 Tasmania 72% 87 Northern Territory 70% 37 Average 67% 5,090
Email Software
Microsoft Outlook is still the outright leader among respondents with 71% using Outlook and an additional 15% using Outlook Express. 26% of respondents use web-based email, either as their main email program or to complement another email program.
The rise in the use of web-based email is significant and services like Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail etc have added flexibility to email communication whilst on the move, that wasn’t easily available before. But anything free comes at a price. The price in this case, is support should anything go wrong. Who are you going to call? What leverage do you have if there are problems with your free service?
There have been a number of well-publicised cases of disappearing web-based email accounts (hundreds of thousands) and accounts that have been highjacked. Most widely used web-based email services are based in the USA and subject to the Patriot Act. The NSA and the UK based GCHQ both gather email communication as a matter of course.
This may not be an issue for the average business in most industry sectors, but could have implications for the board of a public company or non-profit organisation, which will have
responsibilities from a privacy and governance perspective. Web-based emails are not private. So don’t rely 100% on free services for the communication needs of your organisation. Web-based email is a very valuable supplementary service, but be aware of the potential problems and issues. Research them and use these services with due diligence and consideration.
Email software - location
Region MS Outlook Web based Outlook Express Lotus Notes Other Total Victoria 72% 25% 12% 2% 12% 1739 Queensland 68% 25% 20% 1% 12% 934
New South Wales 73% 26% 15% 1% 12% 891
ACT 66% 36% 9% 2% 23% 540 Western Australia 78% 22% 17% 1% 11% 529 South Australia 73% 25% 17% 0% 12% 326 Tasmania 76% 21% 13% 1% 9% 87 Northern Territory 62% 30% 32% 3% 19% 37 Average 71% 26% 15% 1% 13% 5,090
Accounting Software
78% of respondents use accounting software. On the whole respondents are still happy with the most popular accounting software packages – MYOB (47%) and Quickbooks (13%). 3% of respondents use Xero.
Accounting software - organisations
Sector MYOB Quick
books
Other Total
Health Care & Social 53% 12% 22% 1,249
Other Services 52% 15% 14% 1,007
Professional & Technical 38% 14% 22% 569
Education & Training 47% 11% 18% 442
Construction 44% 14% 22% 365
Arts & Recreation 49% 11% 12% 245
Manufacturing 42% 12% 35% 227
Information Media 44% 9% 13% 197
Retail 40% 12% 18% 186
Admin & Support 46% 18% 24% 160
Public Admin & Safety 25% 8% 41% 128
Accommodation & Food 50% 7% 22% 74
Transport & Warehouse 39% 19% 28% 64
Wholesale 42% 14% 30% 57
Rental & Real Estate 37% 11% 22% 46
Finance & Insurance 33% 17% 26% 42
Agriculture 46% 25% 13% 24
Electricity, Gas & Water 29% 0% 71% 7
Mining 0% 0% 50% 2
Database Software
61% of respondents use database software of some kind.
Larger organisations (100+ employees) use MS Access (42%), SQL (50%) and a variety of other database programs, including MySQL and Oracle.
Customer relationship management software
Customer relationship management (CRM) has moved from the use of spreadsheets or
databases and an email application to now incorporate a wide range of applications specifically designed to manage customer relationships.
Overall, 16% of respondents say they use CRM software.
Software is available as “shrink wrapped” CRM, cloud CRM services such as Salesforce.com and open source CRM products, and a wide variety of email marketing software tools.
Even social media collaboration tools such as Facebook and Linkedin should now be included as part of a strategy for managing the relationship with customers, which includes CRM software, website, email marketing and social media.
Data storage and back up
Data storage, back up and retrieval can become increasingly difficult to manage as data accumulates over time. The issue can impact organisations of any size.
Disaster management is increasingly important for businesses and organisations. Issues can be wide ranging and diverse including severe weather events such as floods and cyclones, civil and social disruptions, employee sabotage and even terrorist attacks.
Simple manual errors and mistakes can crash a system and even a short-term, local electricity blackout can affect the ability of an organisation to operate effectively. So all organisations have to consider disaster recovery plans.
Data should be protected, backed up and transferred regularly offsite to one or more secure locations. Data can be backed up to a variety of devices and systems.
For small organisations and sole operators the simplest back up device is a memory stick (46%). These are cheap and easy to use, especially for home offices.
A growing percentage of organisations (13%) are using “cloud” storage to supplement other backup methods or act as a temporary storage option. It is inevitable that some organisations will begin to use “cloud” storage as a permanent option as well. Understand what this means.
Magnetic tape storage (9%) on cassette is reliable, affordable and portable, and can be easily stored off site. Data can be backed up to another hard drive, CD/DVD (23%), a detachable SCSI drive or an external hard drive (62%) purchased for this purpose.
The most important thing is that backup is a standardised, regular aspect of business operation whether managed manually or automated.
Data storage system - size
Employees External HD USB stick NAS CD/ DVDCloud SAN Tape None Total
1-2 66% 56% 13% 26% 14% 2% 1% 4% 1,989 3-4 66% 46% 23% 25% 14% 5% 3% 3% 676 5-9 62% 40% 23% 21% 13% 8% 8% 2% 730 10-19 64% 39% 27% 20% 16% 10% 12% 2% 562 20-49 60% 38% 37% 19% 13% 13% 17% 0% 506 50-99 50% 33% 42% 20% 12% 21% 33% 0% 241 100-499 45% 33% 46% 20% 10% 45% 32% 0% 303 500+ 34% 37% 40% 18% 7% 60% 43% 0% 83 Average 62% 46% 24% 23% 13% 10% 9% 3% 5,090
Internet
98% of all respondents are connected to the internet. However, even if not connected at work, business owners usually have a strategy to receive and send email messages if necessary, via friends, family or colleagues.
97% of respondents are connected by broadband, mainly DSL.
With the NBN rollout over the next ten years, in whichever form it finally takes, it is expected that nearly all Australian businesses and households will be connected by fibre optic cable, satellite or wireless.
Internet connection – regions
Region DSL Wireless Fibre Cable ISDN Satellite Dial Up Total
Victoria 59% 16% 7% 8% 3% 1% 1% 1739
Queensland 65% 18% 3% 5% 2% 2% 1% 934
New South Wales 68% 16% 5% 3% 3% 1% 2% 891
ACT 60% 13% 14% 4% 2% 1% 1% 540 Western Australia 66% 17% 5% 1% 3% 3% 1% 529 South Australia 64% 18% 6% 1% 3% 1% 2% 326 Tasmania 67% 20% 2% 0% 3% 1% 1% 87 Northern Territory 70% 11% 3% 0% 0% 5% 3% 37 Average 63% 16% 6% 5% 3% 1% 1% 5,090
Connection speed
Only 30% of respondents are happy with their internet connection speed. Which means 70% are not.
Internet security
99% of connected organisations use one or often a combination of security measures to protect against attacks of all kinds.
.
Security measures - organisations
Sector Anti virus Spam filter Hardware firewall Email gate Software firewall Content filter Intrusion detect Total
Health Care & Social 77% 66% 49% 45% 34% 32% 25% 1,249
Other Services 83% 64% 43% 40% 38% 28% 20% 1,007
Professional & Technical 77% 68% 44% 49% 34% 30% 29% 569
Education & Training 83% 65% 48% 43% 41% 30% 22% 442
Construction 78% 58% 13% 33% 40% 27% 6% 365
Arts & Recreation 69% 58% 37% 33% 35% 20% 16% 245
Manufacturing 79% 59% 47% 44% 21% 31% 26% 227
Information Media 78% 64% 43% 44% 37% 28% 25% 197
Retail 81% 69% 34% 30% 39% 22% 18% 186
Admin & Support 79% 64% 40% 49% 42% 36% 27% 160
Public Admin & Safety 70% 59% 49% 54% 40% 36% 29% 128
Accommodation & Food 74% 61% 41% 42% 32% 24% 26% 74
Transport & Warehouse 84% 63% 55% 42% 56% 20% 25% 64
Wholesale 75% 72% 53% 63% 30% 35% 35% 57
Rental & Real Estate 78% 57% 41% 37% 33% 30% 33% 46
Finance & Insurance 74% 74% 50% 45% 33% 33% 24% 42
Agriculture 92% 71% 33% 46% 29% 33% 13% 24
Electricity, Gas & Water 71% 71% 43% 71% 29% 29% 29% 7
Mining 100% 100% 100% 100% 50% 100% 50% 2
Internet use
Email is the number one use of the internet and this has not changed for many years. Second to email is banking and research, followed by buying and ordering products and services, then recruiting staff and the integration of voice and data services – VoIP.
The initial focus of internet use has been in improving the internal capability of an organisation by finding and sharing data more effectively, for banking and buying goods and services, and
identifying and finding new assets and resources.
Internal use - location
Region Email Bank Search Buy Order Recruit VoIP Total
Victoria 97% 81% 76% 63% 62% 35% 26% 1739
Queensland 98% 87% 81% 63% 63% 28% 17% 934
New South Wales 98% 78% 76% 63% 63% 35$ 20% 891
ACT 97% 86% 80% 70% 72% 41% 34% 540 Western Australia 98% 83% 79% 64% 62% 33% 21% 529 South Australia 98% 66% 71% 52% 57% 34% 18% 326 Tasmania 97% 84% 76% 52% 53% 25% 17% 87 Northern Territory 89% 76% 73% 57% 51% 41% 16% 37 Average 97% 81% 77% 63% 63% 34% 23% 5,090
Customer facing internet use
Organisations are now using the internet to improve relationships with customers through a wide range of communication, conferencing and collaboration tools.
There is no one size fits all social media tool or solution. Each organisation has to work out for itself which tools are most appropriate and cost effective for staff, customers and even suppliers.
Customer facing use - location
Region Face book Linked in Email news
Skype Twitter You Tube
Blogs Chat Pod cast
Total
Victoria 47% 36% 34% 27% 23% 23% 22% 16% 7% 1739
Queensland 36% 28% 16% 19% 14% 14% 15% 11% 5% 934
New South Wales 50% 28% 29% 26% 22% 19% 16% 16% 6% 891
ACT 58% 53% 47% 41% 40% 32% 38% 25% 12% 540 Western Australia 53% 31% 33% 31% 15% 18% 11% 15% 5% 529 South Australia 51% 22% 25% 19% 21% 17% 11% 12% 5% 326 Tasmania 51% 26% 26% 30% 23% 15% 10% 9% 6% 87 Northern Territory 62% 32% 32% 35% 19% 16% 11% 19% 8% 37 Average 48% 33% 30% 27% 22% 20% 19% 16% 7% 5,090
There is a wide variation in social media use across industry sectors based on how each category communicates with and relates to its customers.
The risk of wasting time and money and gaining little or no return on investment is evident to most organisations across all sectors and sizes. Adoption and use largely refects this.
Websites
Most respondents (82%) have a website and increasingly web-tools are being used for a variety of business reasons beyond publishing an online brochure of capability.
Organisations are now understanding that their website can be included in a broader customer relationship strategy that involves CRM, email marketing, and both traditional and social media. 41% can gather data and update their dynamic website, 34% use their website for sales
transactions online, 26% have an internal website (intranet) to share information and 10% have extended that capability to selected customers or suppliers (extranet).
Website use - location
Region Web site Interactive
website
Online sales Intranet Extranet Total
Victoria 86% 47% 37% 26% 10% 1739
Queensland 71% 34% 32% 22% 7% 934
New South Wales 83% 29% 31% 25% 7% 891
ACT 87% 60% 42% 30% 18% 540 Western Australia 81% 43% 31% 29% 13% 529 South Australia 86% 25% 28% 27% 9% 326 Tasmania 89% 20% 20% 28% 9% 87 Northern Territory 81% 27% 24% 16% 8% 37 Average 82% 41% 34% 26% 10% 5,090
Technology adoption
Respondents were asked to rate their technology adoption from a choice of “leading edge, fast follower, average, lags behind and in trouble”. 8% rated themselves as leading edge, 23% fast followers, 46% average and 20% lagging behind. 3% rated themselves in trouble.
The question is largely about perception and confidence, and over the last twelve years many respondents rating themselves “average” have in fact been leading edge in use of ICT. Many rating themselves “leading edge, have in fact been “average”.
However, over the last four years, assessment of technology adoption “rating” largely reflects the actual use of ICT accurately as organisations become more self aware.
Technology adoption - location
Region Leading edge Fast follower Average Lags behind In trouble Total Victoria 8% 24% 46% 19% 3% 1739 Queensland 8% 19% 51% 19% 3% 934
New South Wales 5% 20% 47% 26% 3% 891
ACT 19% 30% 34% 15% 1% 540 Western Australia 8% 25% 47% 15% 2% 529 South Australia 4% 19% 48% 25% 3% 326 Tasmania 2% 16% 51% 26% 5% 87 Northern Territory 5% 16% 49% 30% 0% 37 Average 8% 23% 46% 20% 3% 5,090
Sources of IT advice
Trusted advice on information and communication technology (ICT) comes from three main sources, a) friends, family and colleagues, b) IT suppliers, services and consultants and c) for larger organisations with IT staff, advice comes from internal staff, systems integrators, the internet and IT staff networks. Smaller organisations are most likely to have nobody they trust to help, or mainly rely on friends and family for advice.
Trusted IT advice - size
Employees Consultant IT
service
Internet Friend Family Bus Contact
IT Retail IT Pub Total
1-2 10% 10% 15% 16% 12% 8% 4% 1% 1,989 3-4 16% 15% 13% 11% 10% 8% 5% 2% 676 5-9 18% 19% 11% 8% 8% 5% 4% 1% 730 10-19 21% 22% 13% 6% 7% 8% 4% 1% 562 20-49 27% 26% 10% 5% 5% 5% 3% 1% 506 50-99 22% 24% 11% 2% 6% 5% 2% 2% 241 100-499 26% 22% 11% 3% 3% 5% 3% 2% 303 500+ 22% 14% 16% 4% 6% 11% 1% 1% 83 Average 17% 16% 13% 10% 9% 7% 4% 1% 5,090
For small businesses it is important to find a reliable source of help and advice if possible. Even the smallest non-profit organisation should try to ensure that somebody from the IT industry sits on the board or advisory group as a specialist advisor.
Larger organisations are more likely to use suppliers and consultants, or be confident enough to find help online or in the IT press. They also employ IT staff who rely on their experience, industry networks, the internet and online forums.
Trusted IT advice - location
Region Consultant IT
service
Internet Friend Family Bus Contact IT Retail IT Pub Total Victoria 15% 15% 12% 11% 9% 9% 4% 1% 1739 Queensland 16% 14% 11% 11% 12% 4% 6% 2% 934
New South Wales 18% 19% 16% 9% 6% 5% 1% 2% 891
ACT 16% 11% 17% 11% 11% 11% 4% 0% 540 Western Australia 19% 17% 13% 7% 8% 6% 5% 1% 529 South Australia 17% 21% 11% 13% 9% 4% 0% 2% 326 Tasmania 20% 25% 15% 9% 3% 6% 0% 0% 87 Northern Territory 11% 30% 14% 8% 0% 3% 0% 3% 37 Average 17% 16% 13% 10% 9% 7% 4% 1% 5,090
Get business advice and information
Most organisations (73%) get advice on new technology and best practice from other businesses, newspaper articles (68%) or from workshops and seminars (67%).
The source of information is important – preferably from a trusted source (industry association or other industry colleague). The practicality of information is also important - workshop or seminar rated highly.
Government websites, whether State Government or Federal are invariably and consistently rated lowest of all options and the department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy website has been rated lowest (3.0) in all surveys over the past five years.
As businesses increasingly having less time to research and find things out for themselves, a reliable network of business advice grows in importance.
How would you prefer advice and information?
Businesses are practical in the selection of channels and sources for information on new technology and best practice for their industry sector.
Most organisations (71%) would prefer the opportunity to experience new technology – hands on, get information via a regular email newsletter and/or through specialist workshops and seminars (69%).
These options have been consistently rated highest in all surveys over the past six years.
The ability to consult with colleagues and other organisations in the sector is also important. It is surprising that government and other major sources of advice and information still try to force businesses to “come the them” on their portal or industry website, when businesses want
information to “come to them” – via email news, hands-on experience and workshops.
This result confirms and supports the wisdom of the plan to deliver workshops across Melbourne later in the year.
Future IT objectives
Most respondents (74%) want to protect and recover their most critical data, rating this objective 8.0 out of ten. 74% want to be able to detect threats to the IT system (7.6 out of 10). Security and disaster recovery are important to businesses when IT is the business platform.
Getting more from the existing IT system is important to 74%. Being able to better analyse data to manage and inform the business leadership is also important rating 7.3 out of ten.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is slowly growing in importance for respondents with every survey, along with mobility.
Interest in the “cloud” is now not far behind and is moving onto the radar for 58% of respondents, but still rated lowest in importance across all objectives, along with voice and data integration.
Opportunities & challenges exist in mobility,
teleworking, cloud computing and a variety of new
customer relationship options
IP Telephony
Having voice and data integrated over the same network leads to further opportunities. It’s not just about cheap calls anymore.
IP telephony (internet protocol telephony) is the term describing the technologies that use internet protocol to exchange packets of data – voice, fax, images, video and sound that were traditionally carried over the old telephone network.
Voice and data technologies have matured and converged to finally offer a variety of true business solutions for organisations of all sizes.
For smaller businesses and organisations Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can offer immediate cost savings. For larger organisations, with a unified communications network there can be many benefits ranging from cost savings to increased efficiency and productivity.
With the advent of the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout all voice calls will become VoIP. Existing copper phone lines will be steadily replaced by fibre-optic cable over the next ten years. For 93% of businesses and homes across Australia fibre will become the only option. The
remainder of businesses and homes in rural and remote areas will be serviced by fixed wireless or satellite connections.
What is VoIP?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the transmission of voice over a data network such as the internet. Sound waves (voice) are converted into data packets that are transmitted across a data network rather than through the telephone line, and reassembled and converted back into sound once they reach the destination.
A softphone is the software program that converts voice to data and back again. Calls can be made using the microphone and speakers attached to a computer, or through a specially adapted handset using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) a standard protocol used by the majority of VoIP and internet based telephony providers.
Having voice and data integrated over the same network leads to further opportunities. It’s not just about cheap calls anymore. A unified communications system allows text messages, emails, voice messages and faxes to be accessed and shared from multiple devices anywhere.
Advantages extend beyond simple cost savings, even though these may be significant. Incoming calls can be directed to a VoIP phone, regardless of your location. So you can travel anywhere and still receive and make calls.
Disadvantages exist, but can be managed. The quality of the call is dependent on the quality, speed and reliability of the internet connection. And if your electricity supply is down, you can’t make calls over the internet and will need to resort to a landline or mobile phone.
Calls using VoIP will add to your overall use of data and have an impact on your broadband plan, so you may have to modify your plan accordingly, giving yourself a higher limit. A 10-minute conversation is roughly equal to a 1MB download. But even with a modified plan, savings on call costs can leave you well ahead.
To use VoIP
An organisation needs:
A client device - either a VoIP handset or a software phone (soft-phone) on a computer with a headset and a microphone
A broadband connection - with enough capacity to carry the number of calls that may be required simultaneously
A service provider – who can terminate the call onto the ordinary telephone system And – if you are an organisation or business with staff, some switching capacity to handle extension devices – a digital PABX.
Unified communications
Unified communications is connecting and integrating voice and data networks within an organisation to better manage cost, phone calls, email, fax, instant messaging, audio and
videoconferencing. Software is even available that can find the most cost effective route for a call automatically.
Staff can have one number that will reach them wherever they are in an organisation, whether travelling or at home. A call to the one number will automatically be transferred to a mobile or desktop phone wherever you may be.
Important calls can be routed through at any time, whereas less important calls can be routed to voicemail, a receptionist or a colleague. From a customer point of view, you are always available on your business number, no matter where you might actually be.
Text messages, emails, voice messages and faxes can be accessed from a single mailbox through whichever device is the most appropriate – desktop, laptop, mobile phone, smartphone, iPad or other tablet device.
Presence is now built into whatever communications technology is being used - video, audio or collaboration tool. It allows somebody to check on the status of one of their contacts – “busy, on the phone or doesn’t want to be disturbed”. It lets them know when somebody is available and the best way to contact them – phone, email, IM or SMS. It can improve communications
effectiveness and increase productivity.
Videoconferencing has been slow to mature. It was seen as too expensive, too hard to use and having problems with interoperability. Making a video call was difficult and even in most ICT vendor boardrooms the default choice for conferencing was and still is audio.
Videoconferencing isn’t just about technology. It is about being comfortable and prepared for the presentation of personal images to a caller or group of callers. Not everyone is ready or willing in a business situation to participate.
Finally with costs reducing and improvements in set up and usability, it has become easy to make a video call. At the low end, desktop videoconferencing is already familiar to many people using Skype, and this helps people understand the potential benefits of videoconferencing at the office.
Case study: IP Telephony
Delivering a flexible working environment
TAAConnect is a provider of telecommunications and IT services to businesses of all sizes in Australia and New Zealand. TAA Connect started in 1992, has thirty employees and a select range of sub-contractors. Head office is at Bowen Hills in Brisbane.
How would you describe your business?
Today, everything can be connected to make business more efficient and effective. TAAconnect supplies telephony, IT, audio and video-conferencing, networking, software solutions, point of sale solutions, messaging, wireless, Next G mobile and broadband solutions of all kinds – tailored to each customer’s unique needs. Every solution starts with understanding the business.
IT managers now have strategies to incorporate mobility tools such as Blackberries, iPhones, iPads and similar devices into their businesses. What has changed is that so many new applications are useful.
The benefits of convergence can be as simple as integration between Outlook and phone, automated web conferencing and calendar, job tracking and quality auditing, or video-conferencing for training and management operations meetings.
What changes are taking place in your business category?
Customers want more of a value proposition than ever before. The days of customers being interested in “bells and whistles” have disappeared. Clients want to know what the technology will do for them.
The days of proprietary products have gone. One person downloads a free device or piece of software and everybody wants it. The pressure for innovation in an organisation can come from anywhere, not just from the IT department, and the IT department has to deal with how to make it work.
The power of converged voice and data in devices is game changing. Something as simple as mobile twinning in an IP Telephony system means that any call to a phone number is
automatically routed to their mobile phone after a short predetermined number of rings. So staff can be accessed anywhere, at any time.
Unified Communications is about the integration of the PC and the phone. The user doesn’t have to think about it. If they have to think, they won’t use it. It has to be automatic.
So Presence means the ability to see at a glance who is on the phone and who is off the phone. What used to be something that only the receptionist could do is now a function on everybody’s phone screen. It just about eliminates phone tag – calling, leaving messages and so on.
People can take calls in a car, without removing their hands from the steering wheel. Emails can be read aloud by the system, and you can make calls by speaking a client name aloud, with the system recognising and making the call. It’s very powerful.
Conferencing and collaboration functions are being used a lot more because the tools have become more user-friendly and easy to use. So it is a straightforward exercise to conference from one phone to one phone, one phone to many. It is easy to broadcast the sessions to anywhere and anyone. When you can add to that capability the option of document sharing on screen as well, videoconferencing becomes an ideal management collaboration tool.
A lot of this technology wasn’t mature in 2007, but it is today. And because of the Global Financial Crisis, everybody is now seriously looking at how to cut costs. So there has been a lot of
reviewing of business practices and a push to use smartphones, softphones, videoconferencing, iPads and other clones.
A lot of our clients are now moving away from proprietary suppliers to open system and
virtualised servers and software. The market has picked up and clients are now looking around for new and better ways to improve their productivity and performance,
Mobility
Mobility is about enabling workers to operate effectively from anywhere – office, “hot desk”, home office, hotel, car, café or even sitting on a fence by the side of the road. To do this effectively, business devices of all kinds must be able to connect and talk to each other in real time, stably, securely and privately if desired.
Mobility “tools” are being used across the all industry sectors to a greater or lesser degree. Device selection and use is dictated by the needs of individuals and by the demands of the work role within an organisation. Individuals will often own a number of devices and use whichever device they need.
Mobility extends beyond the people in an organisation to the assets the organisation owns. Vehicles, plant and equipment can all be monitored, tracked and managed, improving productivity, efficiency and reducing costs.
GPS provides the location reference system that makes sense of the information coming from sensors and monitors on mobile devices and equipment.
Google Maps provides maps and images of regions, roads, buildings and locations connected to a host of useful directory products and services. Communications can be integrated, automated and made more efficient through unifying communications across devices, integrating voice and data and allowing access to content across the organisation.
Mobility needs software developed to support a mobile workforce and software to support mobile devices used on the road.
There are a few issues in this. Mobile workers need the right applications. They need to be able to access the applications securely. They need to be able to access the applications reliably. So the more an organisation relies on mobile devices and mobile applications, the more that
organisation has to ensure reliable storage, security, backup and disaster recovery.
Applications for work processes and mobile devices can be developed quickly and customised to suit the specific needs of an organisation. Mobile devices also need to be managed properly to ensure that individual needs are matched with the overall needs and requirements of an organisation.
These issues can be managed successfully and the benefits far outweigh any problems. The following case studies illustrate these issues and solutions.
