Global enterprises are shifting to mobile-only communications more rapidly than expected, as well as adopting unified communications services more broadly, notes the 2011 BroadSoft (Nasdaq: BSFT) Mobile Enterprise of the Future survey. This trend could be an opportunity for mobile network operators (MNO), because enterprises believe their MNO is better positioned to deliver many unified communications services (including video calling and conferencing, Web conferencing, voice mail, presence management and instant messaging) than fixed-line providers like Microsoft, Google or IBM.
The survey — which was conducted by Cohen Research Group and and questioned IT decision makers at 200 U.S. and 200 U.K. businesses of all sizes — suggests that enterprises would be going exclusively mobile. Indeed, 44% of companies surveyed have at least one-quarter of their workforce operating solely using a mobile phone, and 82% of enterprises have employees using mobile apps for communications and collaboration. It shows that 30% of enterprises support tablets, 51% support BlackBerry devices, 40% support iPhones and 31% support Android phones.
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The support for mobile unified communications and mobile apps is also growing: 62% of IT leaders are expanding their enterprise’s unified communications capabilities, while instant messaging, web collaboration and videoconferencing were identified as the top UC services they are looking to support on mobile devices over the next three years. In the U.S., 72% of IT decision makers are looking to deploy videoconferencing across their organization in the next year, compared to 56% in the UK.
For insight into the survey, RCR Wireless News – Americas asked BroadSoft marketing executive Leslie Ferry a few questions.
RCR Wireless News: How do you analyze the impact of the consumerization phenomenon?
Leslie Ferry: We continuously monitor communication behaviors and trends across our international markets, through direct research, such as our most recent survey, and by accompanying our customers on visits with enterprises. Our most recent research validated the modern workforce is mobile, and that enterprise end-users expect a consumer-grade experience that includes access to advanced communications services and apps across all preferred mobile devices.
What is the impact of the desk phone becoming mobile? What kind of opportunities and challenges does this trend bring to vendors and carriers?
The desk phone becoming mobile enables the workforce to stay connected anytime and from anywhere. We believe this is a significant opportunity for mobile network operators. Our survey revealed that enterprises expect their mobile operator can support a broad range of UC services. The opportunity for MNOs is to tightly integrate these services, so that they are seamlessly accessible from any communication device. Our recently announced BroadTouch user experience capabilities, for example, enables an operator to integrate a broad range of UC services into a single application to access services that are hosted and managed in the cloud. This offers a consistent user experience across a variety of devices.
The survey is related to companies in the U.S. and U.K. Can we expect similar trends to other countries?
We do expect similar trends in other countries, based on our conversations with enterprises and our service provider customers in those other countries.
The survey notes that IT leaders are supporting a variety of mobile devices on different platforms, with BlackBerry leading. Why? What are the main competitors?
BlackBerry has had a stronghold on the market leadership position of enterprise mobile devices for many years. The fact they still lead is a testament to their capabilities and loyal user base. Enterprises know how to manage BlackBerry devices. New entrants, such as Apple and Android devices, are eroding that market share.
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Why are bigger companies more likely to support BlackBerry than smaller businesses?
We believe this is a trailing trend, as BlackBerry has dominated the enterprise market in the past several years. We are seeing an increasing number of employees moving to other smartphones and with other operating systems, such as iOS and Android, across all enterprises of all sizes.
And why, although BlackBerry support is larger than others, does the iPhone lead in terms of mobile apps for communications and collaboration?
This is a natural market occurrence based on Apple’s application store leadership position. We are seeing rapid growth of available communication and collaboration applications available on Android-based devices as well.
How do you expect unified communications tools to grow in IT department?
We expect IT departments to seek out a comprehensive set of unified communication services that are seamless integrated, so that this robust set of bundled services are available from a single provider. With a single provider, the enterprise can easily manage the services and expense of ensuring their workforce has the most modern communication tools available to keep them connected and productive. BroadSoft’s advance software, which enables the delivery of unified communications services over IP networks, enables mobile network operators to tightly integrate a full range of UC services.
What could stop the growth of unified communications?
The growth of UC services adoption is a trend that will be very difficult to stop. We only expect UC growth to continue, and at an increasingly rapid pace. We have all experienced an employee using a personal mobile device to communicate at work. The availability of a superior quality service that tightly integrates the variety of communication services will only expedite this growth trend. Enterprises know they need to ensure their employees can communicate anytime, from anywhere in order to stay competitive.
