New InformationWeek Reports Research Finds 67% of IT Pros Have Deployed or Plan to Deploy Unified Communications

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- InformationWeek Reports (http://reports.informationweek.com), a service for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report. State of Unified Communications (UC) encompasses analysis of results from InformationWeek's recent 2012 Unified Communications Survey and guides readers in making the best use of their UC investments. More than 300 business technology professionals responded to this poll; of those surveyed, 71% work for companies with 500 or more employees, and roughly one-third are over 10,000.

Research Summary:

While we saw forward motion on UC since our 2010 poll, the scope of projects is still modest. Just 19% have deployed UC to 76% or more of their employees, and 39% say their end users are not trained to use the technology. Twenty-five percent worry that a lack of WAN bandwidth will hinder the network's ability to provide the appropriate quality of service to UC applications.

Other Findings: 

• 91% say email is still the top method by which their employees communicate with customers, suppliers and partners.
• 51% prefer a single-vendor approach over best in class, up six points since 2010.
• 45% say Microsoft is their main provider of desktop videoconferencing; Cisco/Tandberg is second, with 35%.
• 20% expect to spend between $251 and $500 per user per year for fully deployed UC.

The report author, Michael Finneran, is an independent consultant and industry analyst specializing in wireless technologies, mobile unified communications and fixed/mobile convergence.

For full access to the research data, members can download now: http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/9/8548/IP-Telephony-Unified-Communications/research-unified-communications.html

"We asked which group played the greatest role in developing the strategic vision for UC in respondents' organizations and were surprised that 40% named the IT manager/director," says Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Reports. "That was the top answer. An additional 27% say it's the CIO. Just 22% say it's a non-IT person leading the charge. That likely has a lot to do with businesses not making full use of UC for process improvement."

For more information:
Art Wittmann
VP & Managing Director, InformationWeek Reports
415-947-6361
awittmann@techweb.com

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