training

Unified Communications ROI Doesn’t Happen By Magic

I read an article recently that talked about the promise of cost savings with unified communications and that the ROI (return on investment) doesn’t always pan out the way it does in the marketing brochure.

I think the argument put forth in the article doesn’t support the headline. The article basically talks about why some customers aren’t able to determine ROI because they don’t know what their expenses were to begin with and have no baseline for comparison. That is an entirely different issue than whether or not the investment in unified communications is delivering the ROI it promised.

Assume for a moment that the claim is valid, I think I know where the problem lies. *Deploying* unified communications doesn’t lead to cost savings or deliver the expected ROI. It is the proper configuration, and more importantly, *use* of unified communications that leads to the ROI.

If an organization invests in unified communications, and deploys the technologies throughout the company, but the users don’t understand how to use the tools effectively and everyone just continues business as usual following the same old processes, unified communications will not provide any value. Part of the initial investment in unified communications should include some type of end-user training to educate the users {subliminal message} contact Tony Bradley to inqire about end-user training in unfied communications {/end subliminal message} on how to shift the way they communicate to take advantage of all that unified communications has to offer.

The UC ROI does’t just magically happen because you deploy UC. You have to actually USE the UC tools effectively to realize the ROI.

Shifting the Communications Culture

Unified communications is full of promise. However, without a shift in the underlying culture of communications and how communications integrate with and enhance business processes, unified communications is little more than bells and whistles on a marketing brochure.

Organizations need to do their due diligence and select a unified communications platform with the services and functionality they need. They need to consider how it will leverage or integrate with the existing infrastructure. They need to implement it properly. They need to ensure that the unified communications deployment is secure.

Does that cover everything? Let me think…..OH! They also need to actually train the people who are supposed to use and benefit from the unified communications. This is arguably the most important piece. If the end users are not aware of what unified communications can do for them, and if they are not trained to properly use the functions and tools in unified communications, then the investment in unified communications is more or less a waste of money.

A recent article in eWeek, How to Help Users Connect with Unified Communications, addresses this issue as well. Make sure that users are given the tools to make the most of unified communications, and the training to understand how to use it effectively.

Corporate Culture and ROI

Unified Communications is many things to many people. Many organizations (and even some experts) are still struggling to define what it is, what it isn’t, what are the features and benefits, and what are the pitfalls. Arguments can be made about how it will streamline communications and allow the company to be more productive and more efficient, but that assumes it is properly implemented and used. Where the proverbial ‘rubber meets the road’, the true measure of ROI for the UC investment will be based in large part on how well the company educates its users and transforms the corporate culture so that the users understand how to leverage the new tools effectively. Investing in a unified communications infrastructure without training the employees to use it effectively is like having a race car that nobody knows how to drive. Evangelyze Communications, a Microsoft Gold Partner and Voice Premier Partner, understands this need and has developed an end-user training course organizations can use to educate their users and transform the communicatios culture to make sure employees take advantage of the UC tools at their disposal.

Enterprises Intimidated by UC Complexity?

A recent report from Gartner suggested that one of the biggest complaints from early adopters of unified communications (UC) technologies is the lack of standards and interoperability. A recent study by Infonetics Research suggests a slightly different obstacle to adopting UC technologies - they are intimidated by the complexity of UC and concerned about product integration. I don’t necessarily agree. Certainly, at this early stage, there is progress to be made on integration and interoperability. However, I think there is a general lack of education and understanding about how to approach unified communications. The beauty of most UC solutions today is that they can be implemented using a modular approach that lets enterprises leverage their existing infrastructure, and allows them to wade in to UC rather than diving into the deep end. Organizations that are concerned about having to ditch their PBX infrastructure and start over at square one should take a look at some of the training seminars being offered by Evangelyze. A small investment in training such as The Business Value of Unified Communications, or Understanding Unified Communications Telephony can help to provide a better understanding of unified communications technologies and benefits and remove the intimidation factor.