MARKET REPORT Team Collaboration
“Finally, it’s so important to understand the true value collaboration delivers as it can sometimes be a little
fluffy. We have worked hard on delivering tools and upskilling the channel to be able to deliver this to the end
user in a ‘real’ format which shows a solid ROI” Paul Gibbs, Head of UCaaS and mid-market, Gamma
in team collaboration working,
how often are users mobile, how
many work remotely, and then
ensure the solution meets the
need of the users.
“Finally, it’s so important
to understand the true value
collaboration delivers as it can
sometimes be a little u y. We
have worked hard on delivering
tools and upskilling the channel
to be able to deliver this to the
end user in a ‘real’ format which
shows a solid ROI.”
Jon Knight, Commercial
Director, Ascentae said, “Not
everyone in business does the
same job so there’s a need for
technologies that aren’t speci c
to one platform, they should be
tied to the task not the hardware.
Activity based working helps
to create di erent types of
environment based on the task
being performed. Technology
should enable people, not force
them to work in a di erent
way and it should complement
existing investments. at’s why
understanding the environment
and working practices is key to
on-boarding new clients.
“But it doesn’t stop there.
Working with new customers
means working with them after
the solution is implemented
to help them to get the value
from the technology quickly.
Key to this is creating early
proof points. Starting small and
growing the use of collaboration
technology is often the way
to help end-users to build
con dence and see the bene ts;
creating forums for people
to share experience and pose
questions helps people to get the
best from the technology. Early
adopters can then help others in
the organisation to understand
and use the technology more
widely in the business.”
Microsoft gets serious about
Teams
Microsoft Teams is the taking
the business world by storm
accruing over 13 million daily
users and overtaking its rival
Slack in just 18 months from
a standing start. Claimed as
Microsoft fastest growing
business application in the
company’s history, Teams is
the convergence point for all
Microsoft’s key assets: O ce,
SharePoint, Azure, Messaging
and Meetings. It’s now being
o ered as standard in O ce365
bundles which has helped propel
Teams into a leadership position.
Paul Gibbs commented,
“Microsoft are certainly
making an impact with
Teams as it’s often integrated
into the software stack a
customer buys. Less so when
considered as part of a uni ed
communications stack, as
adoption of voice telephony
is still challenging to the
enterprise. It’s very important
that resellers illustrate their
value in delivering services
underpinned by feature rich
telephony, video and audio as
it will be a considerable time
before Microsoft piece this
jigsaw together.”
Charles Rickett, Managing
Director at V12 Telecom sees
Microsoft Teams a major
disrupter in the telecoms
market that will blur the lines
between traditional IT and
telecoms resellers. He also
WHAT DO CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY NEED?
JACKIE GROVES, RVP UK, FUZE
“Seamless collaboration is actually what customers need, so evaluating
an isolated approach such as team collaboration may come up short for
the customer. A customer should be able to effortlessly move between
telephony calls, video and messaging without service interruption. The
implementation of a collaboration solution is often part of a company’s
wider digital transformation strategy so support by a partner to drive
cultural change and deliver on adoption goals can be of signifi cant
value —especially while ensuring that an agile and fl exible collaboration
solution is selected.
“Successful adoption of collaboration can only be achieved when
solutions are intuitive and easy to use in an individual’s day-to-day
working life. If a partner aligns themselves with a company that delivers
on these goals, they are more likely to be successful in this marketplace.
“Performant networks — especially Wi-Fi — are essential to drive
forward the successful move to collaboration solutions. It’s vital that
users have a good and consistent experience. While high quality, cost
effective cameras and headsets are also key enablers to ensure that
collaboration technology can be leveraged from anywhere and provide
all users with effective meeting capabilities.”
sees it as a great opportunity to
revisit the voice conversation
with customers.
Rickett says, “High-quality
voice is an important part of a
business solution. MS Teams
has a voice app for internal
Teams users. However, it is
not meant for broader business
communications where you
could be calling mobiles,
making international calls or
if you have a call centre setup.
is is where an integrated
PSTN solution comes in. It
must make sense to utilise
a service that allows you to
communicate with the widest
possible audience, not just
within your own organisation.”
Mark Herbert, CEO of
Call2Teams commented, “ is
Teams PBX interface is called
‘Direct routing’ and opens-up
massive opportunities for savvy
partners to jump on the back
of Microsoft as Teams gallops
down the track. Customers
using Teams want to do
everything in one-place, across
all devices and this includes
messaging, meetings and phone
calling. ere is a swelling
customer base that understands
the value and costs saving of
using the new Teams client to
manage and do everything.
“Whilst there is enthusiasm
amongst users to do everything
in Teams, there are serious
business requirements that must
continue to be delivered, such
as compliance, reporting, call
centres etc. and more boring
requirements like users or
locations that just want a simple
phone. is is the domain of
the high-functioning PBX
systems that are the bread and
butter of the channel. Today,
even the humble door entry
phone can be a key reason
why the PBX has to stay, let
alone the cost and disruption
of replacing all of the existing
desktop handsets and devices or >
EMBRACE OPENNESS
SIMON ALDOUS, GLOBAL HEAD OF CHANNELS, DROPBOX
“There has been a huge growth in virtual teams and projects. Cloud
collaboration tools have enabled teams to be disperse, and therefore
businesses can be more agile and hire the best talent. More companies
will continue to deploy collaboration tools as the need for teams to work
together in real time grows, especially as more SMBs wave goodbye to their
on-premise central server. As more SaaS applications are added to the
ecosystem, platforms that allow openness will thrive.”
28 | Comms Business Magazine | September 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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