MARKET REPORT Team Collaboration
COLLABORATION CONSIDERATIONS
JEFF MAY, CHANNEL MANAGER, KONFTEL
• Understand the whole proposal, not just the software, app and
services from each
• Check and ensure to have compatible hardware
• Understand and explain CapEx and OpEx options and the benefi ts
of each
• Understand the Interop with other solutions
• Provision the necessary support requirements
• Know the market trends and segments
• Understand that whatever you onboard compliments your skills and
your customer base
organisations will adopt
solutions that meet the needs of
their business in the short and
medium term. For example,
they will have the best of breed
UC solution and have a separate
team collaboration solution,
such as Slack, until the team
collaboration market matures. I
think we will see the desire for
a single solution grow instead of
using multiples tools.”
ED SAYS…
It’s time to grab your share of the collaboration
market. Customers will be asking for well
known brands in the market and it’s up to you
to produce something which fi ts their needs.
One brand not mentioned here is Facebook
Workplace, they surpassed two million paid
for users in February and there is undoubtedly
more to come. In the same way Microsoft
has leveraged its Offi ce 365 subscriptions
Facebook is looking how to leverage its huge
number of WhatsApp users.
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and customer can access the
APIs and SDKs that make
up the application and can
then integrate them into their
existing environments. e
result – users can continue
using the applications or
platforms they’re used to
but can also bene t from
the additional collaboration
features o ered by the recentlyintegrated
application.”
Christopher Peters, VP
EMEA Channels, 8x8, says we
will see developments into 2020
and beyond in two major areas.
He said, “Firstly, infusing
communications into work ows
will improve business agility,
making users more productive
and accelerating problem
resolution. As other enterprise
applications move to the cloud,
we also expect that leading
UCaaS solutions will be able to
easily integrate with virtually
any app, enabling data to ow
throughout businesses and build
fully integrated cloud tech stacks.
“Secondly, as video becomes
as important as voice, we expect
there to be more innovation in
video solutions for businesses.
Enabling customers to easily
collaborate from anywhere
on any device using the most
integrated video and audio
conferencing will allow much
more personnel interactions.”
Gallagher added “We
will see continuation in the
transition to cloud, but we
also see growth in hybrid
deployment models to balance
business continuity and data
privacy alongside the standard
bene ts of cloud.
“Arti cial intelligence
capabilities will deliver higher
consistency and faster time
to market solutions, reducing
human error. AI will reduce
routine work and make
millions of jobs obsolete, but
equally create even more and
very high value job pro les
driving innovation and new
business. Customers will also
ask for vertical and industry
solution blueprints and more
interconnected solutions.”
Gibbs says, “Teams as part
of a Uni ed Communications
stack will grow, but many
32 | Comms Business Magazine | September 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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