In continuing my review of InformationWeek’s 2014 State of Unified Communications, I want to hit on several observations. The first is to address the lingering view that the desk phone will die and all workers will become mobile workers. It is going to happen. In fact, the InformationWeek survey found that a majority of workers (53%) have already switched to softphones, smartphones or other mobile devices. This is consistent with the growth of mobile workers in the workplace, while acknowledging the many business roles where mobility is not a factor.

Earlier in the year, I focused on monetizing the benefits of UC. I assumed that most implementations focused on comparing the current solution against the past solution to develop an objective Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). However, it appears that may not be the case. A very larger percentage (46%) did not know their 5-year TCO for implementing UC, and nearly 10% said the TCO was between $0 to $250, a very doubtful range unless the solutions were entirely cloud-based. Yet, ROI or a benefits analysis didn’t fare much better. With fewer than half as many respondents to the TCO question, it’s clear that the effort to understand and share ROI still lags behind TCO decisions. But all was not lost, as those that knew their ROI indicated it met or exceeded their expectations in 67% of implementations. Not bad at all.

Finally, the question of whether to use a single vendor or best-of-breed exposed a clear divide between two opposing camps; 51% supported a single vendor implementation, and 49% selected best-of-breed. The closeness of the size of respondents in each camp somewhat reflects the traditional versus contemporary way of finding and using applications today. Microsoft and Cisco lead as UCaaS technology partners for all respondents, with 46% and 40% expecting to collaborate with either or both, respectively. When asked which IM solution was used, Microsoft Lync was the application identified by 52%, obviously a decision driven by corporate IT. Following Lync, the answers referred to ten different providers, ranging between 5% and 22%. The best known was Skype at 22%.

All in all, with the survey covering all sizes of businesses (50% with 1,000 or more employees, and 50% with 999 or fewer employees), UC continues to garner the attention of decision makers and users alike. It may be taking longer to penetrate than some expected, but it shows steady and continued growth. The State of Unified Communications is good.