How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

A Frost & Sullivan Market InsightSponsored by Lifesize

CONTENTS

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Top Collaboration Trends that are Shaping Video Conferencing Adoption ...................................................... 3

Cloud Video Conferencing Adds Value ...................................................................................................................... 5

What to Look for in a Cloud Video Conferencing Service .................................................................................. 6

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

INTRODUCTION

Digital transformation is all around us. Businesses are changing the way they use technology to radically improve their performance and reach. Technology advances such as cloud computing, analytics, mobility, and social media are disrupting old business models and redefining the modern workplace. Business leaders who are ready for digital transformation are rapidly adopting leading-edge collaboration tools that not only streamline business processes, but also bring together various teams for agile cross-functional collaboration.

Video conferencing has become a vital communications tool today for companies that seek greater productivity and sustained competitive advantage at reduced operating costs. At the same time, the old hardware-centric approach to end-to-end video conferencing infrastructure is out. In fact, cloud-based video conferencing ushered in such a profound evolution, those enterprises that rely on premise-based deployments are not realizing the full benefits of the technology. Specifically, they face the insurmountable challenges of high up-front capital investment and operating costs, operational challenges, constrained IT resources and budgets, interoperability, and long deployment times. Cloud-based video conferencing is changing all of that. Moreover, it levels the playing field so companies of all sizes, not just the ones with deep pockets, can roll out video conferencing for all employees at low costs with zero operational headaches.

TOP COLLABORATION TRENDS THAT ARE SHAPING VIDEO CONFERENCING ADOPTION

User demand for video and Web collaboration is growing at a staggering pace. However, to get the most from a collaboration solution, organizations need these tools to be fully adopted and utilized. The journey to successful end-user acceptance hinges upon one critical factor—the “user experience”. Cloud services are easy to use and reliable—which essentially resolves all issues with the “old” video scenario—to deliver increased productivity as well as lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

There are several collaboration trends that are transforming the user experience and providing an impetus to video conferencing adoption:

• EmailisDying – Frequent, instant ad-hoc collaboration is replacing emails. Instead of lengthy back-and-forth email discussions, video conferencing offers the ability to have productive instant communications; it’s all about getting the work done faster and better.

• TheMillennialImpact – Millennials, whose behaviors are driven by a deep affinity for digitization, are joining the workforce in droves. This FaceTime and Snap Chat generation expects consumer-like ease of use and more effective technologies at work, which has helped create a whole new category of collaboration products with the spotlight on video.

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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Exhibit 1: Collaboration in an Era of Digital Transformation – Emerging User Trends

Email is Dying - Users want latest collaboration tools

Millennials Seek Better Work/Life Balance

Persistent Collaboration Mobile Workstyles

User-driven Collaboration

• User-drivenCollaboration – Employees are focused on results. To help reach their goals, they are adopting ad-hoc collaboration tools, like video conferencing, which connect them instantly from their desktops and mobile devices. Gone are the days of long technology deployment cycles and the need for IT intervention to run video meetings. Consumerization and the self-service nature of today’s collaboration options have empowered users to bring their choice of applications into the workplace.

• PersistentCollaboration – Meetings are becoming more than “one and done” events. The notion that meetings have an entire lifecycle (pre-, in-, and post-meeting) requires continuity of collaboration. Moreover, online meetings are moving from scheduled, pre-planned sessions to instant, “real-time conversations” that are more personal and targeted. The new generation of video conferencing services offers always-on persistent virtual spaces where users can meet anytime and collaborate, as well as store all their content and relevant information.

• MobileWorkstyles – The mantra “work is not a place you go to; it is what you get done” is well established. Bring Your Own App (BYOA), driven by mobility and consumerization, is redefining the modern workplace. Employees expect all their corporate applications to be easily accessible on their mobile devices. Cloud video conferencing enables seamless mobile connectivity for globally distributed organizations, regardless of location or network.

As a result of these transformational shifts, video and Web collaboration have become key business enablers. The emergence of easy-to-use, reliable, low-priced and robust cloud services that offer converged audio, video and Web collaboration deliver a compelling value, quickly connecting and engaging employees, customers, and partners, without taxing IT departments and budgets.

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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

A recent Frost & Sullivan survey of C-level executives found that 58% of the companies use video conferencing for their daily business operations, up from 41% just three years ago.

Exhibit 2: Conferencing Services Lead Among the Enterprise Communication Applications Moving to Cloud

WITHIN THE NEXT THREE YEARS, THE FOLLOWINGSOLUTIONS WILL MOVE TO THE CLOUD

82%74%

67% 66% 65%

Email Conferencing Instantmessaging/chat

Enterprise socialnetworking

Telephony

n=380 Source: 2014 Frost & Sullivan survey of North American IT decision makers

CLOUD VIDEO CONFERENCING ADDS VALUE

Businesses have a lot of reasons to implement video conferencing in the public cloud. The chief drivers include both short-term tactical objectives and longer-term strategic goals.

• Thetacticaldrivers – such as shift to OPEX and reduced management burden—address the growing needs of resource-constrained IT managers.

• Thestrategicdrivers – such as increased agility and supporting changing business needs—reflect the top-of-mind concerns for business leaders focused on transformation.

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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

For users, the benefits are instant as the service is up and running in no time. Deployments today happen in hours and days, whereas just a few years ago they took months.

Old-World Video Conferencing Cloud Allows …

“Technology Island” Anytime, anywhere connectivity

Large upfront CapEx OpEx-based flexible subscription pricing

High total cost of ownership Affordable video conferencing for all

Complex management/administration No IT involvement, yet robust admin control

Fixed capacity; not scalable Scales up or down to accommodate changing user needs

Limited user access Ubiquitous access over varied devices and clients

Limited interoperability Full interoperability for B2B and B2C communications

Frequent and expensive upgrades Instant upgrades at no additional cost

Extensive deployment and implementation time Speedy deployment; instant ROI

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLOUD VIDEO CONFERENCING SERVICE

There are a plethora of options available today for cloud-based video collaboration. This is leading to greater scrutiny of service quality and reliability. The four pillars for success of cloud-based video conferencing implementation are reliability, quality, cost efficiency, and user experience. Several services available today offer excellent Web collaboration and content sharing, but fail on delivering high-quality multiparty video communications. Others offer good audio and video collaboration, but do not scale up to offer enterprise-grade features, such as recording and content management.

All cloud video conferencing services are not created equal. Customers must ensure that they select a provider that offers them the full range of benefits:

• Simplicity – Simplicity is key. Employees will keep coming back to tools that are user friendly and intuitive to use.

• EaseofAccess – Ability to connect from any device and application—room endpoints, desktops, mobile phones, browsers via rich Web-based app—ensures flexible communications. Moreover, the extension of this consistent collaboration experience into meeting rooms of all sizes ensures a connected device experience.

• UnifiedServices – Next-generation collaboration delivers converged audio, video and Web conferencing, making it easier to consolidate the collaboration spend on a single platform and a unified UI. A unified service cuts back on the inefficiencies of dealing with multiple apps, and reduces user frustration and IT inefficiencies.

• QualityofService – Consistent, high-quality and reliable performance truly encourages user adoption. Moreover, robust capabilities such as persistent collaboration and rich recording and sharing make today’s cloud video conferencing solutions a one-stop shop for all collaboration needs.

• Interoperability – Employees want any-to-any connectivity with their choice of applications, such as Skype for Business, and existing workflows, such as Google Calendar and Outlook.

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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage

• Security – IT must ensure that they select a provider that treats security holistically to address all aspects, including end-to-end encryption, authentication, password protection, secure Firewall/NAT Traversal access, and data center security.

• Cost Savings – The next generation of cloud video conferencing services not only offers the flexibility of a pay-as-you-consume model, but is also available at extremely low costs. Frost & Sullivan research indicates that businesses can save anywhere from 60 to 75% in annual costs by moving from an on-premises deployment to a cloud video conferencing service.

• EaseofManagement – Cloud services are easy to deploy and simple to manage and maintain, as they offer automated upgrades at no additional costs. This “self-service/self-improvement” approach reduces IT’s involvement significantly. As a result, IT is unburdened and can become a strategic asset for the organization, focused on optimizing and improving the business.

Exhibit 3

Cloud Video Conferencing Flips the Equation

Focus on Business

More Time to Focus on Business Strategy

ITInvolvement

IT Heavy Lifting and Management

Old World Video Conferencing

Cloud Video Conferencing

CONCLUSION

Businesses are moving to the cloud at a staggering pace. Cloud conferencing changes the total cost of ownership and offers unprecedented business agility compared to traditional on-premises deployments. A new set of disruptive cloud video conferencing services is evolving to serve employees with simpler, more reliable, and low-cost solutions, allowing a whole new population of users to access the technology. Forward-thinking business users and IT decision makers are embracing the new generation of converged video, Web, and audio conferencing services in the cloud to gain a competitive edge and business agility.

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