By Steven Taylor and Joanie Wexler

Published June 2008, Posted June 2008

Abstract:

Unified communications (UC) is a top priority for the vast majority of today’s enterprise organizations. In a May 2008 Web-based survey of about 800 members of two large Nortel user groups, 58% of the respondents indicated that they were "more interested" or "substantially more interested" in deploying UC than they were 12 months ago.

The increase in respondent interest is particularly noteworthy as only 8% of the respondents described themselves as being among the first to implement new technology. Rather, 84% of the respondents were more mainstream adopters: 36% described themselves as early adopters who tended to wait “until we see the problems others have had” before implementing, while 48% described themselves as those who tend to do so once a new technology has become widely accepted. UC, then, is making its way into the planning fabric of traditional IT organizations.

In fact, of those specifying a timeframe, 78% of the respondents indicated that they already have deployed or will begin deploying UC within two years despite a number of challenges such as tight budgets and complex internal decision-making processes.