Dimension Data: Unified Communications Adoption Outpaces Expectations

New research released today by Dimension Data (LSE:DDT) reveals
that unified communications technologies are high on organisations'
investment agendas following the rapid adoption of new technologies by
IT users. Organisations perceive unified communications technologies
to be reasonably mature, and will be investing in these technologies
in the next six months to two years.

The research, commissioned by Dimension Data and conducted by
Datamonitor, surveyed 390 IT managers and 524 end-users across 13
countries in the United States, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East
and Africa.

The findings show that organisations view click-to-dial on
desktops (52%), and presence (42%) as maturing technologies which will
be routinely used in the corporate environment within two years.

Most organisations have already invested in infrastructure
technologies with 37% of companies currently using IP telephony,
followed by 36% using a video conferencing infrastructure. Although
mobile VoIP is not widely used, an investment is on corporate agendas,
in the next two years.

The United States leads the way in IP telephony adoption (60%)
with Middle East and Africa having the lowest penetration at 13%.

Rob Lopez, Managing Director, Solutions at Dimension Data says,
"The research indicates that unified communications and the associated
technologies are more widely adopted than anticipated. Whilst
organisations have been reluctant or unable to adopt these
technologies as a corporate standard, Dimension Data clients around
the world are telling us that consumers are bringing these
technologies into the workplace.

"Organisations intuitively understand the value of unified
communications and the associated benefits. These include improved
employee productivity and customer service, as well as infrastructure
cost savings. In addition, the move to work-from-home - or
flexi-working - initiatives around the world has also impacted the
increase in adoption."

The research also confirms that the management of unified
communication technologies is being outsourced more frequently than
other technologies, with 38% of the sample currently having
technologies managed onsite or fully managed, followed by voice/data
network management (34%).

Lopez concludes, "While companies consider the functionality that
unified communications offers as core to conducting business in a
profitable and cost effective way, these technologies can become
complex to deploy and manage. Deploying unified communications as a
corporate tool requires a stable operating environment, standardised
systems and common identity management. Some organisations will
therefore opt to outsource the management of unified communications to
companies like Dimension Data."

Other key findings in the Dimension Data survey include: unified
communications is a vibrant and developing market; security is a
concern rather than an issue; unified communications technologies are
more likely to be outsourced or externally managed than other
technologies; and unified communications mindshares are dominated by
alpha brands within each market.

About Dimension Data

Dimension Data plc (LSE:DDT), a specialist IT services and
solution provider, helps clients plan, build, support and manage their
IT infrastructures. Dimension Data applies its expertise in
networking, security, operating environments, storage and contact
centre technologies and its unique skills in consulting, integration
and managed services to create customised client solutions.

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