The challenges faced by UC players are not unlike those faced by overall technology solutions providers. Technology deployments are not about sending out a request for proposal and selecting the least cost supplier. They are about intelligently using existing resources, and adding new ones, to deliver a powerful ROI. In a sense, and especially with UC deployments, the sum of the whole benefit is far higher than the sum of the parts (piecemeal benefits). While UC adoption is on an upswing, there is not enough awareness yet regarding the potential impact it can have on a business bottomline. Two key challenges here revolve around reluctance to try new technologies because first the enterprises have legacy infrastructure and are afraid to take the next step to invest in new age technology. SMBs believe that UC is ‘not for them’. Both the above are mindsets that must change if Corporate India must move the needle both in its use of technology to drive business growth, and also to come on par with the rest of the world
Lastly, many believe that India is a price sensitive market, more so than the western world. But I believe India is a value-driven market, and nothing is too expensive for the India customer mindset if the returns are tangible and rapid. And UC delivers exactly that. Tangible cost savings, better productivity, good ROI – and all within a short time span. Today, with the worst of the economic slump hopefully over, having exposed even the smallest inefficiency in the system, businesses in India are poised just right to make this leap into a communications enabled business process.
