Unified Communications Featured Article

Business Spending on Tech is Shifting

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

Digital transformation is shaking businesses to their very core as they move to respond to new and more agile competitors, expedite their initiatives through the use of new technologies and processes, and deliver better products and stickier customer experiences.

All this points to the importance for businesses to go beyond simply investing in technology to lower their costs and meet their basic requirements. It illustrates that they can, and should, be employing technology as a competitive advantage.

And that’s exactly where spending is headed, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert). Sure, cybersecurity will remain center stage for businesses. But, increasingly, businesses will shift their tech spending from cost reduction initiatives to efforts that enable them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, according to the research firm.

That will include investments in such areas as big data and analytics, data center services, enterprise mobility management, infrastructure as a service, Internet of Things, and unified communications and collaboration, according to Frost & Sullivan. And as I wrote in the second quarter issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine, in some cases, combinations of these technologies – such as of IoT and UC&C – are enabling exciting new things.

For example, Avaya (News - Alert) has been talking about solutions in which a digital sign outside a conference room can recognize you based on the smartphone in your pocket, greet you, and even trigger your preferred lighting and conference room settings so everything is ready to go once you sit down for your meeting. Volvo is integrating Skype (News - Alert) for Business into its 90 series vehicles, allowing drivers and passengers to see future meetings and join meetings using a single touch to the in-car touchscreen. And managed services provider Unified Office is outfitting some of its voice customers with the ability to also connect, monitor, and manage equipment like prep tables and refrigerators.

“Data is becoming the most valuable asset for any company, and the growth of IoT will generate even more data to be tracked by companies on a daily basis,” said Digital Transformation Program Manager Renato Rosa of Frost & Sullivan. “In this context, it is expected that investments in cloud computing to process and store this data; big data analytics to extract the data value; and security to protect the data, will steadily rise.”