Through headlines about improvements to calling in Microsoft Teams, a new immersive view within Zoom calls and Google’s storage solution boosting overall Workspace usage, platforms are shooting for one thing; exclusive usage.
The idea that businesses can run all of their processes through one solution is not a new one. But as the pandemic continues to impact businesses around the globe, and long-term plans for returning to the office continue to evolve, a key question is: ‘Which platform are we going to use?’
Jonathan Sass, Vyopta’s Vice President of Product, says the majority of businesses are not choosing to be wedded to one provider, instead adopting a multi-vendor communication and collaboration strategy.
“The evolution of the UC estate is becoming increasingly multi-vendor,” said Sass.
“We see evidence of this amongst our customer base, and also generally in the market, with 64 percent of businesses saying they are using multiple platforms to power their company collaboration experience”
Sass said there’s a number of reasons for this. One is that quite often organisations want to pursue perceived ‘Best In Breed’ solutions and products, and so they pick the platform that makes the most sense for their video communication, voice communication and collaboration as an organisation.
Other times Vyopta sees different departments with different needs driving this multi-platform approach. If there is a department within the organisation that interfaces with a set of external parties, they may adopt a certain technology or platform to better communicate with specific clients or suppliers, while the rest of the organisation is using a solution prescribed by the IT Team.
Growth Factors
Mergers and acquisitions can also lead to a multi-vendor approach, with businesses seeking to maximise ROI after signing up and paying for solutions before being acquired by another company that uses a different platform.
Sass pointed out that growth for different vendors can also be attributed to the consumerisation of IT, with employees often leading the way for wider adoption.
“We don't talk about it as much as we have in the past but the consumerisation of IT can have a huge impact on the solutions organisations adopt” said Sass. “IT solutions such as Zoom and Google Meet, are increasingly targeting the end user to be a first adopter.”
