Three survey results and associated channel opportunities for UC solutions and services

Late in 2021, Nuvias UC asked IT decision-makers across Europe for their thoughts on the biggest challenges and opportunities for the UC market in 2022. The results were enlightening and highlighted some key opportunities for channel partners.

Result #1: Over 40% of IT leaders are looking for communications tools that work easily across all devices

An increase in communication channels may have relieved the immediate challenges of remote working, but many businesses (2 in 5) still think their employees are not fully satisfied with the communication tools provided.

Knowing this, how will businesses meet employee demands in 2022?

Opportunity: Jeremy Keefe, CEO, Nuvias UC, believes remote worker expectations – coupled with the possibility of future spikes in Covid variant cases – will motivate business and IT leaders to address the disruption arising from lack of communication tool integration. For resellers, this is an opportunity to complement the provision of UC communication solutions for businesses with guidance.

Keefe comments: “Accelerated digital transformation has meant we’ve become accustomed to communicating and collaborating across a plethora of different platforms and devices. As a result, many now expect the same ease of integration of communication channels they experience in their personal lives to be reflected in their work tools. By giving their teams what they want, businesses can expect to see a rise in productivity”

Result #2: 70% of businesses expect a split between ‘in’ and ‘out’ workers 

Hybrid working looks here to stay, with some workers still showing reluctance in going back to the office full time. From a cultural perspective, seven in ten IT leaders we asked across Europe believe hybrid working will cause a divide between those who come into the office and those who work from home. 

What does this mean for IT resellers and the channel? 

Opportunity: Nuvias UC foresees there being a higher demand for channel support in deploying not just the technologies but the accompanying business strategies for organisations to make sure that employees have the collaboration tools they need, both at home and in the office. 

UC will play an integral role in business morality – the application of moral standards in the professional environment – and business continuity as organisations look to mitigate cultural barriers. It’s all well and good to be a technology expert, but it’s having a real understanding of the business and what companies are facing that is just as important. And that’s where the channel has an opportunity to be invaluable in providing insight for these evolving times.

Result #3: 37% of IT leaders say lack of technical skills within their team is their biggest frustration 

With over a third of IT leaders across Europe essentially lacking in-team experience and know-how during what has been a stressful period of accelerated digital transformation, it’s understandable why the skills frustration has arisen. 

So, how does this play into the year ahead? 

Opportunity: Nuvias UC sees an opportunity for channel partners to establish themselves as technical experts on all aspects of UC as businesses will be eager to develop more synergistic relationships to fill the knowledge and skills gap.  The labour shortages being experienced around the world and across all industries indicate that the skills issue is unlikely to be resolved any time soon and may even get worse. Over the coming months, and possibly years, channel partners will be called upon to help fill in the technical skills gap for businesses and, over time, we’ll see partners increasingly called upon to perform in a consultancy-led role. For those partners who have the requisite skills in-house, this is an easy transition. For those partners who have yet to skill up, or whose resources are already working at full capacity, there is always the option to work with a distributor, such as Nuvias UC, that has extensive technical resources to complement / supplement the partners’ service offerings.