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January 15, 2013

4G and Beyond: Improving Business Communication Tools with Mobility, UC

By Erin Harrison, Executive Editor, Cloud Computing

The main impact of 4G will be to deliver more bandwidth, more cheaply, according to research firm Ovum (News - Alert), which means that many applications that have had marginal functionality until now will become more popular.



TMCnet recently had the opportunity to catch up with Mike Sapien, principal analyst at Ovum, to discuss his views on 4G as well as other technology trends that are shaping the industry. Sapien will take part in a panel discussion at the upcoming ITEXPO (News - Alert) 2013 Miami event during the session, “4G and Beyond: What’s Really Necessary to Deliver on Expectations,” which will be held Jan. 31 from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. at the Miami Convention Center in Florida.

The most significant technology trend impacting the way businesses conduct business, he said, is improving business communications tools including mobility, UC and the transition to IP communications. Cloud computing is another major technology that is impacting the way organizations operate.

“Cloud is just another consumption model so it is something that Ovum, as a research firm, helps describe this consumption model and what our client providers need to offer to their enterprise customers,” Sapien told TMCnet. “It is yet another opportunity to provide insight and customer buying behavior of new emerging services that are based on cloud platforms.”

Security concerns around cloud computing are being addressed by the market, however, it remains an obstacle toward widespread adoption, he explained.

“Security has been addressed initially by the early cloud providers and early adopters but it is still impeding adoption as customers start to deploy more and more mission critical applications versus developmental projects and software projects,” Sapien said.

The unprecedented growth of social media has also changed the way Ovum manages its customers, in terms of how the firm communicates to clients, shares insight using social media and gets client feedback from the traditional sources, but also includes social media into the customer feedback loop.

“Social media also needs to be managed for proactive customer communication and notification. But it has to be integrated and staffed appropriately,” Sapien added.

“Customer Experience” has become another industry buzzword and 2013 may well become characterized as the Year of Customer Experience. To address this trend, Ovum has updated its website, created online marketing and different formats for sharing research, insight and reports to clients globally, according to Sapien.

“It has required redesign of the customer contact and sharing of information as well as different customer support models beyond the traditional account management and support,” he said.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has transitioned from a phenomenon to a more pervasive aspect of the workplace, yet it is still developing and most companies are just starting to realize the full impact and development of comprehensive programs and policies, Sapien explained.

“BYOD is impacting most ICT technologies for the business market and it is very early days in developing the technology and policy along with the constant injection of new devices, applications and uses that need to be added to BYOD policy and management,” he said. “Most companies are just realizing the overall corporate policy requirements for BYOD and creating complete programs to manage and reduce risk of corporate resources.”

To find out more about Mike Sapien, Principal Analyst: Enterprise Practice: US, and Ovum, visit the company at ITEXPO Miami 2013, taking place Jan. 29- Feb 1, in Miami, Florida. Mike Sapien is speaking during 4G and Beyond: What’s Really Necessary to Deliver on Expectations. For more information on ITEXPO Miami 2013 click here.




Edited by Brooke Neuman
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