How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing
Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
A Frost & Sullivan Market Insight
Sponsored by Lifesize
frost.com
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Top Collaboration Trends that are Shaping Video Conferencing Adoption .......................................................3
Cloud Video Conferencing Adds Value.......................................................................................................................5
What to Look for in a Cloud Video Conferencing Service...................................................................................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
CONTE NT S
How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
INTRODUCTION
Digital transformation is all around us. Businesses are changing the way they use technology to radically improve
their performance and reach.Technology advances such as cloud computing, analytics, mobility, and social media are
disrupting old business models and redefining the modern workplace. Business leaders who are ready for digital
transformation are rapidly adopting leading-edge collaboration tools that not only streamline business processes,
but also bring together various teams for agile cross-functional collaboration.
Video conferencing has become a vital communications tool today for companies that seek greater productivity and
sustained competitive advantage at reduced operating costs. At the same time, the old hardware-centric approach
to end-to-end video conferencing infrastructure is out. In fact, cloud-based video conferencing ushered in such a
profound evolution, those enterprises that rely on premise-based deployments are not realizing the full benefits
of the technology. Specifically, they face the insurmountable challenges of high up-front capital investment and
operating costs, operational challenges, constrained IT resources and budgets, interoperability, and long deployment
times. Cloud-based video conferencing is changing all of that. Moreover, it levels the playing field so companies of
all sizes, not just the ones with deep pockets, can roll out video conferencing for all employees at low costs with
zero operational headaches.
TOP COLLABORATION TRENDS THAT ARE SHAPING VIDEO CONFERENCING
ADOPTION
User demand for video and Web collaboration is growing at a staggering pace. However, to get the most from a
collaboration solution, organizations need these tools to be fully adopted and utilized. The journey to successful
end-user acceptance hinges upon one critical factor—the “user experience”. Cloud services are easy to use and
reliable—which essentially resolves all issues with the “old” video scenario—to deliver increased productivity as
well as lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
There are several collaboration trends that are transforming the user experience and providing an impetus to video
conferencing adoption:
• Email is Dying – Frequent, instant ad-hoc collaboration is replacing emails. Instead of lengthy back-andforth email discussions, video conferencing offers the ability to have productive instant communications; it’s
all about getting the work done faster and better.
• The Millennial Impact – Millennials, whose behaviors are driven by a deep affinity for digitization, are
joining the workforce in droves. This FaceTime and Snap Chat generation expects consumer-like ease of use
and more effective technologies at work, which has helped create a whole new category of collaboration
products with the spotlight on video.
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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Exhibit 1: Collaboration in an Era of Digital Transformation – Emerging User Trends
Email is Dying - Users want
latest collaboration tools
Millennials Seek Better
Work/Life Balance
Persistent Collaboration
User-driven
Collaboration
Mobile Workstyles
• User-driven Collaboration – Employees are focused on results. To help reach their goals, they are adopting
ad-hoc collaboration tools, like video conferencing, which connect them instantly from their desktops and
mobile devices. Gone are the days of long technology deployment cycles and the need for IT intervention
to run video meetings. Consumerization and the self-service nature of today’s collaboration options have
empowered users to bring their choice of applications into the workplace.
• Persistent Collaboration – Meetings are becoming more than “one and done” events. The notion that
meetings have an entire lifecycle (pre-, in-, and post-meeting) requires continuity of collaboration. Moreover,
online meetings are moving from scheduled, pre-planned sessions to instant, “real-time conversations”
that are more personal and targeted. The new generation of video conferencing services offers always-on
persistent virtual spaces where users can meet anytime and collaborate, as well as store all their content
and relevant information.
• Mobile Workstyles – The mantra “work is not a place you go to; it is what you get done” is well established.
Bring Your Own App (BYOA), driven by mobility and consumerization, is redefining the modern workplace.
Employees expect all their corporate applications to be easily accessible on their mobile devices. Cloud
video conferencing enables seamless mobile connectivity for globally distributed organizations, regardless of
location or network.
As a result of these transformational shifts, video and Web collaboration have become key business enablers.
The emergence of easy-to-use, reliable, low-priced and robust cloud services that offer converged audio, video
and Web collaboration deliver a compelling value, quickly connecting and engaging employees, customers, and
partners, without taxing IT departments and budgets.
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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
A recent Frost & Sullivan survey of C-level executives found that 58% of the companies use video
conferencing for their daily business operations, up from 41% just three years ago.
Exhibit 2: Conferencing Services Lead Among the Enterprise Communication Applications Moving to Cloud
WITHIN THE NEXT THREE YEARS, THE FOLLOWING
SOLUTIONS WILL MOVE TO THE CLOUD
82%
Email
74%
Conferencing
67%
66%
65%
Instant
messaging/chat
Enterprise social
networking
Telephony
n=380
Source: 2014 Frost & Sullivan survey of North American IT decision makers
CLOUD VIDEO CONFERENCING ADDS VALUE
Businesses have a lot of reasons to implement video conferencing in the public cloud.The chief drivers include both
short-term tactical objectives and longer-term strategic goals.
• The tactical drivers – such as shift to OPEX and reduced management burden—address the growing
needs of resource-constrained IT managers.
• The strategic drivers – such as increased agility and supporting changing business needs—reflect the topof-mind concerns for business leaders focused on transformation.
All rights reserved © 2015 Frost & Sullivan
5
How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
For users, the benefits are instant as the service is up and running in no time. Deployments today happen in hours
and days, whereas just a few years ago they took months.
Old-World Video Conferencing
Cloud Allows …
“Technology Island”
Anytime, anywhere connectivity
Large upfront CapEx
OpEx-based flexible subscription pricing
High total cost of ownership
Affordable video conferencing for all
Complex management/administration
No IT involvement, yet robust admin control
Fixed capacity; not scalable
Scales up or down to accommodate changing user needs
Limited user access
Ubiquitous access over varied devices and clients
Limited interoperability
Full interoperability for B2B and B2C communications
Frequent and expensive upgrades
Instant upgrades at no additional cost
Extensive deployment and implementation time
Speedy deployment; instant ROI
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLOUD VIDEO CONFERENCING SERVICE
There are a plethora of options available today for cloud-based video collaboration.This is leading to greater scrutiny
of service quality and reliability. The four pillars for success of cloud-based video conferencing implementation
are reliability, quality, cost efficiency, and user experience. Several services available today offer excellent Web
collaboration and content sharing, but fail on delivering high-quality multiparty video communications. Others offer
good audio and video collaboration, but do not scale up to offer enterprise-grade features, such as recording and
content management.
All cloud video conferencing services are not created equal. Customers must ensure that they select a provider
that offers them the full range of benefits:
• Simplicity – Simplicity is key. Employees will keep coming back to tools that are user friendly and intuitive
to use.
• Ease of Access – Ability to connect from any device and application—room endpoints, desktops, mobile
phones, browsers via rich Web-based app—ensures flexible communications. Moreover, the extension of this
consistent collaboration experience into meeting rooms of all sizes ensures a connected device experience.
• Unified Services – Next-generation collaboration delivers converged audio, video and Web conferencing,
making it easier to consolidate the collaboration spend on a single platform and a unified UI. A unified service
cuts back on the inefficiencies of dealing with multiple apps, and reduces user frustration and IT inefficiencies.
• Quality of Service – Consistent, high-quality and reliable performance truly encourages user adoption.
Moreover, robust capabilities such as persistent collaboration and rich recording and sharing make today’s
cloud video conferencing solutions a one-stop shop for all collaboration needs.
• Interoperability – Employees want any-to-any connectivity with their choice of applications, such as Skype
for Business, and existing workflows, such as Google Calendar and Outlook.
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How Cloud is Changing the Video Conferencing Equation: Act Now to Gain a Competitive Advantage
• Security – IT must ensure that they select a provider that treats security holistically to address all
aspects, including end-to-end encryption, authentication, password protection, secure Firewall/NAT
Traversal access, and data center security.
• Cost Savings – The next generation of cloud video conferencing services not only offers
the flexibility of a pay-as-you-consume model, but is also available at extremely low costs.
Frost & Sullivan research indicates that businesses can save anywhere from 60 to 75% in annual
costs by moving from an on-premises deployment to a cloud video conferencing service.
• Ease of Management – Cloud services are easy to deploy and simple to manage and maintain, as
they offer automated upgrades at no additional costs.This “self-service/self-improvement” approach
reduces IT’s involvement significantly. As a result, IT is unburdened and can become a strategic asset
for the organization, focused on optimizing and improving the business.
Exhibit 3
Cloud Video Conferencing Flips the Equation
Old World Video
Conferencing
Cloud Video
Conferencing
Focus on
Business
IT Heavy Lifting
and Management
More Time to Focus on
Business Strategy
IT
Involvement
CONCLUSION
Businesses are moving to the cloud at a staggering pace. Cloud conferencing changes the total cost of
ownership and offers unprecedented business agility compared to traditional on-premises deployments.
A new set of disruptive cloud video conferencing services is evolving to serve employees with simpler,
more reliable, and low-cost solutions, allowing a whole new population of users to access the technology.
Forward-thinking business users and IT decision makers are embracing the new generation of converged
video, Web, and audio conferencing services in the cloud to gain a competitive edge and business agility.
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