Businesses to Increase Collaboration Spending in '21 as Remote Work Continues

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• Businesses to Increase Collaboration Spending in '21 as Remote Work Continues

            Después de luchar en 2020 para mantener vivas las operaciones comerciales en medio de una pandemia, las empresas están considerando un gasto aún mayor en 2021 en herramientas de colaboración para apoyar a los trabajadores remotos.  Pero con el lanzamiento actual de vacunas y la incertidumbre sobre cómo podría ser un “lugar de trabajo híbrido”, es probable que esas mismas empresas gasten con prudencia debido a la incertidumbre que rodea al entorno económico más amplio.

Even with vaccines offering hope of a return to normality next year, remote work will continue to be a necessity for many organizations. More than half (54%) of respondents to a Pew survey released this month said they wanted to work from home "all or most of the time" when the coronavirus outbreak is over, while a third would." from time to time". “Only 11% say they would like to do this 'rarely or never.' The continued need for tools to connect these remote teams will lead to increased spending on collaboration next year, said Irwin Lazar, vice president and chief services officer at Nemertes Research. A 12-month survey of spending intentions from mid-2020 to mid-2021 by Nemertes Research in June indicated that just over half (52%) of respondents plan to increase budgets for video apps. , while nearly half (45%) planned to invest more in team collaboration apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Follow-up research conducted by Nemertes in recent weeks indicates that buying intentions have not changed much in the meantime. However, spending increases are likely to be relatively modest, probably in the single digits. "In general, I think companies are cautious about next year," Lazar said. “They envision a gradual increase in collaborative spending on the order of 10% or less, to better support home-based workers and add more video; this is really where the main investment areas are located. "

An uncertain future makes budgeting difficult

With real uncertainty about the end of the pandemic and the start of a sustainable global economic recovery, many IT departments are likely to take a wait-and-see approach when budgeting for collaborative investments in 2021. “What I often hear is : 'I have three budgets for next year,' said Lazar. These budgets include spending based on the worst-case scenario, where financial markets crash and spending is "cut to the bone"; a “hold everything stable” budget; and, finally, an upbeat budget where economies are booming and businesses are embarking on a "massive expansion" in spending, he said. Data from analyst firm IDC shows that about half of companies worldwide (48%) plan to increase their spending on collaboration software in 2021, according to a recent survey report (subscription required). “The need to strengthen collaboration across the enterprise has clearly been a lesson learned in 2020,” said Wayne Kurtzman, research director for collaboration at IDC. “2021 is the time to make it better, often through software integrations and part of the core IT stack and enable all employees. A survey report from 451 Research (Voice of the Enterprise: Workforce Productivity & Collaboration Technology Ecosystems 2020), which tracks enterprise technology purchases planned for the first half of 2021, paints a similar picture, with collaboration spending shielded. largely as businesses tighten other areas of their IT budgets."Despite the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, IT spending on employee productivity, communication and collaboration technologies will stay flat or increase over the next six months," said Raul Castanon, principal analyst at 451 Research / S&P Global Market Intelligence. 451 Research / S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research found that nearly four in five respondents expect their company to maintain or increase spending in categories including content storage and sharing tools (85%), video collaboration (84%), remote work equipment and peripherals (83%), digital workspace (80%), messaging and team collaboration (79%), and unified communications (77%). Some of these categories will see marked increases: Roughly half of respondents expect their organization to increase spending on video collaboration (51%), remote work equipment and peripherals (50%), and messaging and team collaboration (46%). , according to 451. To put that in context, a study conducted by 451 Research earlier this year, "Voice of the Customer: Macroeconomic Insights, Enterprise IT Spending," found that more than a third (38%) of buyers of products and services Hardware and software are expected to squeeze overall IT budgets in the third quarter of 2020, with only a 9% increase in their spending.

Hybrid remote strategy will generate more expenses

In 2021, many companies plan to support more internal and remote employees, often referred to as a "remote hybrid strategy." A Gartner survey earlier this year indicated that over the long term, 82% of companies will allow staff to work remotely from time to time. An expected return to the office is unlikely to dampen enthusiasm for collaboration tools. “Our data suggests more collaborative use of the platform and more integrated applications to come, even as we begin to return to the workplace,” Kurtzman said. Companies are expected to aim to invest more in upgrading collaboration hardware as workers start returning to the office next year; Lazar expects more spending on video room systems that connect staff in the office and remotely. “Video will be a part of all meetings going forward,” he said, reflecting the assumption that many companies will embrace a hybrid model in which some workers are in the office while others continue to work remotely. . Improving work-from-home settings will also be a priority, as companies move to upgrading equipment like headsets and webcams, which in many cases were purchased as a temporary fix at first. of the pandemic. Other investments in remote work, such as VPN upgrades, as well as security and performance analytics, will likely be a priority, he said. And many companies could increase allowances for home workers to help offset the added costs of running a home office. Another area of ​​interest that companies are likely to focus on is finding ways to reduce the costs associated with existing collaboration software investments. This is especially true for companies that offer multiple, overlapping solutions. “The companies I talk to now are focused on: 'Can we reduce support and license costs by going to one integrated provider, move our on-premises platforms to the cloud faster than ever before,'” Lazar said. "All of these things generally save money."

<p>Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.</p>