Collaboration Systems Of The Future.

Cloud based solutions are a growing trend in this modern era. With the emphasis on reliability, security and resilience the expectation placed on Cloud based solutions is enormous. Many organizations have also realized this potential and are working towards making this their competitive advantage. Cisco, Polycom and LifeSize are also following this growing trend. LifeSize was the first organization to introduce a truly Cloud based infrastructure solution for their customers.

Integrations is also a growing movement, where one device is now able to perform the task of what several other devices did in the past. With consumer knowledge increasing day by day, their expectations placed on technological devices have also increased significantly. Large organizations are moving away from off-the-shelf purchases and they now prefer customized solutions for which they are willing to pay more. Gone are the days where economies of scale was the only method to be competitive in the market place. Organizations now have to look into ways to give consumers a unique/compelling reason to attract and retain them, rather than focusing solely on low cost solutions.

Simplicity is very important for consumers. The iPod became very popular due to the simplicity associated with its functionality. Users were able to select a MP3 with only a few clicks. For a collaboration system to be successful, it has to be user-friendly for daily users and the administrator who needs to troubleshoot potential issues that arise. A simple interface with less technical jargon is essential, towards the success of modern brands.

Most of the collaboration solutions in the market today, have integrated existing Microsoft solutions (Lync, Outlook) to make their solutions more attractive to corporate users. These integrations are important competitive advantages that ensures that consumers are compelled to adopt or retain their existing brands. The future of collaboration solutions will see more of these integrations; with simpler graphical user interfaces and possibly a permanent integration towards Cloud based solutions.