Ready for the big ball drop tonight? We’re dropping a ball of our own. This year we’ve pulled out the crystal ball to peer into the future and give you our 5 big predictions for video collaboration in 2015. IT managers and video administrators – hold on to your seats.
#1 ADOPTION OF VIDEO CONFERENCING INTO COMPANY CULTURE
This New Year will bring new years resolutions as usual. As predicted last year for 2014 browser-based video conferencing has truly blossomed with the integration of WebRTC into Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. If the news hasn’t reached you yet, you really must check it out. No plugins and no add-ons are required to enable video conferencing from a web browser. But, as fun as 2014 was, for 2015 we’re looking at enterprise level video collaboration, which historically required much more than a webcam and internet browser to work. We’re predicting that most enterprises will continue to look for hybrid video collaboration solutions (e.g., on-premise and cloud services) to support internal and external collaboration and that works with standards-based legacy video equipment. The ones that don’t have video already will most likely either:
1.) Have started kicking around the idea of adopting a low-cost, cloud-based video solution for employee engagement.
2.) Have tried an inexpensive solution and will be looking to integrate video collaboration more deeply into the business.
#2 CLOUD-BASED SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS
One of the key forces driving video adoption in 2015 is inexpensive, hosted UC solutions to better support business-to-business collaboration and use cases where participants exceed video collaboration infrastructure capacity. With many providers competing in the cloud-based UC market playing on the same level as on-premise providers, video adopters in 2015 can look forward to a whole bunch of new features. Users who have enjoyed the robust support, higher quality and security of on-premise solutions will also be able to take advantage of user-friendly, simplified platforms.
#3 ANALYTICS TO DRIVE INVESTMENT
We can’t get enough of analytics these days. 2015 will be a prominent year in the age of information for data-driven decision making in all industries to continually improve efficiencies and/or “trim the fat” in many aspects of business. Some analytics platforms are designed more literally with the goal of “trimming the fat”, used in wearable technology made by Nike such as the Nike+ Running App and the Nike Fuel Band.
In the video conferencing world, especially at the enterprise level, we’re seeing increased adoption and use and, as a result, a greater need to prove ROI on video investments. Since more enterprises will need a plain and simple way to prove value, intuitive analytics platforms will be a requirement for all video investments.
Another key feature of analytics for video collaboration platforms in 2015 will be the ability to monitor and measure the impact of video engagement from an operational perspective. Businesses who can demonstrate improvements in productivity and business outcomes with video engagement and cost savings from a dramatic decrease in travel expenses will lead the way in 2015. Key features like real-time analytics and multi-vendor interoperability will contribute immensely to increased adoption at the enterprise level.
#4 CONTENT SHARING IS KING
Content collaboration in 2015 is a no brainer. In public, private sectors and healthcare fields – content is still king. On-prem and cloud-based video collaboration technology must come with the ability to share content easily from endpoint to endpoint with either one or several participants.
#5 SAAS IS THE NEW BLACK
The SaaS trend will become even more prevalent than ever in the coming year 2015. Software as a Service in many industries has made great strides in transforming the buying process – thanks Salesforce. But seriously, SaaS has spread from CRM, to marketing automation, to accounting and financial service and is continuing to make its way into the IT world. SaaS will be the new black in 2015 as purchase in the video IT will be more affordable and accessible for teams within organizations who no longer need the approval from senior level execs.
We’re looking forward to the New Year and making some resolutions ourselves. I’m personally excited to share more helpful content for those fortunate enough to be apart of the video collaboration industry, and I can promise this year will be a very special one for our partners and customers. 😉 Thanks and Happy New Year!
