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2018 Predictions: The Future is Visual, Flexible & Collaborative

Remote work is here to stay. From third-party research to analyst reports to our own study, it’s clear that the ways in which people work today extends beyond the confines of the desk. But what does that mean going forward, particularly when many would venture to say the future of work – at least as it pertains to the four walls of an office – has already arrived?  

More companies will embrace video

There’s a reason we call Generation Z the App Generation – as digital natives, they’ve grown up on smartphones with apps and Wi-Fi. The workforce is mobile, and it’s here to stay. In fact, according to our Breaking Barriers 2020 report, 88 percent of workers use smartphones daily, and 75 percent of the App Generation wants to be able to use the latest technology at work. With this in mind, we’ll see more companies meet future employees where they are, leveraging the tool they are most comfortable with – video.   With apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook, this generation embraces the drive for connection and companies will be “video ready” to support this. It’s important, therefore, for enterprises to evaluate video conferencing solutions on quality and usability, as well as the security of the solution and its ease of integration. You can find more in-depth information about that here.  

The last mile of digital transformation

While technology has advanced rapidly over the last decade, the nature of the workplace hasn’t quite kept the same pace. As companies continue to usher in new processes and tools to help achieve their digital transformation goals, the role of the CIO has changed drastically. CIOs today are responsible for all areas of a company, not just decision making on IT systems, but also managing financials, developing policy and strategy, and in some cases, recruiting.   According to our CIO Outlook report released at the beginning of 2017, 96 percent of CIOs at the time predicted having a formal cloud strategy in place by the end of this year. As CIOs continue to work with IT departments and executives on refining broader business processes, strategy and execution moving into 2018, we’ll see them rise to the occasion to champion larger operational changes over what many enterprises are experiencing as the last mile of digital transformation.  

No longer a work day, but a work week

As employees and their companies embrace remote work, the work day will continue to be more fluid in 2018. The fact that employees can be productive using collaboration tools wherever they may be means they can be available when it’s most convenient for them. Need to pick up the kids from daycare? Have to schedule a last-minute doctor’s appointment? This fluidity creates greater flexibility for the employee and shifts how we think about work: from a place we go to something we do.   As part of this shift, we will expect to see employees and businesses starting to set clearer boundaries. It’s important for individuals to know their limits, and for companies to trust that they are being productive. We’ll see more businesses looking to data and analytics as a quantitative measure of this increased productivity.  

Virtual reality is coming

Over the next three years, we’ll see VR become more evident in the workplace. Leveraging VR, even by a simple image overlay, can help people understand and engage with ideas. For example, think of an apartment layout where you can see the space in 3D and place appropriately sized furniture.   Enterprises will begin to use VR for sales and customer enablement training. Rather than flying a group to an offsite location to review training materials – and, as we all know, all day meetings with documents and presentations can be boring – corporations can leverage VR to train individuals wherever they may be in an engaging, real-time way.  

Consolidate communications

Analysts have predicted greater migration of business communications to the cloud over the next five years. In 2017, IDG reported that nearly 20 percent of organizations were planning to migrate their collaboration and conferencing solutions to the cloud.   What does this mean for the enterprise? In short, they must double-down on consolidating their communications platforms to streamline support, achieve greater adoption and simplify their communications stack. We’ll see this take greater shape in 2018 as businesses look for proven, all-in-one solutions that help improve business continuity while reducing cost.   The next phase of the “future of work” is coming, and the changes we’ll start to see in 2018 will be just the tip of the iceberg. As technology continues to evolve and become more personalized, the way employees go about their daily lives, both personally and professionally, will also shift. The next 12 months will bring about great change, but we’re primed to see more growth in 2019 and beyond.   What do you think the future of work holds in 2018? Tweet your thoughts to @Fuze.   Want more predictions? Check out this piece from our CIO Chris Conry on what’s top of mind for CIOs in 2018. 

Driving Channel Growth with Adele Knox-Roberts

Happy Holidays and welcome back to the #FuzeLife blog series! As the year draws to a close we, like many professionals, are laser-focused on 2018 and the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead of us. Part of that opportunity is how we approach our growth strategy. To give you a better idea of how this will take shape, we sat down with UK Channel Director Adele Knox-Roberts, one of the latest additions to the Fuze team, for her perspective. Find the full interview below.   Can you tell us about yourself and what brought you to Fuze?   I’ve been working in IT for roughly 25 years, and I have to say, the experience over the last few months has been unlike anything I could have imagined. The bulk of my time has been spent within the enterprise channel – working with Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec. To say the move to a startup like Fuze was a bit of a culture shock would be an understatement. It’s such a fast-paced environment, especially considering the old-school world where I built my career. The platform itself has been a tremendous help in the transition, between the UI and really simple mobile integration. Things might be moving a lot faster than I’m historically used to, but I feel more productive than I’ve ever been.   But as to what initially intrigued me about Fuze – I’d say there are two answers to that question. The first comes back to my experience in the channel. One of the great passions of my career has been working in partner programs and building these relationships across the UK and Ireland. What I’ve seen, especially in the last few years, has been a widespread transition to the cloud. A disproportionate amount of businesses has either already made the jump, or they’re in the process of building that cloud strategy. Fuze drew my eye quickly, in that it’s a company that was built on a cloud foundation well ahead of the curve. With channel growth top of mind, I saw a really exciting opportunity to help shape its next phase of growth. The second was the industry itself. When I posted on LinkedIn about the new role, I had so many colleagues reach out commenting on how UCaaS just keeps growing as a market. Overall, seemed like a perfect match.   You touched on the next phase of Fuze’s growth – what role will the channel play in that?   Over the last few years Fuze’s has really ramped up its channel strategy. I know earlier this year you connected with my colleague Max Errigo, Fuze’s EMEA Channel Director. He’s been laying a very strong foundation that we intend to build upon. Where the channel initially accounted for less than 10 percent of our overall revenue, it’s jumped to nearly 50 percent. With Chris Doggett at the helm of our sales organization and his strong channel background, we’re aiming towards growing that even more.   The good news for us, is that the landscape is ripe for a channel-first strategy. As more businesses embrace digital transformation, the way businesses make purchasing decisions has changed right along with it. Partner programs and the indirect sales model have become a significant driver of the more sustained, strategic growth Fuze is looking to embrace. Between a product that (from my own personal experience) enables the modern employee and a leadership team that is in it for the long haul, I’m really excited about where the next few years are headed. In the short term, I really do believe that 2018 is going to be the year of the channel.   Want to catch up on the #FuzeLife blog series? Find your reading list here: