SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - June 3, 2010) - A recent global survey of attitudes and adoption of collaboration technologies show that companies perceive clear value from employee collaboration services and software. The survey, commissioned by Avanade, a business technology services provider, showed that more than 80 per cent of executives believe that enterprise-wide collaboration is the key to success. In Canada, more than 60 per cent of respondents agreed that collaborating with colleagues brings the best work forward. But, the research also shows that senior executives and IT decision makers are concerned about specific business culture and behavioural issues as a result of collaboration.
The study, conducted by Kelton Research, surveying more than 500 global C-level executives, IT decision makers and business unit leaders in 17 countries, further shows how collaboration is impacting the enterprise. The study found that businesses are enabling greater collaboration across globalized workforces and empowering employees to solve business issues more efficiently.
"Collaboration technologies are fundamentally shifting how people work," said Jeff Kempiners, Account Group Executive, Avanade Canada. "In this 'always connected' environment, collaboration is a crucial tool for enabling businesses to tap resources in varying markets to solve business issues, especially in a geographically dispersed and globally-minded country like Canada."
Top Collaboration Technologies in Canada
More than 90 per cent of Canadian companies say that e-mail is essential for their business interactions. In addition to e-mail, the following technologies were called "essential" by the majority of Canadian respondents:
- Phone calls (91 per cent)
- Shared drive for saving documents (83 per cent)
- Teleconferencing / Conference calls (77 per cent)
- Corporate portals / Online team sites (57 per cent)
- Instant messaging (49 per cent)
Collaboration Drawbacks Must be Addressed
While benefits to the enterprise are evident, many respondents are still wary of new business culture issues created by greater collaboration in the workplace. For example:
- Employees may, in fact, be dodging responsibility over certain tasks because of readily available collaboration options to ask other people. More than one in three (34 per cent) Canadian respondents agree that people problem solve less on their own today and instead rely on collaboration technologies to ask other people. Additionally, 38 per cent of Canada companies agree that there is less ownership over certain tasks because of collaboration technologies.
- Although the survey results indicate an increase in the rate of collaboration technology adoption, some employees claim to dread collaborating, especially across employee levels and company departments. One in four executives and IT decision-makers worldwide say they dread collaboration because of the amount of time and energy it wastes.
- Forty per cent of Canadian respondents also said one of their primary concerns with communications and collaboration tools is the lack of a human element.
"The study underscores the importance for organizations to strategically foster collaboration and understand its use within the context of the business," said Kempiners. "Companies need to clearly understand the technical and behavioural conditions to ensure success with their enterprise collaboration strategy."
Clear Shift in Global Priorities: Focus on Innovation
Key findings in the survey also show that companies around the world are becoming more open to embracing new technologies and are actively emphasizing innovation and growth, even over cost savings. Across geographies and industries, respondents are reporting a gradual shift away from cost savings as a top priority, and a marked increase in pressure they feel to innovate. This shift away from costs and toward innovation and growth is even pronounced at the executive level. Key findings include:
- In Avanade's previous market survey in September 2009, only 18 per cent of respondents reported current pressure to innovate. In this survey, this number has jumped to 28 per cent reporting pressure to innovate -- a 56 per cent increase in respondents focusing on innovation rather than cost savings.
- Nearly 80 per cent of respondents say that the recent economic turmoil has caused their company to become more open to new technologies.
- Seventy-five per cent of companies surveyed globally -- and 80 per cent in Canada -- plan to increase the use of communications and collaboration technologies in the next year.
About the Survey
The Collaboration survey was conducted by Kelton Research, an independent research firm, between February 8 to February 25, 2010, and included 538 online interviews with C-level executives, IT decision makers and business unit leaders at the top companies in 17 countries across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information on this study and Avanade's collaboration expertise, please visit http://www.avanade.com.
About Avanade
Avanade provides business technology services that connect insight, innovation and expertise in Microsoft technologies to help customers realize results. Avanade's services and solutions help improve performance, productivity and sales for organizations in all industries. The company applies Microsoft expertise from its global network of consultants, drawing on the right mix of onshore, offshore and nearshore skills, which together are designed to help deliver results faster, at lower cost and with less risk. Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture, was founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft Corporation and serves customers in more than 24 countries worldwide with more than 9,700 professionals. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.
Avanade and the Avanade logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Avanade Inc. Other product, service, or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ®2010 Avanade Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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