How Smart Devices in the Workplace Fuel Productivity

We already know that savvy executives and managers everywhere are the early-adopters of a variety of mobile devices. They use these devices to connect to an online world of infinite possibilities. Behind every great device is a great network. The same essential network that's the platform for the emerging Internet of Everything (IoE).

Exponential growth in the use of these smart devices has led to significant and increased demand for network bandwidth across 84 percent of organizations surveyed globally, according to the findings from a new market study commissioned by BT and Cisco.

More than half (56 percent) of IT managers have also noticed a resulting performance decline in some applications, which impacts negatively the productivity gains promised by these smart devices.

Almost half (46 percent) of workers with Wi-Fi access in their office have experienced delays logging on or accessing an application, while 39 percent have noticed they are running more slowly now than before.

The research, which surveyed attitudes towards workers' use of their own smart devices in 13 regions, reveals 76 percent believe their organizations need to take further steps to fulfill the potential productivity gains that smart devices offer.

Increased use of cloud solutions (33 percent), greater use of specialist software (32 percent) and greater support for smart device users (32 percent) are what is needed to seize the opportunity.

Growing Demand for Wireless Communications

Ubiquitous Wi-Fi access over a better network is key to the development of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), but 45 percent of employees still don't have wireless access to their corporate networks. Of those workers currently without Wi-Fi access in their organisation, over two thirds (68 percent) believe it would have a positive impact on their work, for example, it would make them more efficient and productive (31 percent), help them work more flexibly (30 percent) and stay in-touch (26 percent).

Adrian Drury, practice leader, Consumer Impact IT at Ovum said: "The growth in employee smartphone and tablet ownership is changing the ways we work. Implementing a BYOD policy is about enabling employees to work more flexibly, and be more productive.

"Draconian Wi-Fi access limitations or failure to invest in sufficient Wi-Fi coverge is a fast way to ensure a poor employee experience. However, this is not a mandate for open networks. Businesses still need to ensure that network security policies are maintained, and ideally they should take an integrated approach to network access control, device management and application management."

The findings also indicate that network capacity is not the only challenge holding back benefits of BYOD. Despite overwhelming positivity among IT managers – 84 percent think adopting a BYOD policy confers a competitive advantage – the research also highlights a lack of progress in adopting or articulating a consistent policy across wired, wireless and Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Why BYOD Policies Require IT Governance

Trust in employees continues to play a large role in whether companies permit BYOD. Just over a quarter (26 percent) of IT managers think that all workers understand their access requirements or permissions for their mobile devices. This figure has increased from 19 percent in 2012, pointing to an increase in confidence.

Yet only 26 percent of employees that use a personal device for work recognize that this presents a risk to company security, suggesting IT managers are nervous with some justification.

Neil Sutton, VP Global Portfolio, BT Global Services, said: "With networks creaking under the demands of smart devices and more than three quarters, (76 percent) of users convinced that their organisation needs to step up to the opportunity, it's clear that enabling BYOD in its many forms is about much more than simply cool devices and a mobile contract. Organisations need to consider elements of device compatibility, security, Wi-Fi, network, application performance, with a focus on driving costs down."

He added, "Behind every great device you need a great performing network. With the right control and connectivity you can deliver a great user experience on any device. At BT we are working with more and more customers to understand and implement this coming of age of consumerisation and turn it to business advantage, reliably, securely and cost effectively."

Exploring the 21st Century Retail Customer Experience

The realm of Retailing is currently undergoing significant changes across the globe.  Cisco Systems, Inc. released the results of a new market study, focused on the evolving retail shopping experience.  Their report examined the impact of automation, self-service and omni-channel shopping experiences -- plus, consumer views about providing their personal information in exchange for more personalized services.

The majority (61 percent) of global consumers are open to shopping at a fully automated "self service" store with vending machines and kiosk stations offering a virtual customer service. 

Additionally, when "checking out," the majority of consumers globally (52 percent) prefer self-check-out stations in order to avoid waiting in line to make purchases.

The younger consumers were the most accepting of this retail shopping experience: 57 percent of Generation Y (aged 18-29) and 55 percent of Generation X shoppers (aged 30 to 49) prefer self-check-out, while baby boomers (50+) represent only 45 percent.

Overall, the report demonstrates consumer interest in more automated and personalized shopping experiences, the type of connections made possible by what Cisco describes as the Internet of Everything (IoE).

The Internet of Everything phenomenon brings together people, process, data and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before. Cisco recently released an Internet of Everything economic analysis that identified a $14.4 trillion in bottom-line business value that will be created over the next decade by the Internet of Everything innovations.

 
Highlights and Key Facts from the Study

The Cisco Customer Experience Report surveyed 1,511 consumers across 10 countries to examine the perceptions of consumers on their desired retail shopping experience.
 
Omni-Channel Shopping Experience

• One-third (34 percent) of global consumers use multiple channels when shopping.  The survey shows 23 percent of consumers recently made in-store purchases based on research they did online, and 11 percent of shoppers purchased online after seeing it in a retail store.

Convenience of Self-Service and Automated Buying

• Avoiding lines: The majority of consumers globally (52 percent) prefer self-check-out stations in order to avoid waiting in line to make a purchase.
• Price check/product availability: When researching products in the store, 43 percent prefer using their own mobile phone, while 57 percent of consumers prefer using in-store touch screens.  
• Rise of the digital mall: The majority (61 percent) of global consumers would be willing to shop in a completely automated store with vending machines with products and kiosk stations offering virtual customer service. And 42 percent of consumers would prefer to shop in these kinds of environments.
• Automated milkman: Almost half (49 percent) of consumers would allow an automated engine to make purchases for replacement products automatically. This could include restocking milk in the refrigerator. 
• Budget tracking: Half of global consumers (52 percent) would likely purchase a device to help them stay on budget for clothing and other retail purchases.
• Automated shopping tips: Two-thirds (65 percent) of global consumers are comfortable receiving retail advice based on their location through their mobile device.

In-Person Assistance When Shopping

• Desire for more personal customer service: Although many shoppers want automation when purchasing, consumers are evenly divided, with 58 percent of consumers preferring help from an in-store associate. And when shopping online, slightly more consumers prefer to instant-message with a sales associate (30 percent), or call one on the phone (28 percent) than send an email (27 percent).

Why Global IP Traffic is Predicted to Grow Three-Fold

The Global Networked Economy is fueled by readily available and pervasive broadband internet access. Tapping this amazing worldwide resource for socioeconomic advancement continues to transform the way that we work, live, play and learn.

The latest Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast (2012-2017) projects that global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic will grow three-fold between 2012 and 2017.

Global IP traffic (fixed and mobile) is expected to reach an annual run rate of 1.4 zettabytes ― more than a trillion gigabytes per year – by 2017. On a monthly basis, global IP traffic is expected to reach nearly 121 exabytes per month by 2017, up from about 44 exabytes per month in 2012.

"Cisco's VNI Forecast once again showcases the seemingly insatiable demand for bandwidth around the globe and provides insights on the architectural considerations necessary to deliver on the ever-increasing experiences being delivered. With more and more people, things, processes and data being connected in the Internet of Everything, the intelligent network and the service providers who operate them are more relevant than ever," said Doug Webster, vice president of product and solutions marketing, Cisco Systems, Inc.

This updated study includes global fixed IP traffic growth and service adoption trends, complementing the VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast released earlier this year.

Here are the highlights of the latest market study findings:

More Global Internet Users

• By 2017, there will be about 3.6 billion Internet users—more than 48% of the world's projected population (7.6 billion).
• In 2012, there were 2.3 billion Internet users—about 32% of the world's population (7.2 billion).

More Global Devices/Connections

• By 2017, there will be more than 19 billion global network connections (fixed/mobile personal devices, M2M connections, et al.), up from about 12 billion connections in 2012.

Faster Global Fixed Broadband Network Speeds

• Globally, the average fixed broadband speed will increase 3.5-fold from 2012 – 2017, from 11.3 Mbps to 39 Mbps.
• Globally, the average fixed broadband speed grew 30% from 2011 – 2012, from 8.7 Mbps to 11.3 Mbps.

Increased Global Use of Video Services/Applications

• Global network users will generate 3 trillion Internet video minutes per month, that is 6 million years of video per month, or 1.2 million video minutes every second or more than two years worth of video every second.
• Globally, there will be nearly 2 billion Internet video users (excluding mobile-only) by 2017, up from 1 billion Internet video users in 2012.

Global Business IP Traffic            

• Overall business IP traffic, which includes Internet, backup, VoIP, etc., will nearly triple between 2012 and 2017.
• In 2012, business IP traffic represented 20% of monthly total global IP traffic (consumer IP traffic represented 80% of monthly total global IP traffic).
• By 2017, business IP traffic will represent 18% of monthly total global IP traffic (consumer IP traffic will represent 82% of monthly total global IP traffic).

In 2012, 26% of Internet traffic originated with non-PC devices, but by 2017 the non-PC share of Internet traffic will grow to 49%. PC-originated traffic will grow at a 14% CAGR, while other devices/connections will have higher traffic growth rates over the forecast period―TVs (24%), tablets (104%), smartphones (79%), and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules (82%).

As global service providers build out the Next Generation Internet, nearly half of the world's population will have network and Internet access by 2017. The average Internet household (globally) will generate 74.5 gigabytes per month. By comparison, in 2012, the average Internet household generated 31.6 gigabytes of traffic per month.

The Forecast also reveals that the "Internet of Things" (the networked connection of physical objects) is showing tangible growth and will have a measurable impact on global IP networks. Globally, M2M connections will grow three-fold from two billion in 2012 to six billion by 2017.

Annual global M2M IP traffic will grow 20-fold over this same period—from 197 petabytes in 2012 (0.5% of global IP traffic) to 3.9 exabytes by 2017 (3% of global IP traffic). Applications such as video surveillance, smart meters, asset/package tracking, chipped pets/livestock, digital health monitors and a host of other next-generation M2M services are driving this growth.

Why Global ICT Spending will Reach $3.7 Trillion in 2013

Economic uncertainty surrounding the U.S. government sequester, European debt crisis and weakening GDP in China has resulted in volatile spending patterns across most segments of the market. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), as a result of the current economic climate, business technology spending was slightly below expectations in the second half of 2012 and first quarter of 2013.

IDC now projects worldwide IT spending growth of 4.9 percent this year in constant currency, down from the previous forecast of 5.5 percent growth -- and representing a slowdown from the 5.6 percent growth recorded in 2012. As a result, IT spending will reach $2.06 trillion in 2013. Including telecom services, ICT spending will increase by 4.5 percent to $3.7 trillion.

So, what are the key trends that are shaping the updated global forecasts?

Deteriorating PC Shipments

The reduction in IDC’s overall forecast for 2013 is largely driven by rapidly deteriorating PC shipments since the second half of 2012. IDC now expects PC spending to decline by 3 percent in constant currency this year, representing a third successive year of declining PC revenues.

The shift to mobile devices remains a key driver for overall tech spending growth. Excluding mobile phones and tablets, worldwide IT spending increased by only 2.8 percent in 2012 and is forecast to grow by just 2.6 percent this year.

Worldwide spending on smartphones will increase by 17 percent in 2013 while tablet spending will grow by 32 percent. The combined growth rate for PCs and tablets, meanwhile, will remain stable in the range of 4-5 percent.

Cloud Services Cannibalizes Software and IT Services

Just as tablets are cannibalizing PC spending, so the growth of managed cloud services continues to cannibalize commercial software and IT services. Software spending in the U.S. grew slightly slower than forecast in 2012, and IDC has consequently reduced the U.S. software forecast to 6 percent growth for 2013 (from 7 percent).

IT services demand remains stable, but the pass-through from capital spending and software deployment remains tepid by historical standards. IDC now forecasts growth of 5.6 percent in worldwide software spending in 2013 (constant currency), and 3.8 percent in IT services.

Decline in Server Revenues

IDC's assessment also suggests a decline in overall server revenues while storage infrastructure spending will cool somewhat after the major spending cycle of 2011/2012. IDC now projects 2.4 percent growth in worldwide storage hardware revenues this year, down from 6.1 percent growth in 2012.

Network infrastructure investment was strong in 2012, as many carriers invested in the deployment of LTE networks, but this will also cool in 2013. Service provider spending on network equipment will increase by 1.1 percent this year, compared to 5.8 percent in 2012. Enterprise network spending should remain more stable, projected to post growth of 6.8 percent.

The Global Networked Economy

Emerging markets are still the engines of growth for Worldwide IT spending, with strong trends continuing in markets such as India and Brazil in recent months. The weakest-performing geographies will be Western Europe and Japan, where slow economic growth is inhibiting IT spending while the U.S. market remains fragile in the context of political uncertainty.

"It's all about the economy," said Stephen Minton, Vice President at IDC. "Our surveys confirm that underlying demand for IT products and services remains strong, but that businesses are once again being forced to delay new projects or investments in the face of longer decision-making cycles and a lack of short-term visibility. This storm could pass quickly, if governments in the U.S., Europe, China and Japan succeed in steering their ships towards calm waters in the second half of the year."

That being said, it's the savvy forward-looking executive leaders who continue to invest heavily in business technology adoption. They see a window of opportunity to deploy productivity-enhancing applications and thereby make a quantum leap ahead of their conservative competitors that lack the strategic foresight to act boldly. This is the fundamental reason why ICT spending will reach significant levels in 2013.

How Cloud-Based Collaboration Boosts Performance

Online collaboration has evolved during the last decade, delivering even greater value -- thanks to a new generation of business technology applications. Forbes Insights released "Collaborating in the Cloud," a Cisco-sponsored study examining the ways business leaders increasingly look at cloud collaboration as a way to increase productivity, accelerate business results and enhance innovation across borders and functions.

The research combines a global survey of more than 500 executives with 15 executive interviews.

"The ability to collaborate in the cloud is becoming a key driver of competitive advantage," says Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer of Forbes Media. "Leading companies are doing more to foster cloud-based collaboration -- not only internally, but also with an ever-wider swath of external groups including customers, suppliers, partners, and even regulators." The benefits of cloud-based collaboration, Rogers continues, include "greater efficiency, organizational dexterity, and innovation," to name only a few.

Key Findings from the Market Study include:

• Cloud solutions accelerate business results. Sixty-four percent of respondents overall say that cloud-based collaboration tools help businesses execute faster than would be possible otherwise. This can shorten time to market, quicken product upgrade cycles and lead to faster responses to competitive challenges. The figure increases to 82% among leaders. Leaders, as defined in the survey (14% of the sample), are executives (CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, vice presidents of IT and non-IT executives who are department heads) with significantly greater experience and familiarity with cloud-based collaboration tools and strategies than others in the survey.
• Cloud enhances collaboration across time zones and functional boundaries. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed -- 87% of leaders -- say that capabilities enabled by cloud-based solutions represent a true breakthrough in collaboration. Cloud-based collaboration tools enable a wide array of enhanced capabilities in areas such as communication, product and service delivery, information sharing, tapping knowledge resources and group problem solving.
• Cloud enables more-efficient business processes. Fifty-eight percent of total respondents -- and 90% of leaders -- report that cloud-based collaboration has the potential to improve business processes. Business processes include purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, sales and technical support. Organizations as wide ranging as D+M Global (sound systems), Virgin Media (broadband, cable, mobile) and the Essex County Council (UK government) are transforming business processes through enhanced collaboration that's enabled by the cloud. For example, D+M Group is using video and web conferencing to accelerate problem-solving by seeing where challenges exist and responding more rapidly with higher-quality interactions.
• Cloud collaboration spurs innovation. Fifty-nine percent of executives -- 93% of leaders -- agree that cloud-based collaboration stimulates innovation. Indeed, enhanced innovation is an almost unavoidable consequence of providing more executives and workers with new and more effective ways of sharing information, enabling business model innovation and new service delivery options with more people both within and without their organizations.
• Cloud is not solely an IT discussion. Seventy-five percent of those identified as "leaders" say that non-IT executives are becoming more involved in the selection, implementation, and management processes relating to cloud-based collaboration tools. In short, cloud collaboration is not an IT discussion but a broader business discussion.

"The survey results show that cloud-based collaboration acts as a significant enabler of business success, which is exactly what our customers tell us on a daily basis," says Eric Schoch, vice president and general manager, Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution business unit.

Clouds accelerate the roll-out of collaborative technologies such as voice, video, and conferencing so that companies can improve the efficiency of their decision-making and the quality of their customers' experiences. As clouds and macroeconomic factors increase the speed of business and collaboration, businesses look to clouds as a means to gain a competitive edge."

The comprehensive study is based on a global survey of 532 senior executives from companies with sales ranging from $250 million to over $20 billion. It includes commentary from interviews with 15 corporate executives as well as Q&A-style case studies from D+M Global, the Essex County [UK] Council, and Virgin Media.

Insight from 2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey Results

As businesses increase the number of new application rollouts and create new connected user experiences to better serve their customers, IT organizations face the challenge of expanding network services and aligning their network strategies to meet the requirements of the business.

A global study announced today by Cisco revealed that while the majority (63 percent) of IT professionals are confident in their ability to respond to the needs of the business, almost a third (27 percent) still equated the visibility of their IT department into their company's business initiatives to "a foggy day in London."

The 2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey provides insight into IT's role as a business enabler, assesses the extent by which network investments are keeping pace with the demands of the business, and looks into IT's likelihood to adopt new technologies that can increase IT business impact.

The top research findings reveal:

• Applications and user expectations are becoming more complex: almost three-fourths of IT participants (71 percent) reported that IT is deploying more applications today than one year ago.
• IT and the network are increasingly recognized as enabling the business: a higher percentage (78 percent) stated the network is more critical for delivering applications than it was at this time last year.
• IT-business alignment is improving, but IT is not always involved when the decisions are made: nearly nine out of 10 (89 percent) IT leaders collaborate with line of business leaders at least on a monthly basis, indicating a mutual business understanding of the critical and growing role of the network for application delivery. However, more than one-third (38 percent) of IT professionals surveyed said they are brought into the planning and deployment process late.

"More than ever, IT has the potential to make a profound impact on the business -- and an opportunity to act as a strategic partner -- by building a network architecture that can leverage multiple technology transitions," said Rob Soderbery, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Enterprise Networking Group. "The most successful IT professionals are those who acknowledge that fast decision-making within the enterprise is directly tied to the readiness of the network."

Other key findings from the study include:

• Even with the business understanding of the growing role of the network for application delivery, 82 percent of respondents acknowledged that user experience with standard business applications is affected by network performance, even in basic applications such as Web, file services and email.

• When asked about the leading causes responsible for slowing down a new application rollout over the past year, most cited budget (34 percent), while 26 percent of respondents claimed data center infrastructure readiness, cloud readiness and network limitations such as bandwidth. One-quarter (25 percent) cited "general procrastination" as the leading cause.

• 71percent are planning to deploy SDN solutions in the next 12 months. The main reasons? One-third (33 percent) cite cost savings, while another third (33 percent) said fast scalability of infrastructure.

• Almost three quarters (71 percent) report IT is deploying more applications than a year ago, but 41 percent claimed their networks were not ready to support "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies, while 38 percent said they were not ready to support cloud deployments.

• When asked to gauge their readiness for Internet of Things applications and deployments, nearly half (48 percent) believe it will open up new business opportunities.

• Survey participants ranked cloud readiness (29 percent) as the most important network initiative to their business in the upcoming year, followed by "converging IT technology and operations technology" (28 percent) and "data center consolidation/virtualization" (27 percent).

• When asked to rank the most difficult IT initiative over the past year, moving applications to the cloud (40 percent) ranked first, with data center virtualization ranking second (38 percent). This data aligns with the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey, which found that some IT professionals would rather get a root canal, dig a ditch, or do their own taxes than address network challenges associated with cloud deployments.

• Also consistent with the results of the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey was security being selected as the No. 1 roadblock to a successful implementation of cloud services or mobility, as 80 percent cited it as a challenge.

How the 'Internet of Everything' Impacts Financial Services

What does today's retail banking customer expect from a financial institution, and how can business technology be applied to enhance the overall experience. The latest results from the Cisco Customer Experience Report focused on the retail banking sector.

The global report examined consumers' desire for a banking experience that is more personalized to help simplify the management of their finances over multiple channels -- including online, mobile phones, telephones, video conferencing and bank branches. It also examined views about the privacy of their personal information and the value of financial management tools used in their daily lives.

Consumers globally identified the most important attributes when interacting with their financial institution or financial advisor as: availability (63%), competence (65%), and efficiency (68%).

Survey respondents indicated a willingness to exchange more details about their financial habits and having banks be more active advisors in exchange for greater protection from identity theft (83%), increased savings (80% globally), personalized service (78%), and greater simplicity (56%) in managing their finances.

Only 54% of global consumers expressed a desire for automated systems to provide financial advice or recommendations, while 59% indicated that they would be comfortable with location-sensitive recommendations delivered to a mobile device.

The majority (71%) indicated being comfortable with the increasing use of virtual communications in addition to in-person financial conversations -- with emerging economies slightly preferring on-demand access to expertise (48% globally over speaking with a particular individual which was favored in developed economies (52%).

Overall, the market study findings demonstrate consumer interest in more personalized, timely and valuable connections with banks; the type of connections made possible by what Cisco describes as the Internet of Everything (IoE).

The Internet of Everything brings together people, process, data and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before. Cisco recently released an Internet of Everything economic analysis that identified banking and insurance as industries positioned to capture as much as 9% of the $14.4 trillion in bottom-line value that will be created over the next decade by these innovations.

Global Market Study Highlights and Key Facts

The global study, conducted in early 2013, includes responses from 1,514 consumers and 405 bank professionals across 10 countries. The resulting report studied the views of how and when consumers want to engage with their banks across multiple channels for activities ranging from account monitoring to acquiring financial advice.

Majority (69%) of U.S. consumers' desire for more simplified personal financial services

Personalized services Consumers want from their bank: 77% indicated a desire for more identity theft security, 73% wanted advice to increase their savings, 67% requested more financial education, and 47% wanted an assessment of their financial status as compared to other clients. Interestingly, bank managers thought consumers' desire for these services would be roughly 20% higher when surveyed.

Banks' ability to deliver personal financial services: Only 46% of U.S. consumers feel their bank has enough information to offer them personal services, while 58% of U.S. bankers feel they have enough personal information on their customers.

Majority of Global Consumers Virtually Connected to Their Bank

• Willingness for virtual meetings: 63% of U.S. consumers are comfortable communicating with their financial provider using business technology (such as texting, email or video) instead of seeing them in person. Globally 7 in 10 consumers and 92% of bankers are comfortable communicating using virtual technology.
• Even mortgages and loans could be managed virtually: Almost half of consumers in U.S. (48%) would be comfortable entirely securing a loan or mortgage using technology like video to communicate with their bank.
• Computers preferred to smartphones for video: Only 21% of U.S. consumers would favor a smartphone for video conversations with bankers, with most (79%) preferring laptop or desktop computer.
• Physical presence is still important especially to capture new customers: 46% of U.S. consumers would open an account with a bank that is completely virtual if it offered the best and more secure services – with French consumers least likely to meet virtually with only 44% and Chinese consumers are most likely at 91%.

For more information about the Cisco research in retail banking, please visit the Cisco Customer Experience Report website.