Millennials are shaping enterprise communications and bringing new expectations to office environments. With the right Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) strategy, the international Carrier ecosystem can serve new demands driven by this highly connected generation.
Typically born between 1984 to 2004, Millennials make up the majority of the global population. They have a growing influence on how many organizations around the world now operate. Their sense of mission, desire to work in teams and culture for collaboration is something that sets them apart and something that can be very beneficial to the Carriers.
When it comes to communication, Millennials want UC solutions that are simple and easy-to-use. This is why services such as Skype, WhatsApp and other OTT services are often popular choices amongst this generation especially due to rich communication service features that allow users to go beyond just SMS to initiate group chats, send pictures and share locations.
Organizations failing to provide simple UC services risk facing ‘Shadow IT’. This impacts organizations both financially in developing unused services and in security through employees using potentially unsafe services to communicate with each other. To combat against this, leaders in the Carrier ecosystem should look into how they can better optimise UC services for the younger and growing teams.
Gartner. Inc’s Nexus of Forces concept discusses the drivers for Digital Transformation and motivations for the Millennial workforce. Companies can use this concept when developing and rolling out UCC technologies.
The concept looks into four factors:
- Mobile
- Social
- Cloud
- Information
According to InformationWeek, 67% of Millennials employ smartphones or tablets for workplace activities, compared to 18% of Baby Boomers. Millennials are routinely making use of their technology at work and many of them believe that technology makes them more effective.
The challenge for organizations lies in how they incorporate mobile technologies into their UCC strategy and overcome outdated working styles. Mobile technologies not only benefit the workforce but also have the potential to create new business opportunities and improve customer interactions.
Millennials are highly social too. In fact, according to Forbes around 90% of Millennials use Social Media daily and prefer to employ social messaging with team members. Social channels can be a good way to communicate with customers and get feedback from employees on UC methods.
Cloud is another major driver and not just within the workforce. In the wider telecom industry and beyond, Cloud is playing a big part in innovating existing business models. A study by Microsoft and Wakefield Research shows that Millennials are more likely to push their organizations to embrace Public Cloud.
Millennials nowadays expect or are used to their technology changing year to year or even month to month. For an UC strategy to be effective, organizations need to offer the same flexibility and Cloud is one way to empower that workplace flexibility.
The last driver, as Gartner suggests, involves information. Millennials, unlike any other generation, are highly analytical. Organizations have the potential to promoting a data-driven culture and introducing relevant behaviours to foster evidence-based decision and appeal to this target group.
Millennials are passionate about their communications and their communication tools. They want the services they use to be fast, reliable and of high quality. To support the modern workforce, organizations need to provide an effective UCC medium. The four Nexus of Forces considers some of the factors for Digital Transformation that organizations can look into.
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