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Microsoft
Organisational challenge/context
Microsoft IT used deployment goals and customer satisfaction results to measure the success of its unified communications deployment in 2008. However, to justify future upgrades, the organization required a methodology to measure the business value of the solution.
Intervention(s)
Microsoft IT used a business value framework from Forrester Research to estimate the value of the unified communications deployment to the organization.
Results/Benefits
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Microsoft customer case study
Technology and the connection with travel:
Microsoft unified communications technology reduces travel and increases remote work. At a global level Microsoft Travel estimates that employees avoided flying more than 100,000,000 miles in the past fiscal year, saving 17,000 metric tons of CO2. In the UK we have saved 21% on air travel emissions in the last 3 years largely through telework and the use of technology.‘
In today’s global marketplace, business travel has become seemingly indispensable, whether for connecting with partners and suppliers or delivering training to dispersed teams. However, the environmental costs—not to mention productivity and financial costs—of travel are high. Reducing travel is increasingly a focus for reducing environmental impact, improving productivity, and increasing efficiency.
Indeed, a recent survey of U.K. businesses by the WWF found that:
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62 percent of the companies surveyed are already reducing their business travel footprint.
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A further 24 percent are currently developing plans to do so.
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And 89 percent expect they will want to fly less over the next 10 years.
Communications technology innovations are in large part what is enabling this shifting dynamic. With unified communications—and Web and videoconferencing in particular-users can meet online with their colleagues, customers, and partners in real time through a PC with just an Internet connection.
According to The Climate Group, videoconferencing has the potential to replace up to 30 percent of business travel. Replacing in-person meetings with Web and videoconferencing eliminates the carbon emissions associated with air travel. At the same time, you eliminate the downtime that inevitably occurs when someone is in transit and the costs of flights, accommodation, and related expenses.
How it works:
Collaboration technology in combination with unified communications can play a critical role in supporting remote workers. For example, with portals and document workspaces, offsite workers will always be able to find and share the information and files they need to do their job. Social computing capabilities like personal sites can help them feel a part of the organization by enabling the social and personal interactions that are part of the in-office dynamic. Presence information, instant messaging, and Web conferencing make it easy for remote workers to quickly identify who is available online and connect with them seamlessly and efficiently, both for impromptu conversations and scheduled meetings.