Next Generation Messaging

For example the popularity of email is such that corporate email seats for all major EMEA countries are expected to grow from 56.2 million in 2003 to 72.4 million in 2005 (1). However, how do companies cope with this huge increase in information exchange?

The ability to communicate and conduct business using many diverse technologies has revolutionised the way we do business today. Yet, with the rapid growth of both the Internet and corporate intranets, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to manage communications and the increasing amounts of business critical data. This surge in information has created an increased demand for new communications methods that support a broad range of user and content types. Additionally, with fragmented infrastructures and a lack of best practices, downtime, virus outbreaks, security concerns, auditability and high costs add to the complications.

Just think about how many different processes are required to access information. How many different log-ins are required? How many different schedules need to be checked to retrieve phone calls, emails and calendars? How many interactions does it take to deliver a report over fax, email and PDAs? Taking into consideration all of these processes, companies are at a serious risk of losing customers.

For example, operating disparate file and email databases not only calls for individual management and administration, but also prohibits companies from knowing exactly what information they have. Information sits in separate data pools, often unsynchronised, with companies unable to communicate to provide a complete, accurate picture. Companies are not capitalising on, and leveraging the intellectual data they possess, which adds little value to their bottom line. An enterprise employing 1,000 knowledge workers wastes approximately$48,000 per week, or nearly $2.5 million per year (2) , due to an inability to locate and retrieve information.

In today's business climate, people no longer have time to deal with interfaces, passwords or device specific protocols. Companies need to focus on their core business, and not have to worry about how to access, process and push the information out.

Consolidating all of a company's collaboration data into one single database not only makes common sense, but also streamlines the communication process and saves huge operating and management costs. One common repository for email, calendars, file management and scheduling which delivers a single, complete view of all content allows users to re-use content instead of recreating it.

Additionally, employees are increasingly becoming more mobile. Approximately 10 million Europeans can now be classed as flexible or mobile workers. By 2004, 60 per cent of mobile workers will be compelled to carry technologies that offer instant response by voice and hourly response by email (3). Companies must also cater to the mobile worker who needs to access information anytime, anywhere, through wireless technologies.

Collaboration System Challenges
In addition to merging communications into one centralised messaging system, companies are also seeking ways to implement solutions that will better organise their information infrastructure, decrease administration costs, and rationalise the amount of hardware needed.

The key issues that challenge today's enterprises include the complexity and limitation of email and file servers that cannot scale up to more than a few hundred users. Furthermore, real-time collaborative tools like Web conferencing are notoriously expensive and tough to manage and operate.

The above systems must also adjust to the context in which information is used, and should automatically cater to the users' changing needs. Users not only should be able to access information anytime, anywhere, but should also have the power to choose when, where and how they want to be contacted. Above all else, the ability for users to conduct a single search across all information repositories in which information is stored is priceless in today's business environment.

Today's Collaboration Market
The demand for unified messaging has entered a period of upheaval. Around 55 per cent of participants recently surveyed said that their company is planning on deploying some form of unified messaging in the next eighteen months (4). The Collaboration market, a $5.4 billion market in 2002, is now expected to reach to $9.9 billion by 2006 (5). Driven by spiralling management, hardware and software costs, and the need for integration, companies now realise that architecturally it makes more sense to consolidate servers.

One Integrated Suite
In the current economic climate, IT managers have to be super-smart and prudent with their IT purchases. Constant demands are made on IT managers to not only justify any investments, but to also enhance efficiencies and productivity while minimising any disruption to the current IT infrastructures in place.

What enterprises need now in order to face these challenges and achieve their collaborative goals is an integrated suite of applications covering the gamut of collaborative work: from individual to team collaboration, from asynchronous to real-time efforts. Encompassing the next generation of technologies, Oracle Collaboration Suite, which Oracle itself uses, takes a whole new approach to the communications infrastructure.

Apart from the productivity improvements delivered, Oracle Collaboration Suite brings outstanding cost efficiencies and value. In a recent report by the Radicati Group, it was found that the average company spends around $775 per employee on collaboration costs, Oracle Collaboration Suite can reduce the cost per employee by 80 per cent and significantly improve productivity.

Customers such as Fujistu Siemens Computers, Peter's Food Service and Oerlikon Kaynak Elektrodlar San A.S have all selected Oracle Collaboration Suite as part of a wider strategy to consolidate their IT infrastructure.

Oracle Collaboration Suite also delivers better management with higher availability, improved security and performance, easier upgrades. Oracle understands the demands of a more flexible and mobile workforce. In fact, Oracle implemented the Oracle Collaboration Suite across its entire organisation. iGillotResearch calculated a first-year savings of $22.3 million, and total three-year savings of around $86 million.