Today’s Workforce Catching Up To Tomorrow’s Business Model, Avaya Study Finds

Raleigh-Durham, NC. – October 27, 2020 – Avaya (NYSE: AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, today released its “Work from Anywhere” study, examining the shifts businesses are undergoing to adapt to today’s changing economy. In the wake of COVID-19, Avaya found that nearly 72 percent of U.S. based businesses have been rethinking how they work, 58 percent of businesses feel remote working is enabling them to hire a more distributed workforce, and 8 out of 10 businesses are already retooling to provide improved customer and employee experiences that enable new ways of working.

According to the Avaya survey, 3 out of 4 businesses say they have focused more on employee and team communication since COVID-19:

·       66 percent of mid-sized companies, those with 251-500 employees, have seen collaboration and communications technology increase in priority due to COVID-19

·       57 percent of businesses reported some struggle with remote communication and fatigue

·       32 percent reported employees having difficulties adapting to the new technology and communications tools available to them

“Work from Anywhere is creating new business models the world is adapting to, and it has become clear that trying to adopt a ‘business as usual, but remote’ approach is not enough,” said Simon Harrison, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Avaya. “COVID has accelerated digital transformation projects and put a new focus on customer and employee experiences, which have never mattered more. Additionally, new processes and new solutions need to completely change the way teams work together. Change has become a constant and embracing the cloud and the new experience economy, an opportunity. At Avaya, we are guiding our global client base, including retailers, schools, healthcare, governments, and businesses of all shapes and sizes on how to resolve the gaps they found in their ability to collaborate. We are helping them find new ways to connect, create and think as they write the new rules for their industries.”

Key Takeaways from Avaya’s “Work from Anywhere” Survey

Technology decision makers are rethinking business at every level 

·       72 percent of businesses have been revisiting their overall business model due to the changes brought on by COVID-19

·       An even larger number, 80 percent, are rethinking their customer experience

·       77 percent are examining their employee experience

·       75 percent are rethinking their sales approach

Businesses are focused on investing in communication and collaboration 

83 percent of businesses responded that they thought their technology stack was prepared for remote working – however, many businesses did have to implement new technologies to improve their work-from-anywhere capabilities, including 65 percent adding video conference tools, 54 percent adding chat/messaging software and 53 percent adding project collaboration tools.

85 percent of businesses reported they plan on making the new technologies they have adopted during this time a permanent addition to their tech stacks.

Tech priorities are shifting

71 percent of tech decision makers reported faster adoption of new technologies in their organization due to COVID-19.  Most companies also had a shift in technology priorities with 52 percent increasing investment in collaboration software, second only to spending on security, which nearly two-thirds of businesses increased.

Mid-sized companies with 251-500 employees have seen the biggest shifts in priorities, including increases in spending for security (74 percent), collaboration (66 percent), contact center software (59 percent) and contact tracing (53 percent). Overall, company owners and CEOs are more likely to say AI has increased in priority (46 percent).

“As businesses continue to adapt their operational models in response to health concerns and economic upheaval, being able to collaborate and engage from anywhere is increasingly seen as the critical mechanism for staying connected to customers, driving better customer experiences and increasing loyalty,” said Harrison. “This is no longer optional, but has become mandatory. We continue to accelerate innovation in these critical areas, increasingly applying advanced technology like AI and machine learning to improve human experiences and engagement, and we are partnering with industry leaders such as Google and NVIDIA on leveraging AI to reimagine the collaboration and communications experience.”

The survey, conducted in August 2020, consulted 300 business leaders and technology decision makers.