Being Ready for Prime Time:  Don’t Just do What’s Hot

Why Hot may Not be the Answer

Last week I spoke about “Getting in Focus: Is your Video App Ready for Prime Time”.

As we start to take a look back on some of the hot technologies this year, some aspect of video has always seemed to find its way into the conversation. Video collaboration is in fact very compelling for a whole host of reasons. I remember the first time I used FaceTime on my iPhone.  My sons were away at Christmas time and this was the first time that we weren’t sharing Christmas dinner together around the  same table. I remember the uplifting feeling I got by just being able to see them and exchange laughs and jokes as they passed the iPhone camera view around the table of family and friends.

Well, every new technology experience may not be that uplifting or that easy. As I’ve spoken lately to several technologists, it has become apparent that what starts off as “hot idea” – may not turn out to be such a hot idea when issues arise with the user experience.

Don’t Caught in the Hype – be Realistic

It’s very easy to get caught in the hype cycle and the feeling like you need to adopt the latest application or technology.  When talking recently with an Avaya team of communication trend spotters and prognosticators, they shed some light on how technology trends can unfold and also sometimes stall a bit.  One of the more interesting “ahaas” is – what should be a relatively easy step within an IT operation, ends up getting stalled due to embedded behavior patterns that are so hard to break. At the end of the day we have to realize that connected to many new operational processes and technology tools is a human element factor. It’s the human element factor that can throw a monkey wrench into what seems to be a smooth and logical process.

Here’s the lesson – as you build your roadmaps for rolling out new processes, tools or applications, factor in an extra 25% more time for the hiccups that will occur. It may be a tough sell to management to extend a project due date, but setting more realistic expectations around success makes for a big win at the end.

Along the lines of hot communication trends, social media continues to be hotter than ever. One of the significant learnings that we’re seeing in the market is around how “Social Interactions Expose Customer Flaws” (12 communication trend #7). It’s great to be on the cutting edge of using powerful communication, the key is to make sure that you don’t get burned in the process.

One option that businesses are using to minimize risk and have greater reliability within their IT operations is to outsource the responsibility and transfer the risk to a managed services provider – while not losing control of the required outcomes. Make sure to consider your options of exercising penalties if your SLA’s (Service Level Agreements) are not met.

Look out for our Communication Trends Update – coming soon

At the beginning of this year Avaya released the 12 Communication Trends for 2012.

These trends have generated such interest that we decided to take a midyear look at how they’re unfolding. So, we reached back out to our prognosticators and had them do an assessment of whether and to what extent our predictions have been on target.

Stay tuned – you’ll find these prediction assessments quite interesting and perhaps a bit surprising…

Diane Royer is senior marketing manager of Avaya Client Services. Her focus is directing thought leadership for Avaya Client Services and integrating services into Avaya solution launches. Diane’s more than 30 years of business experience includes telecommunications marketing, sales and field operations.  A native New Yorker, Diane holds a master of business administration from Adelphi University and a bachelor of business administration with honors from Baruch, City University of New York.  Follow her on Twitter @ Royer_Edge