A new survey that assessed the attitudes of Fortune 500 chief executives and chief information execs found only 12 percent of the people surveyed are very confident their firms have the communications technology solutions they will need for the next two to three years.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. Much can change in two to three years in the communications world. Even three years ago, some companies were hesitant to give employees access to the Internet, fearing they would spend all day surfing personal sites instead of using the Web for business. While executives today seem to acknowledge employees can abuse their Web access, the merits of enabling their employees to work smarter seem to outweigh potential abuses.
Following are some findings from the survey, commissioned by Unisphere Solutions Inc., conducted by Impulse Research Corp. and released at ComNet 2000.
69 percent of execs found the costs for new solutions greater than anticipated;
30 percent said decisions about communications were based on marketing hype;
50 percent lacked an understanding of what the new solutions were supposed to accomplish;
48 percent found vendors uneducated about their business needs;
and 45 percent said they had purchased communications technologies that did not deliver on the vendors’ promises.
Despite feeling short-changed on some communications solutions, Fortune 500 execs said they remain excited about communications in general, and ranked wireless communications (at 64 percent) as a key technology in the future.
Therein lies the tight rope that wireless carriers and vendors are going to have to walk. How do you sell businesses a solution that works rather than a bill of goods?
Two issues immediately stand out to me. First and foremost, technology is only as good as the network it runs on. Dropped calls and slow systems are no longer tolerated. I doubt consumers will be understanding about slow wireless Internet access, regardless of the benefits it can bring them.
Second, customer service still is key. When there are problems, it is priceless to be able to talk with someone about the problems; getting lost in a voice-mail system only adds insult to injury.
On a plus side, more than 90 percent of respondents to the survey said technologies have had a positive impact on them. Less than 20 percent said they wanted the pace of new product introductions to decline.
The door is open. The smart carriers and vendors will work to offer those solutions.
