Just a few days after I wrote about Web 2.0 and a Parity white paper, Cisco has just released a study on the use of video and Web 2.0 technology in businesses worldwide (see also ebiz story). The survey, of 850 corporate IT decision-makers, revealed that, as consumer adoption has grown, so companies have begun to embrace video and Web 2.0 technologies to help grow their businesses, reach customers, increase collaboration between employees and look for more environmentally conscious means of communicating.
More than half of the respondents said they are using video and Web 2.0 tools today, while another 25% said they are exploring such tools (but nearly all admitted they had to address network infrastructure issues first). Cisco’s Marie Hattar says:
“With the increased globalization and spread of the enterprise workforce, IT’s role is expanding from managing network operations to also shaping a business’s impact by innovating how employees, customers and partners communicate and collaborate.”
Interestingly, the study suggests that US companies that plan to use video conferencing technologies in the next five years are also most likely to be faster-growing companies, as measured by fiscal year growth. The fast-growing companies in Europe and the emerging markets are most likely to use Web 2.0 tools in the next five years.
