Cistera Expects Targeted Growth for Unified Communications Market

Online, June 23, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Cistera Networks® (OTC:CNWT), a leading provider of enterprise application platforms and engines for unified communications comments on CompTIA report, Unified Communications and Collaboration Market Trends and concludes that hard ROI projects and cost recovery are the key to UC implementations.

Deployment of unified communications solutions is poised for growth as organizations build on a foundation of voice and data applications to include more collaboration and social communications tools, according to new research from CompTIA, the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry. Nearly half (49 percent) of the organizations said their expenditures on unified communications technology will grow relatively faster than their overall IT budget over the next 12 months. Large firms (500 or more employees) are significantly more likely to increase their unified communications investment relative to the overall IT budget than the smallest of firms (1-49 employees), 64 percent vs. 35 percent.

"This year Cistera has a seen this year to a much higher degree, targeted Unified Communications implementations, that is UC deployed for a particular business process" says Cistera CEO Greg Royal. "Although this behavior is normally associated with larger customers such as the recent implementation for a global security group, we are seeing a growing instance of smaller businesses (sub 500 employees) deploying UC for particular tasks."

The study also cites that several customer challenges that remain. The largest being price sensitivity (39 percent of channel respondents); reliability concerns (36 percent); security concerns (34 percent); quantifying return on investment (33 percent); and a general lack of understanding of unified communications products and services (32 percent).

"Cistera's response has been to focus more directly with particular verticals, such as the new Healthcare solution MedQMS, with a specific return on investment metrics." responds Royal. "Turnaround time for hospital beds is a specific and measure-able metric for healthcare organizations. Response time for first-responders is a specific and measure-able metric. We work hard with our customers to directly tie the investment they make in Cistera software to the business requirement in question. What we are seeing is that if customers focus on specific goals for their UC implementation over and above broad productivity solutions, such as web conferencing, not only is there a much clearer ROI case, that ROI can be achieved much faster than one would normally see."

"I think Cistera is uniquely capable in that we focus on specific business processes and enable those. A good example is our new relationship with New World Communications. Telecom Management is no only an art, but also a discipline. Couple that with a Unified Communications strategy and it is easy to see the payback" says Royal. "There is a huge market for both the rationalization of the telecom budget which not only includes cost recovery, but turning that budget towards hard ROI projects."