A survey finds that IT leaders are accelerating their plans to invest in unified communications and collaboration technologies. But the systems aren't cheap. The huge influx of mobile devices into the enterprise is getting CIOs fired up to invest more in unified communications (UC) and collaboration systems, according to a survey by IDG Enterprise, CIO‘s parent company.The survey of 1,105 respondents was only open to IT leaders who have already deployed UC systems or plan to do so within the next three years. UC technologies include IP telephony, email, instant messaging, video conferencing and enterprise social software. Now the catalyst for UC investments is extending those desktop capabilities to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, according to 67 percent of the survey respondents.Chris Zegers, CIO of law firm Lowenstein Sandler, says he is looking to switch from Cisco Communicator to Microsoft Lync because he thinks it will be easier to use on mobile devices.“It’s pretty simple,” Zegers says. “I want to have an IM client that works well on every possible device that my attorneys have.” Zegers says he’s hoping the shift to IM will reduce the use of email, boosting productivity. Sixty-one percent of respondents said their top reason for investing in UC is to boost employee productivity; the second-most-popular reason was increased flexibility for employees (42 percent).Jerry Johnson, CIO of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, agrees with those sentiments. He says the organization’s Lync system makes it very easy to set up a meeting or find a person’s location, for example. UC deployments often cost at least $250,000, and can top $1 million at large companies. Asked in the survey about the biggest obstacles to UC investments, respondents cited the high cost (54 percent), followed by systems integration headaches (47 percent) and lack of in-house expertise (33 percent).Johnson says getting vendor support and training his own staff make the task of implementing a UC system a challenge. “[The technologies] are not particularly easy to deploy; they take a bit of tweaking,” he says.Follow Editorial Assistant Lauren Brousell on Twitter: @lbrousell. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe