Logitech Wainhouse User Manual
Finding the Right Video
Conferencing Partner in a
World of Technology Vendors
A practical framework for selecting a video conferencing
solution for the next phase of the modern workplace
Whitepaper sponsored by:
Yesterday and Today:
Video Conferencing Proves its Value
Even before the pandemic arrived in 2020, video conferencing was
becoming a vital tool for the modern workplace. At a business level,
video conferencing has shown it could help with organizational
goals such as engaging employees, cutting costs, and enabling
better communications. For individuals, video conferencing was
recognized as driving productivity by adding a richness to meetings.
In a Wainhouse Research survey of 1,400 respondents, the highest
expectation for video conferencing was that it would help them work
more eciently.1 They envisioned the face-to-face interaction to inspire
more thoughtful collaboration, to drive clarity of communications, and
to create more realistic human connections. All of these reasons, in turn, were thought to improve the
outcome of the meeting.
This expectation for better meetings applied to every workspace. From personal desktops to room-based
solutions equipped with AV devices, video conferencing was helping teams increase the productivity of
meetings, no matter where a colleague was located.
But, the real potential for video conferencing was put into the spotlight at the start of 2020. By April, only
a few weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe’s work-from-home population went from about 5% of
the workforce to approximately 40%, an 8X increase.2 Likewise, in the United States more than two-thirds of
US workers were now working from home.3 Employees were tr ying to stay in touch with colleagues, while
executives were trying to keep their businesses moving forward. Unsurprisingly, the world turned to video
conferencing to navigate these uncharted waters, and the adoption of video conferencing, which was
already making headway in today’s enterprises, was accelerated by five to eight years.
WHAT DO YOUR ENDUSERS EXPECT FROM
VIDEO CONFERENCING?
In a 2019 Wainhouse
survey, end-user’s highest
expectation for video
conferencing was that
it would help them work
more eciently.
Without a doubt, video conferencing is entering a new age of importance. For many enterprises, video
is evolving from just automating the business to actually being integrated into the business, possibly even
being the business.
How Did Your Video Conferencing Solution Fare During
This Timeframe?
Fueled by the dramatic increase in end-users and unexpected use cases, IT decision makers (ITDMs) were
able to see how their chosen solutions for video conferencing adapted to the dynamic situation at hand.
Some fared well, while others did not. What was revealed to many ITDMs is that some vendors were simply
unable to deliver value in a fluid situation, where business needs were subject to change.
All is not lost. Wainhouse believes that this condensed window of transformation has allowed ITDMs to
better define what they truly need from video conferencing technology. Ideally, vendors need to do more
than just provide video. Instead, they need to support ITDMs as a trusted technology partner, one that can
help businesses thrive in the “next normal” of our modern work experience.
What is a video conferencing technology partner versus a vendor? At the simplest definition, it is when
a vendor meets more than just the basic specifications (e.g., video and audio and a certain price point)
and contributes to more of your elevated goals.
2
©2020 Wainhouse Research, LLC
Sounds good, but how can an ITDM act upon this lofty distinction? It’s not like you can add to your RFP “vendor
must create value for the business” and expect to receive actionable responses. To this end, Wainhouse
has created the following framework to help bring these grand ideas into a practical, achievable reality.
The Key Stakeholder Framework for Selecting a Video
Conferencing Solution
Although every organization is dierent, in Wainhouse’s experience, the first step in vendor selection is
to filter your options with an ecient first line of validation before focusing time and energy on a more
in-depth analysis. To this end, Wainhouse has designed a key stakeholder framework to help ITDMs
understand when a video conferencing vendor meets basic specifications on paper versus when they
exceed those known requirements and perform more like a trusted partner.
To accomplish this, our framework helps you assess the capabilities of a video conferencing vendor as
related to the needs of four key stakeholders. For each group, we identify a core theme and propose a
series of questions to help you evaluate your business needs. As you look at the framework, we encourage
you to dig below the surface of immediate responses and find examples of how the vendor can deliver
additional value to your stakeholders.
Most importantly, we’ve built this framework with the future of work in mind and, where applicable, we
call out how COVID-19 will impact these stakeholders.
The four stakeholders and their core attributes are as follows: the business and its need to adapt, the
end-users and their desire to be engaged, the IT administrators and their requirements for support, and
the IT buyer and their job to procure.
ADAPT
The Business
What capabilities do we
need today, and how
might they change in
the future?
ENGAGE
End-Users
What will it take
to implement and
drive usage of
these solutions?
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
IT Administrators
What will it
take to maintain
these solutions?
FRAMEWORK
SUPPORT
PROCURE
IT Buyers
What will it take to
procure the technology,
especially if you are
dealing with a distributed
workforce?
Keep in mind that this framework is only intended to be an initial filter for video conferencing technology.
But, if a candidate vendor can demonstrate how they exceed these requirements, they likely warrant
further investigation.
©2020 Wainhouse Research, LLC
3
The Business as a stakeholder – what capabilities does your business need today?
How might they change in the future?
ADAPT
you need to include the option for future hybrid workspaces, which will continue to evolve as employees
return to the oce.
Workspace is only one possible area for rapid change. You should also understand how the devices work
with your other UC investments. And, if the vendor is locking you into one video conferencing service with
restrictive options to change solutions in the future.
This question focuses on the capability of the partner’s portfolio to address the business
needs as it adapts to operational changes. It was not that long ago that all an ITDM would
consider is if the vendor had solutions for small, medium, and large conference rooms. At
that time, a standout vendor would also be able to address remote workspaces. But today,
TOPICS FOR
CONVERSATION
Does the vendor have a portfolio
to support a wide variety of
workspaces like group spaces,
huddle rooms, home oce,
mobile?
Do the VC devices work within my
current UC solution?
Are the VC devices tied to a single
video conferencing service or
UC suite?
What is the process to change to
another VC service or UC suite?
Key Takeaway — Look for a portfolio of room and desktop solutions
with a wide-ranging price-to-performance ratio to help deliver the
right solutions for the right space. If you focus only on low-cost video
solutions, they may not be scalable across your organization. The
features in high-end solutions may not be needed ever ywhere, and
if used for all workspaces, this could result in overspending.
ITDMs also need to be watchful for VC service “lock-in,” where
devices are only capable of working with limited video
conferencing services.
(MEETS THE REQUIREMENT)
• Vendor has common workspace
coverage but lacks products
for other areas. Retrofits
current products into the new
workspaces.
• Works with my UC suites but may
not be certified by the UC suite.
• Hardware is limited to a single
video conferencing service.
• Vendor does not allow you to
change VC services.
VENDOR
PARTNE R
(EXCEEDS REQUIREMENT)
• Has purpose-built products
for home, oce, hybrid, and
mobile.
• Certified by the UC suite as a
solution partner.
• Partner’s hardware is
out-of-the-box ready for
one VC service but can be
provisioned for other VC
services if you choose.
3+
DO YOU NEED UC
FLEXIBILITY?
Wainhouse 2019 survey
of IT decision makers,
most large enterprises
revealed they had three
or more distinct meetingsolution vendors in their
environment.
4
©2020 Wainhouse Research, LLC
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