The Millennial Generation: Those following my generation (Gen X) born from the early 1980’s to the early 2000’s. They tend to be detached from institutions and networked with friends. They grew up with the Internet, Smartphones and one or more PC’s in the house. Their libraries in school were and are more .PDF files than physical books. They are more adept at PowerPoint than some adults many years their senior.
There are an estimated 80 million millennials and 76 million Gen Xer’s in America. Half of all millennials are already in the workforce, and millions are added every year. Approximately 10,000 millennials turn 21 every day in America, and by the year 2025, three out of every four workers globally will be Gen Y.
Like it or not, this generation is having a huge impact on how businesses communicate and these changes will only increase as more of this generation makes its way into the workforce. This generation has contributed significantly to the “consumerization” of technology—instead of an enterprise standardizing on a particular manufacturer or platform and mandating its employees conform to that decision, employees are now bringing their consumer devices into the workplace. The enterprise is now challenged to manage these multiple devices in an environment where security threats are at an all-time high. A new term BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has been introduced into our language and leading manufacturers have introduced enhanced management tools to deal with this proliferation. Avaya has Identity Engines, Extreme has IndentiFI, MobileIAM, HP has IMC, and even Blackberry’s BES 10 has been enhanced to manage non-native devices.
Additionally the Millennial generation, with their smartphones always in their pocket, are more likely to answer a text message than a phone call. As noted above, they networked with friends in a nearly always on fashion, but at the same time in a detached and it can be argued impersonal manner. With this reality, all leading manufacturers of Unified Communications (UC) including Avaya, Microsoft, Cisco, Mitel, Shoretel -and the list goes on- are focused on the application, not the voice. Toll quality voice and messaging along with fax integrated into email is increasingly a given. Features such as SMS text (instant messaging), Videoconferencing, Presence and email integration are becoming standard offerings.
A new poll reveals just how different Gen Y workers are from my generation (X). Among other things, millennials want flexible work schedules, more “me time” on the job, and just about nonstop feedback and career advice from managers. They’re also more likely than average to think the boss could learn a thing or two from their young employees. This is bound to have an impact on much more than the UC aspect.
Among other characteristics, millennials, who have come of age with text messaging and Facebook, are are impatient. They are hyper-connected, technical, entrepreneurial, and collaborative. They favor fast-paced work environments, want quick promotions, and aren’t fans of traditional office rules and governing hierarchies.
Enterprise Systems assists businesses of any size in the challenges the Millennial generation is bringing to the enterprise. Enterprise Systems provides consulting, evaluation, deployment and maintenance of UC, Networking and BYOD systems. Enterprise has aligned with leading manufacturers that meet the above criteria. For example, Avaya is listed as a UC market Champion and Mitel and Shoretel as UC market Emerging Players by Infotech Research. Avaya, HP and Extreme lead the market with their BYOD management tools. There are scores of manufacturers that are not even on the list. Enterprise works with business leaders as a vendor neutral consultant and systems integrator.
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