Nemertes Research

Press Release
May 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Branch Offices Increase, Bolstered by Collaborative Technologies
Over 62% of Participants Plan to Increase Branch Office Locations

Mokena, IL – May 30, 2007 – The number of virtual workers and telecommuters are growing substantially, according to Nemertes’ latest benchmark, “Branch Office Best Practices.” The study, based on five months of in-depth interviews with 120 IT executives, finds 62% of participants are planning to increase the number of their branch-office locations, and on average, branch offices will grow 11% in 2007, up 8.9% from 2006. Driving the growth of the branch office is global expansion, employee attraction and retention, merger and acquisitions, cost savings, and environmental concerns.

Collaborative technologies have bolstered the comfort level with effectively managing the virtual workplace. More than 80% of companies are “virtual workplaces,” meaning at least some of their employees work away from their supervisors and/or workgroups. “On average, organizations classify 27% of their employees as virtual,” says Robin Gareiss, executive vice president of Nemertes Research. “The message from upper management indicates the success of the virtual workplace depends on three factors – IT infrastructure, ability to manager and ability to perform.”

Collaborative technologies also help make telecommuters more productive. Benchmark participants indicated that on average, 17% of employees telecommute. The study found that growing revenue was the leading business driver, along with improving employee productivity. “The decision to allow or even to promote telecommuting depends, in large part, on the vertical industry or job function,” Gareiss says.

There was a correlation between an organization’s IT culture and their propensity toward becoming a virtual workplace. Those who defined their IT organizations as “bleeding edge” tend to have the smallest number of branch locations, but the largest percentage of growth in their branch offices, and the largest number of virtual workers.

The benchmark includes recommendations and best practices for branch-office decision making, WAN equipment for the branch, and overall WAN services trends and guidelines on categorizing branch-office policy.

About the Benchmark The report is part of a nine-volume benchmark titled, “Building the Successful Virtual Workplace,” which examines WAN and branch-office infrastructures, convergence deployments, collaboration and unified-communications best practices and mobility strategies. In addition to the detailed research based on discussions with 120 IT executives, Nemertes will also look at the vertical-market implications.

About Nemertes Research Nemertes Research is an analyst firm that specializes in analyzing and quantifying the business value of emerging technologies. We select technical and business issues to research based on input from our clients and benchmarks participants. You can learn more about Nemertes Research at our website www.nemertes.com.

For more information, contact:
Karen Wucher
Nemertes Research
Phone: 972-335-7028
Cell: 972-872-0282
Karen.Wucher@nemertes.com