Are Multiple Messaging Platforms Really a Bad Thing?

As businesses go through digital transformation, it’s common they end up with multiple messaging platforms in their Unified Comms and collaboration estate.

Some businesses reach this stage because they're testing tools and looking for a best of breed strategy. 

More than half of IT leaders believe that using best-of-breed tools for communication and collaboration tools is more important than choosing applications from the same vendor.

This leads to employees using Slack for collaboration, Webex for meetings and Office 365 (with Microsoft Teams free) at the same time.

While multiple platforms in your enterprise don't have to be a bad thing, it can lead to significant problems.

1.     Multiple standalone platforms mean communication isn't unified

The biggest problem with multiple messaging platforms is that your communication strategy is fragmented.

Messages are sent in walled gardens throughout the business. Silos separate departments and teams. Rather than joining your employees together, you're maintaining the imaginary boundaries that prevent full collaboration.

When communication isn't unified, employee satisfaction decreases, because teams feel less connected. This eventually leads to staff attrition.

Additionally, disconnected messaging strategies increase the risk of duplicated work and misunderstandings.

2.     IT managers need to manage multiple platforms

There are hundreds of collaboration and communication tools available today.

When a cross-functional project occurs, your teams are using different apps. This means that they need to keep multiple tabs open so they don't miss a message.

Switching between applications throughout the day and trying to remember who and what is available in each messaging app leads to productivity prevention.

It's impossible to maintain efficient workflow when you're wondering whether the file you need was in an email, Slack or somewhere else entirely.

3.     Productivity loss = $$$ lost

Businesses turn to messaging tools to support better teamwork.

If your work happens through different chat tools, then friction finding information and trouble reaching the right people leads to lost productivity.

Surveys commissioned by Mitel show that losses in productivity caused by issues with collaboration and chat applications lead to $11,000 in lost productivity each year per employee.

That’s a huge chunk being lost to poor collaboration, that could be invested in R&D, employee retention or sales and marketing.

4.     Risk of lost information

If you can't see crucial messages because they're posted on an alternative platform, confusion and inconsistency become the norm.

When people need to make sure they're sharing the same data across multiple channels, there's more chance that information will be lost and response times will slow. 

5.     More IT maintenance & costs

The more your IT team manages, the more expense you need to worry about.

Managing multiple communications applications requires more work from budgeting to administration.

If your employees are using chat apps, IT needs to ensure that the right people have access to that data. And more importantly, the wrong people can't get their hands on it.

6.     Shadow IT and shadow messaging

Today, employees rarely have the time to sit around waiting for someone to respond to their messages.

If your team can't get a quick response using tools your business tool, they turn to SMS and WhatsApp, where an instant response is more likely.

This enhanced risk of shadow messaging means more, messaging silos in your enterprise, and a higher threat of security issues.

When you don't know which channels your employees use, you can't implement a strategy to keep them secure.

Why is having multiple platforms bad?

With so many problems associated with multiple platforms, businesses would ideally place their comms in one channel.

Unfortunately, for most organizations, this will never be a reality. According to the Workplace Messaging Report, most companies are using at least 3 messaging platforms each day.

If using one platform in your company isn't a possibility, interoperability is the only way forward.

With Mio, you can combine all your messaging streams, eliminating all of the issues that make having multiple messaging platforms "bad."

For the easy way to manage multiple platforms, visit Mio today.

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