Saudi Arabia's growing appetite for technology is evident – today the country is the largest IT market in the Middle East. And in line with the exemplary vision of the government, some of the most innovative projects in smart cities, artificial intelligence and cloud are being implemented in the Kingdom. Smart technologies, which are a pillar of Saudi Vision 2030, have the potential to positively transform several aspects of life in the country. A recent research conducted by Avaya, polled employees (both males and females) across 9 countries: Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Italy, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Germany, Australia and France, has found that an overwhelming majority of Saudi respondents (84%) agree that technology-assisted workplaces help them increase their productivity. While it can be expected that younger employees and tech-savvy millennials would be most in favor of using technology to aid their job functions, an interesting finding was that it was actually the age group of 55 years and over that showed the highest agreement (95%). An indication that organizations in the Kingdom need to pay urgent attention to the needs of these employees is the fact that 70% of the survey's Saudi respondents stressed the importance of enhancing communications and collaboration systems in their organizations – this figure places Saudi Arabia first among the nine countries included in the research. Besides increasing job satisfaction among this large group of employees, the investments that Saudi organizations make into enhancing the communications and collaboration tools they offer their employees could go a long way in optimizing operations. There is a clear need to do this as presently, a surprisingly large number of Saudi employees (85%) report loss of worktime due to poor communication. According to Zuhair Diab, Managing Director of AVAYA, Saudi Arabia, such productivity losses can be easily avoided through the use of smart technologies. "Take video collaboration for example - today, broadband Internet and easy to set up and use conferencing solutions are conveniently available to businesses across the Kingdom", said Diab, "Together these facilitate instant connectivity for teams, leading to enhanced collaboration, rapid sharing of ideas and information, and reducing the need to for business-related travel. It should come as no surprise that our research found that the large percentage employees, especially women (80%), expressed their desire for desktop video conferencing technologies". Going a step further, Saudi companies could also look to converge their customer and workforce experience solutions. "This would not only enable them to maximize the value of each customer interaction," said Diab, "but also increase the productivity of their workforce. Furthermore, a converged customer and workforce solution can bring simplicity to business processes, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and ultimately deliver a faster and higher return on investment (ROI)". Companies that can effectively align their technology investments with the current market need for enhanced customer and employee experiences will come out on top as leaders in the Saudi market. — SG
