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This is the final part of our analysis on the ROI of web conferencing.
In part 1 of this article on the business benefits of web conferencing, we have established that there is a business case for productivity with regard to the use of web conferencing, at least in the sales and training departments. in part 2, with the help of Frost & Sullivan and WebEx, we found out that we were even able to underpin those conclusions with facts and figures. As we concluded in this latter part of the article, the expected results in terms of productivity and return on investment, can be impressive. In part 3 of this article - i.e. this one - we would like to stress a few points so as to delve deeper into the analysis of those numbers.
There are indeed - despite the undeniable quality of this document - a few grey areas which need to be underlined if we wish to refine our analysis of the web conferencing ROI.
First and foremost, the examples set forth in this ROI calculation white paper are high-tech examples, essentially with companies based in the United States. Secondly, the assumptions made in this document with regard to the investment of time savings into work (the so-called correction factor) are rather subjective and may even be deemed to lack transparency to a certain extent (see page 10 of the white paper for details). Results can indeed vary greatly according to enterprise size, staff Internet literacy, and also the location of a business. Thirdly, whereas a systematic increase in productivity through the replacement of physical meetings with remote conferencing is mentioned, there are still many cases in which face-to-face meetings are bound to be more efficient and we cannot entirely rule them out altogether. At least, it wouldn't yet seem feasible to me just now, and certainly not with regard to sales related meetings. Fourthly, the lack of representativeness of the sample and the lack of historical data can actually cast a few doubts on this ROI exercise ...
