Roche was commenting on the Tech Trends2015 Report. The paper is based on a consultation with 230 ICT leaders, managers and team members based in the UK. It predicts that – just as 2014 was the year when flexible working became mainstream – this year will see widespread adoption of mobile technology as part of business strategy.

A survey taken as part of the research revealed 55% of ICT leaders would recommend a widespread roll-out of mobile technology to their staff – while 42% say existing cloud and mobile technology is delivering good ROI.

Another area of technology that has seen increased usage is videoconferencing. It has seen a 51% adoption rate between 2013 and 2015.

Roche told Growth Business businesses that invest in new technology rather than attempting to update current systems “report up to five times higher satisfaction levels”. He added that smaller businesses can use their agility to get the jump on their larger rivals.

“Larger companies often have legacy systems that take a lot of time to replace,” he said. “Smaller and often newer companies have less baggage and can move more quickly with new technology. If companies aren’t early adopters they’re at risk of getting left behind.”

Olive CEO Martin Flick added that ICT leaders are still “understandably cautious about new investments”.

“But those that have taken a leap of faith have seen such positive results and ROI that they are advocating those technologies to their peers,” he said. “2015 is set to be a real turning point for the use of communications technology in British businesses. While cloud and business apps have been hot topics for the past few years, we’re now starting to see this take a more strategic spot in IT strategies.”

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