According to the latest InformationWeek Analytics Desktop Videoconferencing Survey, collaboration was cited by 38% of the respondents as being the main reason behind their adoption of desktop web conferencing solutions, followed by the reduction of travel costs with 31%.

The InformationWeek Analytics Desktop Videoconferencing Survey, which tries to determine web and video conferencing adoption plans and strategies in Northern American enterprises, found that 34% of the respondents have already deployed desktop web conferencing and 10% are looking forward to adopting it over the next twelve months.

The report also shows that the majority of the web conferencing solutions will be deployed using Windows PCs (96%), followed by iPads (39%) and Macs (34%).

Still, desktop web conferencing adoption is still far from the numbers achieved by video conferencing solutions which is being used in meeting rooms of companies all across the country. According to the report, video conferencing is being used or is planned to be used in the near future by 78% of the surveyed companies.

What these findings show is that the market is looking for solutions that are able to deliver both web and video conferencing. With the adoption happening at a fast pace, companies will be looking for solutions which allow them to deploy remote conferencing whether they are video, web or even audio, since it is becoming clear that one tool is not enough and that they need different tools for different purposes.

Solutions like RHUB’s 6-in-1 TurboMeeting appliance, which provides video, web and audio conferencing tools as well as remote access in one single appliance, will be leading the market since they deliver value-added service enterprises are looking for in one single and easy-to-use package.

Many of these companies saw in the “cloud” the holy land of low cost software and virtualized hardware and took the opportunity to renew their operations. But many, when taking a closer at their costs, have found out that cloud computing products and software-as-a-service solutions (SaaS) have higher costs than their appliance counterparts as well as increased security risks.

At a first glance SaaS solutions may seem more cost effective, but monthly fees soon turn into a never ending investment in a platform that is never really owned by the company, as opposed to an appliance solution, which requires a payment for a piece of technology that once paid is owned by its purchaser.

Appliance based solutions are also much easier to deploy than SaaS solutions because they circumvent problems like system requirements and the purchasing of additional hardware for the software to work. Appliance solutions are ready to be deployed and don’t require optimized hardware. They also don’t require professional services to install, integrate and maintain the software.

Appliance based solutions are also more secure to use that their SaaS counterparts. In the case of remote work or remote conferencing, SaaS solutions require the user to connect to a third party server, usually belonging to the software vendor. This third party server is completely out of the control of the solution users and one can never be sure who might be tapping into it or what kind protection it has against hacking intrusion.

With sensitive information on the line, an appliance solution offers its users much more control over potential security threats since one is in control of the servers used to connect the devices and through which the information passes.

Sometimes the best solutions for the future are those of the past. SaaS and cloud based solutions may offer an alternative but in the end the market belongs to the appliance solutions because of one simple detail: higher quality at lower costs.

RHUB’s 6-in-1 Turbomeeting solution is such an example. It offers remote conferencing and remote access in one single appliance, at low costs without requiring any maintenance or special deployment.

One student told the Miami Herald’s reporter that “it’s cool talking to someone from a different country and hearing them speak in a different language.”

Behind this experience was a project called Idea at the Bass, which was designed by the Bass Museum of Art and aimed at having students working together to solve common problems. In question was a Japanese print called the “Mannen Bridge”, showing a bridge and a captured turtle, which led the students to discuss the artwork and the turtle.

Though there are 12 hours of difference between the two countries, students were able to meet by getting up a bit earlier, in case of the Americans, and by staying in school until a little later, in case of the Chinese.  The language differences were set aside by having each class speaking in its native language and having the Chinese teacher to translate.

The online meeting took 45 minutes and was all done through web conferencing and desktop sharing. The experience highlights how web conferencing and desktop sharing software and appliances can be used in education and overcome spatial barriers by allowing students in two distant countries to share experiences and learn from each other.

RHUB 4-in-1 Web Conferencing appliances covers everything one may need to hold online meetings. It allows Web Conferencing, Web Seminars, Remote Support and Remote Access to the office computer from home or any other place. Using RHUB’s appliance students can communicate, share experiences and learn from other students on the other side of the world, but it also allows them to attend and participate in special classes delivered by teachers in far away schools and universities.

Imagine a student somewhere in a university in Europe taking a class delivered by a teacher in the Columbia University and vice versa. Such experiences will become more common and relevant as web conferencing appliances enter mainstream education practices and revolutionizes them.

Hosted web conferencing products have two major downsides. One is security and the other is the cost. Hosted web conferencing services are the most insecure of the three because companies have no control over a third party server (where the product is hosted) and its security measures, making it very difficult to control if someone unwanted is listening to the conversation. Cost-wise is also more expensive in the long run because these services are usually priced per month or year, becoming an ongoing cost to the company. On the upside, hosted services are usually easy to use and are always updated.

Packaged software, being hosted by the company who owns it, is much more secure than hosted products but still has several costs attached to it. Usually software solution has high upfront total cost because you should have a dedicated computer to host it to avoid disruptions from other applications. In addition, software requires extensive time to setup and maintain.

The best solution is appliance based products. The upfront cost is low because you have got a complete hardware and software bundled and pre-configured package in appliance. So, you could save money from purchasing another dedicated computer.  In addition, appliance is easier to deploy because most of appliances comes in as a plug-and-play mode and require no IT ongoing maintenance since the appliance would update itself. This is contrary to the common understanding, appliance only for IT professionals. If you could setup your own router, you should be able to setup it and never worry about the ongoing maintenance.

Appliances (and packaged software) are safer because it gives you much ehanced access security. As we all know, the weakest security point in web conferencing is access security. Every web conferencing system today uses meeting IDs and/or passwords as a simple access security measure to protect web meetings from unwanted attendance. However, the problem is that meeting IDs and passwords are usually emailed to attendees before scheduled meetings start. This process can easily compromise the access security. Your computer screen may be captured within seconds once a hacker intercepts. Once you realize you have been hacked, it is too late to close your meeting.  The best way to protect against the security breaches described above is to use an on-premise appliance where you could choose your own way of appliance deployment and use firewall to protect your meetings. In addition, hosted web conference makes it is impossible to integrate with LDAP because of potential security risks.

Comparing the three types of web conferencing solutions, it is clear that appliance-based web conferencing is the best choice. These are not only the most secure, they are also cheaper in the long run and easier to deploy and maintain.

Today, many telephony and video conferencing appliances come with limited web conferencing functions. Certain security appliances such as those from Juniper include web conferencing option. However, as far as we know, RHUB Communications is the only vendor dedicated in delivering web conferencing appliances. Starting at $995, RHUB appliances are claimed to be paid off by 3 to 10 months of subscription fees compared with hosted services. After quick research, we tend to believe the claim.

The Ovum report focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and it forecasts that video conferencing will become a US$804 million business in the region with an estimate compound annual growth rate of 7.84% between 2011 and 2016. According to the report, the two major video conferencing markets will be India and China with a 16% growth each.

“Enterprises are seizing the huge opportunity that video conferencing offers them to cut costs and improve productivity by reducing business travel,” stated Richard Thurston, Ovum analyst and author of the report.

“They are starting to use video conferencing much more frequently because of ongoing economic concerns, continued efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, enhancements in video technology and price reductions that are improving the business case.”

“The next five years will see solid increases in expenditure from businesses in Asia-Pacific, partly because of their already high expenditure on long-distance air travel,” he added.

Another report, Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, which analyses and forecasts global IP traffic, states that global IP traffic will grow four times over the course of the next four years with internet reaching three billion users and with 15 billion devices connected to the web. According to this report, business web conferencing will grow 6 times from 2010 to 2015, which means that video conferencing is growing faster than IP traffic.

This means that, without a doubt, video conferencing will be growing exponentially over the course of the next five years. With this growth many companies will be looking for the right video conferencing provider and providers will be competing for a growing market. It also means that managers and CEOs must be well informed on the devices they’re looking to buy.

RHUB’s TurboMeeting appliance is one of the best in the market. It is not only fast and reliable but also offers top security measures to keep all the data safe. TurboMeeting was designed to offer companies everything they need for real-time collaborations. It is easy to use and to install, not asking attendees to download any software. Once installed, it updates the firmware automatically and doesn’t need any IT maintenance and it can be used in Windows, Mac, and Linux.

As the flexibility is becoming the key for the success of business in a global market, managers will hardly miss this opportunity to expand globally while reduce business expenses by adopting remote collaboration tools. RHUB’s full featured appliance, one of the best in the market with both web conferencing and remote support functionalities, is very promising to conquer a growing market.

The latest Gallup index, which measured the confidence of the American people, shows that confidence went down by 9% in just two weeks. According to a Gallup survey, 70% said that the economy was getting worse and 47% said the economy was poor.

Another report, this time from the National Federation of Independent Business, found out that small business are refraining from hiring as a way to cut back on spending.  In fact, this same report states that in May there were more business planning to decrease payrolls than increasing them.

This only shows that businesses are looking for ways to cut their spending and many still see laying off as one of the most effective ways to do this. In the face of the current situation, it is normal that businesses are worried about surviving than growing.

But what many businesses don’t realize is that there are other ways to curb spending and one of these ways is to restructure their practices and operations. As times are changing, so is technology. Practices that in the good old days could be done by physical presence are now possible to be done virtually, saving the costs and time that the physical practices required.

RHUB conferencing and remote support appliances can help restructure many business practices and virtualize operations, reducing business expenses. RHUB appliances have four applications: web conferencing, remote support, remote access and web seminar.

Web conferencing allows companies to meet in a virtual environment thus cutting on costs of travel, including gas, hotels, etc. It also saves time and allows people in different parts of the world to participate from their local offices. Web conferencing is perfect to discuss business practices, collaborate interactively in the same project, make sales presentations, etc.

Remote support allows companies to give remotely PC and Mac support to their clients. This saves the costs of the dislocation to the clients house to work directly on his computer and also saves the time of the travel.

Remote access allows workers to access their office computers from anywhere and anytime, meaning that they always have access to their work. With remote access function, employees can work directly from home and to solve any problem or question that might arise when they are not present, making them more productive.

Web seminar allows workers to attend a seminar to improve their working practices without leaving the comfort of their offices. This saves time and money on the travels and it also saves the costs of renting the required space for giving the seminars.

In an age where small businesses are fighting for their survival, virtualization of their business operations might be the key to their success. All that is required is a shift in the frame of mind of managers and CEOs and a small investment that in a short time will pay itself many times over.

The vulnerability of web conferencing technology to security threats is not just applicable to large business; they are a reality for small and medium sized businesses as well. The frightening part, however, is that you would not even realize when your video or audio meeting sessions are compromised by unexpected intruders. This is especially the case when you have sent out tens or hundreds of online meeting invitations with passwords and login IDs. Those emails could easily get intercepted over the cyberspace. Thus, if you want to protect your business materials and if your business involves a lot of conferencing between other departments or with clients all over the world, then you need to first make sure that your business information remain completely secure. If you secure your internal and external communication portals over the internet, more than half your business cyber security measures are set in place.

However, the big question still remains – how can you secure your web conferencing services to ensure that your business stays secure? Appliance-based web conferencing solution is highly recommended. This is because that, compared to most software or web-based solutions, appliance could be deployed behind companies’ own firewalls.  Thus, unlike the hosted web based meeting service where conferencing is hosted in vendors’ servers, appliance-based solution will host meeting session on in-house servers. In this way, appliance gives users the ultimate protection from users’ own firewall. RHUB web conferencing appliance is a leading vendor who is dedicated to providing reliable and secure hardware based solution.

In addition to the firewall protection, RHUB web conferencing appliance offers transmission and access security to your web conferences while providing an affordable and easy way of conferencing over the internet. So, if you are concerned about internet security for your business, consider getting your hands on RHUB web conferencing solutions.

The study, which was released to coincide with the first eG8 conference held between 24 and 25 of May in Paris, finds that internet use is growing everywhere and in every sector of society. This growing, the study states, is still in its infancy. In more developed countries, like the UK and Sweden, the internet accounts for 6% of the GDP but in most countries it is still under 4% which shows that internet use still has much to grow.

Internet Matters also correlates internet with job creation. The report says that 2.6 jobs are created for every one that is destroyed by the internet. An analysis of the French economy has shown that the internet has created 1.2 million jobs over the last 15 years while is has destroyed 500,000.

The internet as a major factor in increasing productivity

According to the report, for which were surveyed more than 4,800 SMEs, those that use the internet in their business practices grow and export twice as much as those with a small or none internet use. The study also shows that SMEs with an heavy use of Web technologies also created twice the number of jobs than their counterparts.

But the number of the companies with a high use of Web technologies still accounts for only 27% of all the companies studied, meaning that only 27% of the 4,800 SMEs are taking advantage of the benefits and the growth the internet gives to its users. According to the study, 42% of the companies reported a low Web-intensity and 31% reported medium Web-intensity.

Curiously the report also finds that the countries with a higher percentage of companies with a high web-intensity implemented practices are also those to which the internet contributes a greater portion of the GDP.

Online tools to increase productivity

This means that most companies aren’t still taking advantage of all the internet has to offer and of the Web tools and productivity enhancing technological solutions available in the market. Tools like the RHUB 4 in 1 Webconferencing software have been proved to improve productivity in companies in every sector of the market while, at the same time, it cuts down costs.

Webconferencing tools increase productivity by improving communication between and among the several departments, increasing work flow, collaboration without any employee having to leave his work place. These tools also allow employees to access their work place from home and allow them to attend seminars without leaving their workplace, reducing costs and time spent on dislocations.

In an initiative called HOPE, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital are using web conferencing to share information on AIDS and advance research around the world.

HOPE, which stands for HIV Online Provider Education, was created in 2004 to connect HIV clinicians from all over the world with the objective of exchanging ideas and advice and to create a platform of collaborative learning.

Doctors can log in easily and quickly, within 5 to 10 minutes, to share their findings on AIDS research with other colleagues on the other side of the world, said Rishabh Dev Phukan, HOPE’s program coordinator, to eWeek.

HOPE holds interactive conferences every two months in which are discussed HIV issues with attendants from Africa, China, India, Dominican Republic, the UK and the US. The conferences feature an expert which makes the topic presentation and then allows discussion between the several participants. Participants can also discuss particular cases between themselves and ask for the opinion of the clinicians present in the web conference.

Another HOPE initiative is the HIV Consult, which has several HIV clinicians providing online help and consultation to doctors with challenging cases or who are working in a limited resources setting.

The Harvard Center for AIDS Research and the Massachusetts General are also working with the McCord Hospital in South Africa using web conference to provide help and advice on AIDS treatment and specific cases.

RHUB TurboMeeting Appliance protects privacy

HOPE’s experience illustrates how web conferencing software can make a difference in medical and scientific research. Online conferencing allows doctors and researchers from all over the world to share their data and experience, discuss their ideas and get advice from experts, all done without leaving their institutions and wasting time.

RHUB has seen more medical clients in 2011. It is known that clinics and hospitals are especially concerned with patients’ privacy protection. When doctors hold online collaborations, RHUB’s appliance-based solution could better ensure that all information is securely protected by medical institution’s own firewall.  Compared to the hosted solutions, in which meeting or seminar information will be sheltered by the hosted servers, more hospitals are opting for appliance. RHUB’s dedicated appliance gives doctors the comfort of real-time privacy protection.

The report states that behind this exponential growth is that managers have started to realize that collaboration and web conferencing tools increase employee and business productivity. In the future, according to MarketsandMarkets, increasing productivity and cost control will determine how web conferencing software and appliances will evolve.

These tools and appliances already play an important role in businesses around the world but it is a market with an exponential growth capability. With many companies looking forward to expanding globally, web conferencing tools are the solution to overcome distances and time zones, bringing people together to work collaboratively in real time. Collaborative remote support appliances are also great to train employees and to supervise their work, allowing an employer to train and manage a team on the other side of the world.

With this exponential growth it is expected that over the next few years remote working and web conferencing systems will change the landscape of the traditional working environments. Companies with implemented remote solutions will tend to grow faster and create more jobs becoming dominant in the markets they’re in.

Appliance-based Solution: Lower your cost of collaboration

The web conferencing market is divided into three different types of service delivery: hosted, software and appliance-based services. While hosted services are the most common service available, there are some companies who provide software,  with appliance-based solutions being still relatively unknown to managers and IT professionals worldwide.

While still relatively unknown, the appliance-based systems offer the most reliable web conferencing and remote collaboration solutions.

When comparing RHUB, the leading provider of web conferencing and remote support appliances, with hosted services like WebEx, Citrix and LogMeIn, it is noticeable the RHUB’s appliance is a better solution for companies than the others because it offers more features and better quality. For example, the image quality is better over an appliance-based web conference than at a hosted solution, the same with audio in VoIP. Security wise the appliance is also a better product offering firewall protection for internal meetings and an SSL & Proprietary transmission security. RHUB’s appliance also allows to monitor employee desktops and has an unlimited number of users who can host meetings.

With the market growth with a 10.4% annual growth rate, it is expected that managers will be looking for the better solutions to implement in their companies and so it is anticipated that appliance-based systems such as RHUB will grow over the competition.