nearly all of the seven ways to streamline communications and get savings and improvements. They also use powerful analytics to ensure the lowest labor cost while maximizing other objectives, such as customer satisfaction or up-selling.

7. Corporate staff includes executives, who have similarities to collaboration teams, as well as other roles similar to those described under administration/information processing workers. Corporate staffers can be on-site or mobile, and often need to share information. Some executives require a personalized form of collaboration and negotiation, so this usage profile usually includes high-definition desktop and meeting room video communication.

These seven usage profiles are found across all industries. The table below lists industry sectors in the rows and some value chain activities in the columns. Each cell shows the usage profile that might occur for a specific industry in one element of the value chain. Because usage profiles have different names in different industries, the color of each cell indicates which of the seven generic profiles is represented. Color codes are shown in the legend. A cell with two colors indicates a blend of two profile types.

For example, in the R&D/Product Management activity of the value chain for the manufacturing industry, there's a usage profile labeled "R&D." This profile is color-coded blue because it's an instance of Collaboration Teams. Likewise, in Account Sales for manufacturing, there's a usage profile for "Sales," color-coded to the profile type Mobile Field Workers.

This sample table could be extended to include the other value chain activities: operations, support staff, field services, customer services, and enterprise management. Note that some cells are blank because there are usually no usage profiles for that specific value chain activity (column) in the referenced industry (row).

As you discover the opportunities for improving your business using the "7 ways," you can plan and facilitate the delivery of those improvements using specific usage profiles optimized for the improved business processes and workflows associated with each profile. These applications of UCC technologies can then help your company lower costs, move faster, and differentiate itself from the competition.

Next up: Is UCC an application in itself or a set of services to be embedded in applications?

IT must support employees on the go as well as build mobile apps for customers. Both initiatives still have a long way to go. Get the new Frictionless IT: Mobility issue of InformationWeek Tech Digest today (free registration required).