An Accenture team of more than 2,000 professionals recently faced a business challenge. Team members had to collaborate across thousands of miles, requiring significant weekly travel. “Our teams were doing great work,” explains Adrian Scott, one of the Accenture executives overseeing the effort, “but our travel budget was taking a beating.”
With help from the Accenture CIO Organization, the team purchased six EX Series videoconferencing systems. As soon as the systems were installed, videoconferencing became an integral part of the team’s work process, with multiple sessions each day bringing together team members in India and Australia.
The EX Series units effectively paid for themselves within the first month of operation. “We are on track to significantly cut our expected travel expenses for the year,” reports Scott. Going forward, the use of videoconferencing by this one team alone is expected to save more than US$1million per year in travel expenses.
Multiplied by the many thousands of Accenture teams collaborating worldwide, the prospective cost efficiencies from teaming without traveling are immense.
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