"Everyone has access to the same technology, and like electricity, IT was no longer strategic. You may have implemented SAP but so has your competitor," he said.

"The goal now is to completely change the business which is being accompanied by a radical workforce change, the amount of time staff spend in the office is decreasing five percent each year."

Edholm said the key to this shift is unified communications boasting real-time media, workflow integration and Web services.

Enterprise priorities are no longer around cost cutting but improving response times to meet customer needs and increasing employee productivity.

This includes the integration of collaboration applications, the Web, video and audio conferencing, mobility, Instant Messaging and presence.