Maturing UC Cloud Producing Leaders
The cloud-based UC market continues to grow and as it does leaders will begin to emerge, according to leading IT research company, Gartner. Though there is no current indication of which firms may take the lead positions, this may only be due to the fact that the most recent report on cloud-based UC as a service (UCaaS) was put together in 2011. Nevertheless, it is still a little surprising that no companies attained leadership grade.
What the report does show is that there is a split between visionary cloud-based UC providers with potential to evolve into solid contenders and challenging IT companies who have the ability to execute their potential but no clear plan on how to do so. According to Gartner the visionaries include Cypress Communications, Thinking Phone Networks, M5 Networks, and PanTerra Networks, while Verizon, Google, Cisco, AT&T, and Microsoft are the challengers.
Gartner Research Director Daniel O'Connell points out that there has been a number of developments since the release of the 2011 magic quadrant report. One of the most significant is that UC provider ShoreTel acquired M5 Networks. Furthermore, several new contenders have joined the UCaaS market, such as 8x8, CSC, Azaleos, and Mitel.
The increase in user demand for combined contact center services and cloud-based unified communications is another significant change over the past year.
UCaaS appeals to small and medium-sized businesses because services are managed so hiring IT proficiency is not a relevant factor and there is no necessity for major investment in new equipment. Larger enterprise is also taking an interest in UCaaS.
The value of the UCaaS market is expected to top $1.9 billion in 2012, that's an increase of 15.8 percent since 2011. Research firm Frost & Sullivan describe the hosted and managed business market as being "very dynamic and vibrant" despite "varying levels of maturity" throughout the different applications and geographic regions.
Bill Haskins, senior analyst at Wainhouse Research, noted that the expansion of the UCaaS market is being fuelled by the demand for instant messaging (IM) as well as other types of services offered such as unified messaging, video and web conferencing, VoIP, content center and mobile client.
Haskins also pointed out that the IM is deployed by 82 percent of businesses. "This is important in the UC discussion because it gives providers a foundation, a client to access other UC services. It starts there," he added. (CU) Link
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