by Brianna Crandall — April 23, 2014—The market for enterprise communication solutions in the United States and Europe offers considerable growth opportunities but is also facing a number of challenges including regulatory issues and limited understanding of unified communications (UCC) technologies and their benefits, according to a new report from global growth consulting firm Frost and Sullivan.
F&S advises vendors to educate customer organizations on the benefits of UCC and take a more consultative approach to their sales efforts—focusing on business needs and value, instead of the technology alone. F&S says they would also do well to deliver UCC solutions that improve regulatory compliance at a lower cost, given that IT decision-makers consider this the primary challenge for their departments today.
The new customer research analysis from Frost & Sullivan, The Future of Enterprise Communications from a Customer Perspective, details the findings of a Web-based survey of 1,028 decision-makers for IT-related purchases in the United States and Europe. The findings are relevant for facilities managers who include the purchase and management of electronic communications equipment among their duties, as well.
The research covers the IT challenges organizations currently face, the present and future use of enterprise communication technologies, factors that drive investments in enterprise communication technologies, available IT budgets, and the impact of workforce evolution on IT technologies adoption.
“Presently, video, Web and audio conferencing as well as mobile applications are the most widely deployed enterprise communication solutions across the U.S. and Europe,” said Frost & Sullivan Unified Communications and Collaboration Program Director Elka Popova. “However, the use of more traditional video technologies and audio conferencing is expected to decline due to high costs and increased adoption of Web conferencing solutions. Among existing enterprise communications solutions, business-grade softphones, tablets, and UC clients will witness the most significant increase in demand over the next three years.”
Further, new business requirements such as the need to support remote workers, coupled with mobility and bring-your-own technology trends, are driving IT investments and related costs. Growing customer demand for social networking, visual collaboration, and a more personalized experience is also a key factor influencing related expenditure. In fact, the cost impact of satisfying these additional needs is hitting IT decision-makers in the USA, larger organizations, and companies in the financial and healthcare sectors the hardest, according to the report.
Overall, decision-makers in the United States are more affected by these costs than their counterparts in Europe. The cost and complexity of deploying and managing multi-vendor UCC solutions is compelling businesses across the USA and Europe to consolidate and integrate their disparate platforms or switch to single-vendor UCC solutions.
“To expand market potential, vendors should focus on helping end users consolidate their UCC infrastructure through the use of open standards and advanced technologies such as session initiation protocol, session management, session border controllers, and software-defined networks,” noted Popova. “They could also employ hosted and managed services to reduce costs and boost operational efficiency for clients.”
The Future of Enterprise Communications from a Customer Perspective is part of Frost and Sullivan’s Conferencing and Collaboration Growth Partnership Service program. The firm’s related research services include: Analysis of the Global Enterprise Social Networking Market, Global Enterprise Communications Platforms and Endpoints, Analysis of the Global Web Conferencing Market, and North American and European Hosted IP Telephony and UCC Services Markets. All research included in subscriptions identify detailed market opportunities and industry trends based on extensive interviews with market participants.
