Unified Communications: Trend Analysis to 2012 (Strategic Focus)

This publication has been discontinued on July 19, 2011.

Introduction

Abstract

Overview

Introduction

Unified communications (UC) is evolving from a concept to a more mature solution stack. However, there is still a lot of confusion in the market about what actually constitutes UC. This report is going to define UC and provide clarity to vendors and investors, by identifying the key market trends and forecasting future growth opportunities.

Scope

• Identifies penetration of UC solutions by vertical markets and highlights the industries which are planning the most Greenfield investments.
• Forecasts the growth potential of different regions by estimating enterprise unified communications expenditure within those regions.
• Defines the unified communications portfolio of applications and sets out the technology evolution.
• Analyzes the competitive landscape by evaluating vendor strategies and determining their position in the market.

Highlights

The market for unified communications solutions is undoubtedly growing but a comprehensive analysis of the market reveals that growth is being hindered by enterprise pain points not being completely addressed, and vendors' marketing strategies not clearly demonstrating a return on investment.

There is a diverse competitive landscape with traditional communication vendors and new entrants all claiming to offer the leading unified communications solution. Partnerships between these new entrants and the established communication vendors is behind some claims from vendors to offer a ' end-to-end' solution.

Channel to market is important and vendors should consider enterprise preferences for a hosted or on-premise solution, and make full use of resellers and partners. It is also important to target key messages at the right individuals within enterprises and be aware of budget constraints and a desire to adopt UC technologies in a piecemeal manner.

Reasons to Purchase

• Identifies the major trends affecting the market and predicts how those trends will evolve.
• Offers insight into the unified communications market based upon primary data and perceptive analysis.
• Covers the breadth of the UC market, helping decision makers understand market opportunities and the best ways to address those opportunities.

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Catalyst
  • Summary
• Key Messages
  • The market for UC solutions is set to grow considerably
  • The cost of implementation is the biggest inhibitor ofinvestments in UC
  • Instant messaging and enterprise mobility are judged thelargest security threats
  • Unified communications has not made a significant impacton flexible working
  • Partnerships and mergers are defining the competitivelandscape for UC solutions
  • The majority of enterprises prefer to purchase through areseller and deploy on-site
• Table of Contents
• Table of figures
• Table of tables
• Market Opportunity
  • Unified communications can improve productivity and reducehuman latency
    • Defining unified communications
  • The market for UC solutions is set to grow considerably
  • The penetration of UC solutions is increasing steadily
    • Similar numbers of greenfield investments are being madein all four UC technology areas
    • Messaging has the highest current penetration
  • Rates of investment and penetration vary by geography,industry and company size
    • North America and Western Europe will show the largestgrowth in absolute terms
    • Voice/data network convergence was not enterprises' largest area of expenditure in 2007
    • Penetration of voice/data convergence is highest in thefinancial industries, particularly retail banking
    • Healthcare is planning the most greenfield investments inUC technology
    • There are differing levels of penetration and growth ratesbetween large and small enterprises
• Technology Evolution
  • Unified communications is emerging from voice/dataconvergence
  • The migration of telephony from TDM to IP is relativelyslow
  • Key technologies and applications which comprise the UCsolution are evolving
  • Contact centers are monitoring developments in unifiedcommunications
  • Unified communications has not made a significant impacton flexible working
  • Most UC technologies will be adopted in the medium term
• Customer Impact
  • There are four types of workers that can benefit from UC
  • Customer experience is driving investments in convergencesolutions
    • Standardizing systems and infrastructure is also aconsideration for enterprises
    • The increase in flexible working could be a driver ofdemand for UC
      • Vendors need to prove return on investment of flexibleworking
  • The cost of implementation is the biggest inhibitor ofinvestments in UC
    • Legacy hardware is both a driver and an inhibitor forgrowth in the UC market
  • Instant messaging and enterprise mobility are judged thelargest security threats
  • Vendors have to prove return on investment
• Competitive Landscape
  • Partnerships and mergers are shaping the vendor market forUC solutions
  • Microsoft and IBM have burst into the unifiedcommunications market
    • IBM
    • Microsoft
  • Cisco, Siemens Enterprise, Avaya, and Nortel are UC marketleaders
  • Cisco has the greatest mindshare of the leading vendorsbut there are regional variations
    • Cisco has the largest degree of mindshare but five othervendors have an established presence
    • Regional mindshare reflects vendors' market strengths
    • Microsoft Office Communicator leads IM mindshare
• Go to Market
  • Vendors should utilize partners and resellers to addressenterprise requirements
    • The majority of enterprises prefer to purchase through areseller and deploy on-site
  • Vendors should target the CEO and CIO when marketing theirsolutions
    • Both the CEO and CIO are likely to have some degree ofinfluence over investments decisions
  • Go to market recommendations
    • UC adoption is increasing but will remain a low priorityfor many enterprises
    • Vendors should market UC as improving productivity andreducing human latency
    • Financial institutions are more receptive to newtechnologies
    • There will be a slow migration from TDM PBXs to IP PBXs
    • Partnerships are key in vendors' route to market
• APPENDIX
  • Definitions
  • Methodology
  • Further reading
  • Ask the analyst
  • Datamonitor consulting
  • Disclaimer
• List of Tables
  • Table 1: UC global enterprise expenditure ($ millions)
  • Table 2: Do you have the following UC solutions? Whichwould you invest in next 6-24 months?
  • Table 3: Enterprise expenditure on UC solutions byregion ($ millions)
  • Table 4: Which area of investment was your singlebiggest IT project this budget year?
  • Table 5: Do you use voice/data convergence? Would youinvest in next 6/24 months (vertical)?
  • Table 6: Do you use voice/data convergence? Would youinvest in next 6/24 months (size)?
  • Table 7: Does your organization use IP telephony andwhen was it implemented?
  • Table 8: Which technologies do you support for flexibleworking? Like to offer in 24 months?
  • Table 9: Please rate the importance of the followingobjectives to your UC investment
  • Table 10: What issues prevent your organization frominvesting in UC technologies?
  • Table 11: How do you assess the security risk posed bythese technologies?
  • Table 12: Vendor summary scores for Voice/DataConvergence Decision Matrix
  • Table 13: Please pick two firms which you believe to be' leaders' in UC
  • Table 14: Which vendor do you consider a leader in theinstant messaging market?
  • Table 15: What is your preferred approach to buying UCtechnologies?
  • Table 16: Rank the most influential person forpurchasing decisions on voice/data convergence
• List of Figures
  • Figure 1: Revenues will increase rapidly in the unifiedcommunications market
  • Figure 2: Similar levels of greenfield investmentsacross technologies
  • Figure 3: North America and Western Europe will show thelargest growth
  • Figure 4: UC is unlikely to be enterprises' largestproject
  • Figure 5: Healthcare is set to make the most greenfieldinvestment in UC
  • Figure 6: Small enterprises will be making the mostgreenfield investments
  • Figure 7: Voice/data convergence has allowed unifiedcommunications to emerge
  • Figure 8: Enterprises are installing IP telephony instages
  • Figure 9: Telephone and email are key technologiessupported for flexible working
  • Figure 10: Raising productivity and increasing customersatisfaction are key aims of enterprises
  • Figure 11: Cost is the largest inhibitor of UC
  • Figure 12: Instant messaging is considered the largestsecurity risk
  • Figure 13: Cisco is the leading vendor with the highesttotal score
  • Figure 14: Cisco is a market leader in terms ofmindshare in a competitive field
  • Figure 15: Microsoft has a commanding mindshare in theenterprise IM market
  • Figure 16: Enterprises prefer to purchase from resellers
  • Figure 17: CEOs and CIOs are the key decision makers forvoice/data convergence

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