European Unified Communications and Collaboration Forecast, 2022-2027

The European unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) market is projected to grow at a 7.5% CAGR between 2022 and 2027, off the back of cloud-based UC&C migration. Key current and future market developments include:UC collaboration will grow at a CAGR of 7.4% over the 2022-2027 period. By 2027, UC collaboration will have a share of 44% of the UC&C market in Europe.Voice remains an integral part of communications and by 2027, unified communications as a service (UCaaS) will account for 48% of UC&C revenues. Hosted voice/public cloud (UCaaS) is the fastest-growing category in UC&C with a CAGR of 10.8%.Enterprise videoconferencing systems will grow at a CAGR of 3.2% over the forecast period. The restructuring of offices has seen a bigger emphasis on devices that bring parity between physical and virtual attendees.The on-premises IP telephony/UC systems segment will decline 10.4% between 2022 and 2027 as businesses replace legacy infrastructure.Hybrid working is a permanent reality for many businesses in Europe. Efficiently connecting a distributed workforce is best done in the cloud, which also enables businesses to integrate with other technologies. The largest countries in the UC&C market are the U.K., France, and Germany. France and Germany have become more receptive to cloud-based communications. There are opportunities in Spain for UCaaS migration as businesses are looking to migrate their legacy voice services to private or public UCaaS.The IDC Market Forecast examines the European UC&C market, with breakdowns for the various technologies and services that constitute this market, namely, UC applications and IP telephony equipment, videoconferencing and telepresence equipment, team collaborative applications, other collaborative applications, and UCaaS. It also breaks down the market by business size and key geographies. The study outlines major market trends and provides recommendations for market players."The momentum of cloud-based UC&C will continue to be high, but providers must be careful not to complicate their offerings as a portion of the market still uses on-prem UC because they are unclear about the alternative solutions or the migration path. Providers need to implement AI and automation into their communications and collaboration but should take great care to follow European regulations and ensure that customers' data remains secure," said Graham Fruin, senior research analyst, IDC European Unified Communications and Collaboration.