Unequivocally, 2015 will see strong growth in the Cloud computing, Big Data Analytics, Social media, Internet of things, and Mobility (CASIM). Frost & Sullivan believes that CASIM will mark a positive impact on the unified communications (UC) market, making UC more critical to the businesses than ever before.
"UC will no more be just about an IP phone, or a soft client, or just email and presence. It will now be a business communication suite which integrates convergence, interoperability, security and dependability with collaboration. Collaborative suites will be further enhanced to deliver business outcomes, as this would be the key consideration of CXOs prior to deploying any communication suite," said Mr. Harsh Upadhyay, Industry Analyst for ICT, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific.
Cloud Computing to reduce UC Deployment Costs
Organizations have always realized the value in deploying UC suites, but have never wanted to make huge investments. UC-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions are growing at an unprecedented rate, and it is not surprising that they form a significant portion of the SaaS market. While many large enterprises are now choosing the hybrid UC deployment model, the mid-market space has opened up as a green-field for UC vendors and service providers.
Almost all leading telecom service providers such as Telstra, British Telecom, Verizon, Orange and others already have their UCaaS offerings in the market. Large system integrators such as Dimension Data, DTSI are also pushing themselves into this market, making it even more competitive.
Using Big Data Analytics for Better Customer Experience
Organizations have started deploying strong analytics engines to make the most out of the existing and exponentially growing data. To start off, they will first derive benefits from treasure laying in their backyard i.e. their contact centers. Contact centers gather tonnes of data; analysis of which can produce actionable insights. This way, the contact center prescribes action items for most of the functions within a business, thereby ensuring a high quality customer experience.
Social Media Engagement Essential for Organizations
Social media is gaining traction as a contact center channel, and it is expected to become a channel as important as the phone by 2018. Analytics that run on top of social media platforms can help organizations build that extra edge which helps them in delivering superior customer experience, deriving deep consumer insights, and reducing customer churn. The power of social media cannot be underestimated as it gets embedded within the various unified communication components (such as replying to a tweet via email).
Internet of Things: Frost & Sullivan expects 80 billion connected devices by the end of 2020
The internet of things is about how devices communicate with each other, and about how we communicate through these devices. We have already started talking and receiving emails on our smart watches. There would be a need to unify the various modes of communications (chat, SMS, call, social media and others) over the multiple devices we possess. Multiple functions within the organization- remote maintenance, process optimization, intelligent branches and many others- all require UC solutions at the backend. Growth in XMPP is a live example of such phenomenon already growing in the market.
Mobility and BYOD
The increased number of connected devices, mobile workforce, user preferences, and focus on increased productivity are few of the many reasons that make mobility and bring-your-own-device acceptance is imperative for the organizations. Sales people want their corporate phones on their mobile, even when they are roaming. A disparate need across the various working profiles will push UC solutions to be available on all devices as apps.
"UC vendors must re-align their strategies, solutions and messaging with upcoming market trends and changing business priorities. A seamless communication amongst employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders is a key focus point for all enterprises amidst this very complex world; and this makes unified communications very crucial," said Mr. Upadhyay.