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implement UC, it will definitely be cloud-based,” found
UBM Tech researchers.
Of course, a cloud delivery model, in and of itself,
is not enough. UCaaS providers also have stepped up
their games.
“UCaaS offerings are increasingly functionally compet-
itive with their premises-based alternatives,” write Gart-
ner analysts Daniel O’Connell and Bern Elliot in the firm’s
most recent Magic Quadrant report on the category. Key
improvement in 2015, says Gartner, include an improved
UCaaS user experience, API connectivity with leading
cloud applications and mobile-first user deployments.
Among specific providers, Star2Star recently intro-
duced StarBox CCM 2.0 to facilitate onboarding and
support for large enterprises with specialized or com-
plex dialing needs. The company also introduced Star-
Band to its UCaaS offering, which supports primary and
secondary circuit support, traffic prioritization and auto-
matic failover and service quality monitoring. Recently
added capabilities also include Android mobile support,
screen sharing and an automated quoting tool.
Last year Mitel, for its part, acquired Mavenir to enhance
its mobility capabilities. The Mitel Open Integration Gateway
(OIG), meanwhile, supports integrations with Salesforce,
SugarCRM, Google, Microsoft, NetSuite and Zoho, as well
as custom integrations. And a partnership with Vidyo has
improved Mitel’s video capabilities, says Gartner, while also
enabling integration with Polycom and Cisco video.
RingCentral likewise continues to expand its capabili-
ties and in 2015 added integration with Google Apps for
Work, Microsoft Office 365, and a RingCentral-branded
contact center developed with inContact.
The good news for all providers and resellers of uni-
fied communications: UC adopters are seeing results.
According to UBM Tech findings, 82 percent of adopters
reported they their UC deployment met or exceeded their
expectations for improved team collaboration, which was
the number one expected benefit. Eight in 10 said UC
met or exceeded expectations in terms of improved user
productivity, while three-quarters said the same about
lowering technology ownership cost. All told, 87 percent
of adopters say UC met or exceeded their expectations.
And even more good news for UCaaS providers, ac-
cording to UBM Tech findings, whereas 47 of current us-
ers opted for on-premises UC, only 13 percent of future
adopters are likely to choose on-premises.
Source: UBM Tech, XO
Over the next 5 years, hosted VoIP and
UC will be the segment with the largest
growth in the global VoIP and
unified communications market
IT security solutions expected to have an increas
Source: Spiceworks
Don’t know
Little or no
difficulty
Moderate difficulty
Significant difficulty
Almost derailed
the project
40
60
20
0
40
$90
$80
$70
$60
$50
$40
$30
$20
$10
$0
60
20
0
36%
32%
30%
30%
Intrusion
detection
Content
filtering
Firewalls
VPN
MDM
software
Patch
management
Penetration
testing
Anti-spam
25%
24%
23%
23%
Top Internal Security Pain Points
Source: UBM Tech, XO
How much difficulty did each of the
following present during your organization’s
UC implementation?
Choosing on-premises or cloud
Choosing UC vendor(s)
Solutions did not work as promised
Cost or time overruns
End-user adoption
Funtional problems during pilot
Technical complexity
19%
17%
45%
23% 13% 2%
18%
40%
26%
14% 2%
20%
36%
29% 11% 4%
14%
32%
37%
14% 3%
16%
29%
44%
9% 2%
13% 23%
44%
16% 4%
45%
27% 7% 2%
Don’t know
Not an obstacle Moderate obstacle
Significant obstacle
Deal-breaking obstacle
Source: UBM Tech, XO
How much of an obstacle i each of the
following to your organization’s adoption
of UC?
Cost
Lack of in-house technical expertise
Management not sure about benefits or ROI
Perceived risk of disruption
Confusing choices or conflicting vendor claims
IT not sure about benefits or ROI
Previous bad experiences
19%
18%
20%
29%
23% 10%
18% 8% 27%
37%
10%
20% 11% 30%
30% 9%
20% 11%
34%
27%
8%
20%
15%
30%
29%
6%
25%
41%
16% 13% 5%
5% 26%
37%
13%
Revenue (US$ Billions)
Source: Veeam
Lack of DR site
Lack of DR expertise
Cost of current DR infrast ucture
Lack of available personnel
Assistance with DR planning/testing
Assistance after disaster
Internal or external regulations
33%
33%
Source: UBM Tech, XO
Over the next 5 years, hosted VoIP and
UC will be the segment with the largest
IT security soluti ns expected to have an incre
Don’t know
Li tle or no
difficulty
Mod rat difficulty
Significant difficulty
Almost derailed
the proj ct
40
60
20
0
40
60
20
36%
32%
30%
30%
Intrusion
detection
Content
filtering
Firewalls
VPN
25%
24%
23%
23%
Avoidance of ongoing op
Faster time-to-befefit
Greater reliability or resiliency
47%
44%
35%
Source: UBM Tech, XO
How much difficulty did each of the
following present during your organization’s
UC implementation?
Choosing on-premises or cloud
Choosing UC vendor(s)
Solutions did not work as promised
Cost or time overruns
End-user adoption
Funtional problems during pilot
Technical complexity
19%
17%
45%
23% 13% 2%
18%
40%
26%
14% 2%
20%
36%
29% 11% 4%
14%
32%
37%
14% 3%
16%
29%
44%
9% 2%
13% 23%
44%
16% 4%
45%
27% 7% 2%
Don’t know
Not an obstacle Moderate obstacle
Significant obstacle
Deal-breaking obstacle
Source: UBM Tech, XO
How much of an obstacle is each of the
following to your organization’s adoption
of UC?
Cost
Lack of in-house technical expertise
Management not sure about benefits or ROI
Perceived risk of disruption
Confusing choices or conflicting vendor claims
IT not sure about benefits or ROI
Previous bad experiences
19%
18%
20%
29%
23% 10%
18% 8% 27%
37%
10%
20% 11% 30%
30% 9%
20% 11%
34%
27%
8%
20%
15%
30%
29%
6%
25%
41%
16% 13% 5%
5% 26%
37%
13%
What are drivers for your cust
DRaaS? (Select all that apply)
Source: Veeam
Lack of DR site
Lack of DR expertise
Cost of current DR infrastructure
Lack of available person el
Assistance with DR planning/testing
Assistance after disaster
Internal or external regulations
33%
33%
What are the top three tasks your company uses
cloud computing to complete?
Source: IHS, Inc.
Over the next 5 years, hosted VoIP and
UC will be the segment with the largest
growth in the global VoIP and
unified communications market
2015
2020
File Storage
/Disaster Recovery
App Deployment
p Testing/Development
Mobility
Collaboration
28%
22%
20%
21%
21%
20%
16%
17%
18%
13%
19%
14%
11%
12%
14%
12%
10%
14%
$90
$80
$70
$60
$50
$40
$30
$20
$10
$0
Third
Priority
Second
Priority
First
Priority
Don’t know
Not an obstacle Moderate obstacle
Significant obstacle
Deal-breaking obstacle
Source: UBM Tech, XO
Lack of in-house technical expertise
Management not sure about benefits or ROI
Perceived risk of disruption
Confusing choices or conflicting vendor claims
IT not sure about benefits or ROI
Previous bad experience
18%
20%
29%
23% 10%
18% 8% 27%
37%
10%
20% 11% 30%
30% 9%
20% 11%
34%
27%
8%
20%
15%
30%
29%
6%
25%
41%
16% 13% 5%
Residential/SOHO VoIP
Business VoIP - IP Connectivity
Business VoIP - Hosted VoIP & UC
Business VoIP - Managed IP PBX
Global Revenue (US$ Billions)
34
Channel
Vision
|
May - June 2016