Cisco, Avaya, and Panasonic led the world in PBX sales, while Cisco, Avaya, and NEC earned top spots in growth.

2010 was a PBX watershed year. It was a watershed not because businesses once again began acquiring PBX systems after being sidelined in 2009. Yes, that happened. But 2010 was a watershed because the force driving new PBX purchases was businesses' incentive to cut expenses. This is both counterintuitive and unique.

Businesses didn't have less to do in 2010, although many countries' economies suffered; they just had fewer people to do it. Unemployment was high in almost all developed countries. It was higher in every OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country, with the exception of Luxembourg and Germany (see figure below).

Buying a PBX in 2010 equated to a vote for ratcheting-up employee productivity. A new PBX, costing $1,200 per seat on average, gave companies permission to hold the line in other areas. That might be said to include payroll.

Productivity improvement drove 38% of all PBX purchases in 2010, according to an Eastern Management survey of IT managers. This was 15% more than those who got a new PBX to replace an "old one". Moving and company expansion were responsible for only a modest proportion of PBX sales worldwide.

Interestingly, despite the fact the developed world's economy remains stalled, global PBX purchases may continue to show resiliency. For how long? 2010 may just be the early stage of a PBX upgrade cycle for businesses that, barring the bottom falling out, could last for years.

There is clearly a PBX upgrade cycle going on. Eastern Management Group's latest survey of IT managers finds that depending on the size of business, between one-third and one-half of all organizations are already in a PBX upgrade cycle.

Is Your Business in a PBX Upgrade Cycle?

Source: The Eastern Management Group