Although the Unified Communications market is still relatively new, the future looks bright, as the market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 65% from 2007 to 2012. This growth rate is typical of a new, but broad-based market segment.
But while growth appears likely, the market is so new that it's difficult to predict exactly when enterprises will move from a "wait-and-see" attitude to more aggressive deployment. That said, the research suggests that seeds have been planted and that UC will enjoy significant growth starting in 2010. We'll see enterprises move from trials and pilots of capabilities such as presence, premises-based conferencing/collaboration and mobile UC, to integrating UC with business processes and applications.
One challenge in measuring this market is that UC solutions comprise various elements that can also be used in non-UC implementations. Elements including presence, IM, conferencing/collaboration, call control, mobility and unified messaging are not UC in and of themselves. If someone purchases an IP-PBX and a conferencing/collaboration product, even if from the same vendor, does this constitute a UC sale? Not necessarily.
The most common way of measuring is to look at the market size of the various components that make up a UC solution and add all of them up together. We have seen more than one such chart in VoiceCon keynotes from Avaya, Cisco, IBM and Microsoft, but that doesn't really tell you the size of the UC market, mainly because most of the component elements are markets in and of themselves (PBXs and unified messaging, to name a few).
So, a different methodology is required to identify the "True" UC market, rather than the much larger "UC-capable" market. The study presents several methodologies--one way is to use a formula to identify the percentage of the total gross UC sales and seat shipments that will be implemented for UC solutions. Based on this, the Net True UC market is forecast to grow from $200.8 million in 2007 to $2.433 billion by 2012 (this is the High-Growth Scenario, a Mid-Growth Scenario is also presented).
Other issues of interest in the report include analysis of the challenges facing both users and vendors, examination of how UC is being rolled out and implemented in enterprises, and assessments of what is needed to help the UC market succeed. You can check out the Executive Summary at the UCStrategies website. If you have any questions about this new mark et stuy, contact me at [email protected].
