As-a-Service as Preferred Choice
As has been the case since our inaugural Cloud Communications Survey in 2015, 2017 data shows that enterprises favor a cloud deployment model in which the provider owns, operates, and maintains the communications software in the provider's own or public cloud infrastructure, as would be the case with UCaaS, for example. By the numbers, 56% of this year's 205 enterprise respondents overall said they are using communications services delivered in this manner. This model comes out on top no matter company size, with 55% of large enterprises (1,000 or more employees), 63% of medium-sized companies (100 to 999 employees), and 52% of small companies (99 or fewer employees) using the as-a-service model for delivery of communications functionality from the cloud.
Comparatively, 35% of the total enterprise respondent base said they're hosting their own software on a provider's cloud infrastructure. By company size, 42% of respondents at large enterprises said they host their own communications software in a provider's cloud with a quarter of respondents at medium-sized and small companies doing so.
Because enterprises have gravitated toward the as-a-service model, data shared in the remainder of this survey slideshow comes from analysis of that respondent base.
