Podcast: Unified Communications Thrived During the Recession

As this excerpt from the study's executive report shows, UC increasingly is perceived by both vendors and enterprises as a vital communications platform. Indeed, the pull is so strong that the category grew even during the tough times of the past year. 

Unified communications solutions remained the No. 1 technology on the TIP Technology Heat Index of data voice and video networking infrastructure solutions. Spending support for these solutions is slated to increase among one in four enterprises participating in the study. UC solutions were the bright spot during the economic downturn as increases in adoptions were seen among the overall sample as well as those participating in the study during the past 12 months. Growth in adoption was about 10 percent in both categories.

Key points:

• With the combination of Nortel and Avaya, the competition for the second most frequently cited provider in use is heating up behind Cisco.
• The combination of Cisco and Tandberg places Cisco in the position as the second most frequently cited provider of IP video conferencing solutions, behind Polycom.
• Unified messaging solutions appear to be nearly as popular as UC; 37 percent of respondents indicate having such solutions in plan, outweighing the 34 percent who already have unified messaging in use.
• Unified messaging solutions appear to be nearly as popular as UC;37 percent of respondents indicate having such solutions in plan, outweighing the 34 percent who already have unified messaging in use currently.

The vendor landscape has tightened among providers of IP video conferencing solutions and will continue to benefit Cisco, now having combined forces with Tandberg.

Key points: 

• Polycom could become the next acquisition target in this segment, with HP perhaps as a suitor.
• Cisco and Microsoft will continue to benefit the most from new implementations of unified communications solutions, while Avaya has strengthened its position through the Nortel acquisition’s closing.
• Cisco and Microsoft will be among the best-positioned providers of unified messaging solutions, with Avaya again being seeded third in the vendor landscape in this segment.