UCaaS & Cloud Benefits Soar Facilitating a Growing Market, Heavy Reading Finds

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Interest in unified communications as a service (UCaaS) is growing even faster than the cloud UC market, and as the benefits of overall cloud services continue to be realized, there will continue to be a move toward UCaaS offerings, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading Insider (www.heavyreading.com/insider), a subscription research service from Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).

Hype or Promise? UCaaS Still Has Questions to Address examines the UCaaS market, analyzing the most lucrative verticals of for UCaaS and discussing drivers and challenges in the industry. It includes a comparative analysis of solutions available, examines the geographic landscape of the market and details trends that likely will occur in the industry over the next 18-24 months.

For a list of companies covered in this report, http://twimgs.com/audiencedevelopment/LRHR/PDFS/hri1013_companies.pdf

"According to some estimates, the annual revenue for service providers from cloud UC has grown to more than $2 billion," says Denise Culver, research analyst with Heavy Reading Insider and author of the report. "Perhaps the most interesting aspect of those figures is that UCaaS is thought to be growing twice as fast as UC."

UCaaS also is drawing a great deal of attention from those who have been looking for mobility and BYOD solutions, Culver says. "As UCaaS continues to be viewed from the lens of a solution that cuts the landline cord and eradicates the need for a traditional PBX, it will be looked at as a business enabler, rather than a simple phone system," she continues. "Mature markets and economies already understand that UCaaS provides an opportunity to move to mature IP-based telephony to avoid traditional capex and high opex costs."

Key findings of Hype or Promise? UCaaS Still Has Questions to Address include the following:

• Vertical markets that have large numbers of mobile employees are excellent targets for UCaaS services because they are inherently location agnostic.
• UCaaS enables users to replace aging equipment, improve customer experience and support rapid evolution in terms of how services are delivered.
• Capital is limited, and companies are showing a stronger preference to use that money for core business versus putting it into communications systems.
• UCaaS vendors must deliver the right, high-quality experience regardless of device, location or infrastructure.
• North America will have the largest growth in UCaaS due to the need to provide outstanding customer service, while maximizing resource utilization.

Hype or Promise? UCaaS Still Has Questions to Address is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (12 issues) to Heavy Reading Insider, priced at $1,995. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/insider. For more information about other Heavy Reading Insider research services, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/research.

About Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com)
Heavy Reading is an independent research organization offering deep analysis of emerging telecom trends to network operators, technology suppliers, and investors. Its product portfolio includes in-depth reports that address critical next-generation technology and service issues, market trackers that focus on the telecom industry's most critical technology sectors, exclusive worldwide surveys of network operator decision-makers that identify future purchasing and deployment plans, and a rich array of custom and consulting services that give clients the market intelligence needed to compete successfully in the global telecom industry. As a division of UBM Tech (tech.ubm.com), Heavy Reading contributes to the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

David Williams
Global Director of Sales, Research
Heavy Reading
858-829-8612
david.williams@ubm.com

Press/analyst contact:
Jennifer Baker
Marketing Director, Light Reading Communications Network
617-747-4110
jennifer.baker@ubm.com

SOURCE Heavy Reading