IP contact centre the largest share of UC applications spending
ConvergenceAsia staff
07/12/2007

According to IDC’s recently published study, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) Unified Communications 2007-2011 Forecast and Analysis, the unified communications applications revenue in the region will grow from US$658 million in 2007 to US$1.2 billion in 2011 at 16 per cent CAGR.

"Currently, IP contact centre forms the largest share of UC applications spending. During the latter part of the forecast period, conferencing applications revenues will outperform other UC applications as enterprises get serious about improving collaboration in the region," says Shalini Verma, Senior Analyst for IDC’s Asia Pacific Telecommunications Research.

The current growth is fuelled by the adoption of IP telephony in the government, banking and financial services, and services industry verticals, as well as greenfield projects in emerging markets. These industries are also likely to be the early adopters of unified communications applications including cutting edge applications such as video conferencing. Reducing the cost of communication remains the top priority of IT managers in the region, as enterprises in Asia Pacific assimilate into the global business environment.

UC solutions require integration of existing and newer applications with IP telephony or email, in a multi-vendor environment, which will result in higher cost of implementation services. Enterprises in emerging markets deploying communication applications from scratch may deploy UC from a single vendor, lowering the cost of integration services. For the mid market, UC solutions will largely need to move towards a plug and play approach.

There is currently a significant confusion about what UC solutions bring to the lines of business. Vendors have recognised this issue and are devoting their marketing activities to showcase their solutions and encourage early adopters to articulate the early benefits gained from deploying UC.

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