2008 Trends to Watch: Unified Communications

Table of Contents

• DATAMONITOR VIEW
  • CATALYST
  • SUMMARY
• ANALYSIS
  • An introduction to unified communications
    • Definition
    • Uptake of unified communications is still in the early adopter phase
  • Mobility will play a greater role in the unified communications market
    • The availability of UC solutions for mobile devices is increasing
    • Mobility will help drive investments in unified communications
    • FMC and ' one number' solutions will become a reality
    • Greater security implications and a higher demand for mobile management
  • Environmental concerns are driving investments in web conferencing & UC
    • Green IT will remain a hot topic in 2008
    • Video conferencing will be more widely adopted
    • Changing lifestyles mean more enterprises will support flexible working and deploy UC
  • Consumer IT activity will further influence enterprise deployments
    • Consumer and enterprise communication technologies merge
    • Apple, Google and Yahoo will emerge as serious enterprise mobility providers
  • Microsoft and IBM make an impact and gain market share
    • Microsoft is gaining market share
    • IBM' s open standards strategy and systems integrator business should allow it to advance
    • More collaboration between vendors but increased competition
  • The economic slowdown will lead to increased interest in software as a service
    • IT strategies may reflect the current banking crisis
    • Vendors are providing more SaaS options for unified communications and conferencing
    • 2008 will see increased targeting of the mid-market
• SUMMARY
• APPENDIX
  • Definitions
  • Methodology
  • Further reading
  • Ask the analyst
  • Datamonitor consulting
  • Disclaimer