WHY UCAAS MAKES SENSE
• Better cost control – UCaaS is sold on
a per seat subscription service which
means there is no need for large upfront
hardware/ staff/ maintenance costs.
• Redeploy staff - Many enterprises
are evaluating their current and
future investment in communications
infrastructure. The use of UCaaS can
fully or partially replace some or all of
the premise-based solutions they may
otherwise deploy.
• Up-to-date technology - Handing the
responsibility over to a UCaaS vendor
minimizes the risk of technology
obsolescence and outsources the
challenges of disaster recovery and
security, while leaving roles and
responsibilities clearly defined.
• Available anywhere - Cloud-based UCaaS
systems allow multi-platform access to
UC apps from anywhere with a network
connection. This means a UCaaS-enabled
workforce can enjoy all the productivity
benefits of UC and the IT department
doesn’t need to worry whether its selfmanaged
solution is compatible (and
secured) for use by a plethora of different
devices.
• Pay as you grow - UCaaS systems are
scalable and provision can be ramped up
or down in response to business need.
Explosion in UCaaS
Cloud based Unied Communication
as a Service (UCaaS) is emerging as the
number one technology that is attracting
the interest of enterprises and developer
communities. UCaaS is a pre-integrated,
permanently updated, standardised,
and ready-to-go service, which results in
enhanced productivity as it accelerates
decision-making and business processes
while lowering costs.
Wainhouse Research denes UCaaS
as a hosted service that delivers a unied
end-user experience including IM, presence,
audio, video, desktop/application sharing,
and group collaboration.
According to Gartner, UCaaS has
now hit the mainstream and is generally
viewed as a viable alternative for almost
all enterprise deployments. Gartner has
compiled their list of UCaaS Leaders,
Challengers, Visionaries and Niche
providers which was published in the
middle of 2019.
The Challengers
We have some big brands starting to
threaten the Channel UC space over the
last few years. Microsoft Teams has seen
unprecedented adoption rates with 56.3 per
cent of businesses now using Oce 365 for
their day to day work processes.
is powerful collaboration tool’s
functionality nestles in seamlessly with
the rest of the Oce service stack like
it’s always been there. Microsoft Teams’
collaborative functions permeate every
programme within the Oce Suite, making
its usage instinctive, intuitive and almost
unconscious.
However, as more and more businesses
integrate MS Teams into their day to day
processes, they nd that they encounter
certain barriers to communications. For
example, Using MS Teams to call contacts
who are not part of the organisation,
or trying to hold video conferences
with alternate video software users.
Microsoft Teams currently has its limits to
interoperability across various platforms and
business leaders are rapidly seeking to push
beyond them.
Here lies the Channel opportunity.
UNIFIED COMMS / MOBILITY
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Microsoft hasn’t got a handle on voice
services yet, with the Direct Routing
proposition there is now an opportunity
to integrate a UC service with Teams for
calling.
Facebook Workplace started making
some noise last year when it passed 3
million paying users. In contrast to Slack,
which has just broken through the 100,000
paying user barrier, although it has roughly
13 million total users (most of which are on
the free tier of the service).
Adam Clyne, CEO of Facebook partner
Coolr, said “Microsoft isn’t a socially or
mobile driven company, they don’t really
have that in their DNA. ere will be lots
of companies that play with Teams as from
an integration point of view it’s quite simple
if they are already using 365. From an
adoption point of view I’m not sure we’ll see
the same levels of adoption as Workplace
gets, however it’s probably too new to tell.
I believe in this world you need to look
for best in class and Microsoft is best in
class at lots of things but when it comes
to collaboration I think Workplace is best
in class for collaboration and connecting
workforces.”
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