2022 Unified Communications Outlook
Last January, 23% of US workers did so from home due to COVID. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which gathered the data, calls it Teleworking.
One might not have expected 2021 to be a good year for unified communications sales (UC). Why should IT managers spring for a new PBX, premises, or cloud if workers would not be in the office?
As offices emptied last year, IT managers moved into action.
Work-from-home (WFH) or work-from-anywhere (WFA) catalyzed a PBX market reform.
COVID greased the skids for a very different 2022. The pandemic accelerated the rollout of a myriad of technologies and timetables, moving them up from somewhere down the road to now.
In 2022 Enterprises Will Invest In UC - 15 projections
The Eastern Management Group has interviewed enterprise IT managers about COVID for nearly two years. Here are 15 UC projections for 2022 based on our survey analysis:
15 Projections
• With an increase of both empty offices and hybrid workers, more companies will move this year to new, occasionally smaller quarters; and push-up UC sales
• One-quarter of US businesses will buy a new phone system in 2022
• 20-25% of system purchasers will buy systems to enable WFH
• 15% of buyers will get new unified communications applications to improve productivity
• UC purchases will pull through sales of adjunct technologies and applications to improve WFH outcomes
• More significant investments will be made in productivity driving applications: mobility, video, presence, instant messaging, CRM, CCaaS, CPaaS, and SIP
• Premises PBX will remain the largest selling UC platform accounting for 40% of all UC sales
• UCaaS will account for more than 30% of all UC platform sales
• Professional services, health, and education will experience substantial market growth as each did in 2021
• The average price of a fully-equipped cloud seat will exceed $85 based on Eastern Management Group market basket prices
• On average, three services will be sold for every new cloud seat
• A dollar of cloud sales will pull through $0.36 in additional sales
• 40% of customers will buy managed services from their UC vendor
• Enterprise investments to upgrade corporate networks and architectures will grow
• Enterprise 5G rollout will expand as vendors package wireless solutions
As we enter 2022, the impact of COVID on commercial work and gathering facilities is altering business landscapes. Although inevitable at some future point in time, the changes are here today.
Research for this article is based on Eastern Management Group's report "Unified Communications Market 2022-2027."
This article first appeared in No Jitter