Well, that's February done, but 2021 is still in its early stages.
This month, we’ve seen plenty of exciting updates in the Unified Communications and Collaboration space. From updates on Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex, to new industry innovations, consolidation, and strategic acquisitions.
During the last 7 days, we’ve been delivering a constant stream of UC news as always, covering things like the top CPaaS vendors to watch in 2021 and what’s happening in the rivalry between Slack and Teams.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out all our stories yet, here are some of the top reports you don’t want to miss from the last week.
Cisco Imagines a Future of 3D Meetings
Cisco is innovating at an incredible speed lately, investing more time and effort into creating unique collaborative and communication experiences through the Webex platform. Recently, the CEO of Webex, Chuck Robbins, said that the company is working on creating a new dimension of collaboration for tomorrow’s teams. Cisco envisions a future where 3D virtual participants can share the same rooms as their co-workers.
According to Robbins, the technology for these 3D interactions is already underway, and it aims to make remote meetings feel more natural, and engaging. Chuck said that the aim of Cisco right now is to recreate the experience of being physically present within a meeting through technology. It’ll be exciting to see how Cisco brings this idea to life.
Microsoft and Slack are at it, Again
Regular rivals Slack and Microsoft have been butting horns again this week. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said to Bloomberg that Slack wouldn’t exist without the Windows operating system. The comments made by Nadella didn’t sit well with the VP of Slack, Jonathan Prince, who immediately fired back with a response through an email to Business Insider.
Prince said that Nadella’s comments were “silly” and “irrelevant.” The message to Business Insider also implied that Microsoft Teams is trying to “copy” and destroy Slack’s innovative collaboration technology. The latest clash follows Slack’s legal action against Microsoft in 2020, and comes at a time when Slack is waiting for an acquisition from Salesforce to take its strategy to the next level.
The CPaaS Vendors to Watch in 2021
CPaaS is one of the most exciting aspects of the communication landscape right now. Offering an incredible level of flexibility to businesses who want to design the perfect communication stack from scratch, CPaaS has the potential to transform the industry. Of course, like with most technology transformations, businesses wanting to leverage the full benefits of CPaaS will need to work alongside the right vendor.
