In January, Gartner ended its Unified Communications and Contact Center Infrastructure Magic Quadrant. Until recently, the report had focused on on-premises UC solutions, and thanks to the growing trend of enterprises moving to the Cloud, Gartner threw in the towel on the premises-based UC and CCI MQ. Instead, businesses must rely on their UC market guide.
What we stand to lose from the retirement of Gartner's UC MQ report are the four quadrants. The quadrants segmented market leaders to help those looking to invest in on-premises telephony find an established UC provider. If there is a new report, it will likely reflect the countless enterprises making the shift to the Cloud. The report could also place a heavy emphasis on collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
As we usher in the end of the of Gartner’s on-premises UC and CCI MQ, the research firm should release an updated report that evaluates the full UC provider landscape. The updated market guide, unlike the previous MQ, could very well focus on the increasing number of enterprises migrating to the Cloud. This will inevitably provide a more accurate overview.
According to TalkingPointz Founder and Analyst, Dave Michels:
"The decision is likely driven by prior investments, partner relationships, and bundled services such as workstream collaboration, contact center, and office productivity apps. Meanwhile, significant differences exist in UCaaS and CCaaS offerings"
Gartner acknowledges a shift in UC paradigm
As premises-based infrastructure become less relevant, companies are switching to software solutions. Such tools cater to customers while offering flexibility and scalability. Gartner took note of this notion and retired its UC MQ report. Think of the 2019 UC market sort of like a fine-aging cheese, it isn’t molding, rather maturing for more refined customer experiences.
Enterprises are today, looking for convenience across the board. As they realize the benefits of transitioning to the Cloud and how it improves CX, they are achieving smoother management workflows and reducing operating costs. Because Cloud migration also offers self-service options, bundles, and reliability, the move only makes sense.
Furthermore, there's been speculation that a new report would feature emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, and Contextual Communications.
