The cloud has quickly become a table-stakes solution for businesses continuity. Any company hoping to remain productive in a world of remote work and social distancing needs a cloud solution in place.
Leading communication software and IP solutions provider, Ribbon, recently released some interesting findings. During the Ribbon annual Unified Communication survey, Ribbon collected responses from over 4,500 tech decision makers across 18 countries in both Europe and the Americas. The study found that companies of all sizes are now accelerating their adoption of UC technology following the 2020 pandemic.
What’s more, Ribbon notes that there’s a significant opportunity for ongoing growth in the IP-based communications market.
Small Businesses Are Using Microsoft Teams
Notably, Ribbon’s research revealed a massive 103 per cent increase among small businesses (companies with fewer than 100 employees) who have either already deployed Microsoft Teams, or are planning on doing so soon. Respondents from larger companies (organisations with over 1,000 employees) also reported a significant increase in deployments of around 36 per cent.
Ribbon’s recent survey went on to show that around 76 per cent of smaller companies, 67 per cent of mid-sized companies, and 61 per cent of large businesses had yet to make any investments in solutions for IP communications.
According to the Ribbon EVP for Sales in the Americas, Steven Bruny, the data shows that there is still a significant market opportunity for IP communications. The pandemic of 2020 has massively increased interest in adopting UC&C (Unified Collaboration and Communication) tools for businesses of all sizes, and from every industry. However, it seems that smaller companies are the ones most eager to adapt with the use of new technology.
The demands caused by the sudden shift to remote work and the widespread adoption of popular tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are clearly pushing an increased interest in the potential of UC&C technology, according to Ribbon. Going forward, resellers and partners still have an excellent opportunity to assist businesses of all sizes in their transition to cloud communications.
Microsoft and Zoom Lead the Way
The survey conducted by Ribbon into the UC environment this year paints an interesting picture of the future of the workplace, and the evolving small business environment.
Ribbon’s survey discovered that among small businesses, where demand for collaboration and communication tools is skyrocketing, there are three main solutions leading the way. The two most popular choices are Microsoft Teams and Zoom, each with a 27 per cent share of small business investment. The third option is Skype for Business, which 21 per cent of respondents listed as their platform of choice.
Other key findings included insights into the number of companies planning to initiate some manner of remote working strategy after the pandemic has subsided. Around a third of businesses of all sizes said that they would be implementing a remote working solution in the future: small (31 per cent), medium (35 per cent) and large (36 per cent).
Small businesses showed a growing desire to invest in UC&C solutions within the next two years. The number of businesses with plans to implement UC&C in the next two years increased to 38 per cent, 2.5 times the rate of the previous year. Around 66 per cent of large companies say that they’re planning on investing in some kind of UC offering within the next two years.
Making the Transition to Microsoft Teams
It’s worth pointing out that the companies responding to Ribbon’s study weren’t just looking at tools like Microsoft Teams for video conferencing and collaboration purposes. More than 70 per cent of the respondents in the report who said they were planning on deploying Teams for calling said they’re going to be using direct routing functionality.
This avenue will allow users to maintain their existing communication provider, leveraging session border controller technology certified for Microsoft Teams. The remaining respondents said that they were planning on using business voice calling plans and Microsoft Phone system solutions, which allows them to access Microsoft as their dial tone provider.
