With more than two decades of experience in the world of telecommunications, the MD of SIPHON and EVP of Unified Communications at Nuvias, Steve Harris, certainly has a lot of insight to offer the industry. Over the last ten years, Steve has been deeply involved in the sector of unified cloud communications, and this year, he decided to publish his own collection of predictions for how the industry will evolve in the months ahead.
To learn more about Steve's thoughts on the changing nature of UC, I caught up with him for a quick talk about the future, and what we can all expect to look forward to in 2018.
Continued Consolidation and Acquisitions
2017 was a year brimming with mergers and buy-outs in the unified communication sector. As more organisations began to realise that they couldn't offer end-to-end solutions for UC without incredible amounts of scale and resources, we saw everything from significant moves like Cisco's decision to buy BroadSoft, to smaller plays in the local markets.
Steve told me that he believes this trend will continue through 2018, and we've already seen some purchases taking place already.
"There are a lot of stagnant companies out there searching for ways to accelerate. We're seeing more people carefully bundling services, and making acquisitions to become increasingly competitive."
I asked Steve what he believed the impact on customers to be when these big purchases happen, and he told me that Nuvias is constantly keeping an eye on their vendors to prepare for big changes.
"The impact for most people is more a degree of uncertainty around what they need to be prepared for."
The Growth of Video for Communication and Collaboration
Steve's second prediction for 2018 is that we'll continue to see increased numbers of video deployments in the UC industry. He told me that while video deployments were once seen as a solution exclusively for larger enterprises, advances in the more cost-effective solutions for IP connectivity and hardware has made it a more realistic option for companies of all sizes.
"I think video is now becoming something that people really "demand", whereas it used to be something that was simply "nice to have". Video makes life easier in the meeting room, and not only does it save on costs with things like reduced travel expenses, but the price of implementing video has gone down too. With virtual meeting rooms (VMR) and cloud solutions, video could be a powerful new revenue stream for service providers and resellers in 2018."
Large Vendors Making their Mark
Tying in with his first prediction on consolidation and growth in UC, Steve also predicted that more companies in the space would be looking for ways to differentiate, expand, and make their mark on the industry. As mentioned above, 2017 saw Cisco moving into the cloud space with their acquisition of BroadSoft, and there have been countless new developments with the re-branding of Microsoft Skype for Business to Teams, and Amazon's entry to the market with Chime.
"I think we'll continue to see larger UC players in the industry all the way from 8x8, and RingCentral, to Fuze developing their space in the market. 2018 will see an onset of new and more mature organisations in the UC world, with specialist players exploring new opportunities and verticals."
UC Security Becomes Critical
Like many experts in the UC marketplace, Steve is just one of the many professionals who believe that security will be more important than ever in the years ahead. As GDPR looms just around the corner, and more cyber-attacks are reported on the news, every CIO is thinking about how they can take the next step in UC protection.
