Leaders in analytics and market overviews, Gartner, recently released its market guide for the evolving environment of Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS). According to Gartner, CPaaS vendors are rapidly expanding their product scope to target a wider range of use cases in an increasingly competitive environment.
The rise of CPaaS in the current marketplace has prompted companies from a wide variety of backgrounds to make their way into the CPaaS space, from traditional vendors to IT and mobile companies. According to Gartner, CPaaS offers today’s application leaders a cloud-based approach to multi-layered middleware which can be developed and enhanced to provide various forms of communication software.
The flexibility of the CPaaS environment, which can be deployed on either a public or private cloud model, means that the market is evolving at an incredible pace. Here are the CPaaS players that Gartner recommends for businesses to consider today.
Consolidated Pure-Players
The consolidated “pure-play” vendors in the Gartner report are the companies that have been in the market for a while, offering solutions that exceed the basic CPaaS solutions of voice and SMS APIs. Pure-play companies can provide things like extended APIUs, a broader set of modules, and in-depth management tools. Options include:
- Infobip: Founded in Croatia and headquartered in London, the Infobip brand started life as an SMS aggregator and expanded into the CPaaS market. The business now offers APIs and modules with a broad range of cloud communication solutions. Service providers can also white label the Infobip products
- MessageBird: MessageBird was founded in 2011, and it’s still undergoing a period of rapid transformation and expansion. The business is gaining traction in APAC and Europe through a wide portfolio of CPaaS products, including voice, SMS, chat, and AI
- Plivo: San Francisco company Plivo offers SMS and inbound voice in 190 countries, with local phone numbers for more than 100 countries. The MMS and AI capabilities available from Plivo set it apart on the marketplace. The company also offers the “Plivo High Level Objects” designer for drag-and-drop use cases for things like two-factor authentication and marketing automation
- Sinch: Previously known as CLX Communications, Sinch began life in SMS aggregation and evolved into the CPaaS marketplace. The company offers a broad portfolio of solutions, including circuit-switched voice and WebRTC, messaging, video, and chat. Sinch has 300 connections with carriers and offers direct dial-in numbers across 80 countries
- Twilio: Located in San Francisco, Twilio is a fast-growing CPaaS company with the largest market share of any pure-play provider. Twilio offers a wide range of networking services via the Twilio super network, and a broad set of APIs in voice, video, messaging, email and more, all available in off-the-shelf modules
- Vonage/Nexmo: Vonage acquired Nexmo in 2016 and used it to build it’s CPaaS business, generating around $215 in 2018. Nexmo uses Vonage’s global network infrastructure to provide exceptional quality, reliability and performance in communications. The Nexmo solution is also hosted in multiple public cloud provider environments. Aside from foundational communication APIs for SMS, voice, and so on, Nexmo also offers links for things like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
Traditional SMS Players
The traditional SMS players in the Gartner report are the application-to-person and person-to-application vendors that have expanded in the CPaaS space. These vendors can support a host of channels and modules but are still in the early stages of their CPaaS growth. Vendors include:
- Kaleyra: Kaleyra is a company created by the merger of Ubiquity, Solutions Ifini, and Hook Mobile. Headquartered in Milan, the business offers a platform hosted in a mixed environment between private cloud/on-premises and AWS, offering secure messaging and financial services tools
- Soprano Design: A privately-held company in Sydney, Soprano has roots in the SMS brokering world, and has progressively introduced more features to become an CPaaS brand. The business currently has regional offices around the world, with 140 employees. The Soprano CPaaS platform is hosted over a diverse private cloud environment
- Telesign: Telesign is a security-focused cloud communications brand. Aside from voice and messaging capabilities, the company also offers advanced fraud detection analytics and phone number intelligence. The CPaaS platform supports communication with machines through IoT. The partner program is diverse, with reseller partners, referral partners, and system integrator options
- Zenvia: Zenvia is a company highly focused on the Brazilian market. It is the only South American-headquartered CPaaS vendor competing against global brands like Infobip and Twilio. The SMS functionality from this company has recently expanded to include broader messaging capabilities, with support for Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and more
Enterprise Communication Players
The Enterprise Communication Players in the Gartner guide are the vendors with a focus on improving and enhancing existing voice and collaboration solutions. Recommended companies in this landscape include:
