The second annual cloud communications survey by “No Jitter” showed a significant amount of interest growing across a range of service charts.
Today is the best time for enterprises to begin making decisions about how they want to use cloud communications technology in the future. Legacy communication vendors have all begun to articulate their strategies for moving to the cloud, and many enterprises have now begun to appreciate cloud adoption too.
No Jitter’s research in 2016 found that more than half of the respondents (255), or 55% commented that they thought that the benefits of moving to the cloud could be seen as underestimated or clearly identifiable. That represents a positive indication of the attitude that has been embraced surrounding cloud based communications.
Why People Love the Cloud
Enterprises are turning to the cloud for a range of reasons, including:
- A lower ownership cost when compared to on-premises options (24%)
- An opportunity to add new functions, users, features, and more quickly according to business needs (19%)
- Disaster recovery options (14%)
- Scalability options and the ability to address staffing solutions (11%)
- Advantage of Opex pricing (7%)
Alongside the popular cloud-delivered video, audio, and web conferencing services available, four new cloud service types have been gaining appeal according to the survey results.
For enterprises, there is an increased interest in PBX/Call control, mobile apps, ACD/contact centre and communication APIs.
What’s more, two thirds of the respondents from enterprises suggested that their organisations are using UC cloud solutions – including instant messaging, voice and video calling, and conferencing.
Growth for 2017
The results of the 2016 survey suggest continued growth for cloud based comms (UCaaS), mobile application services and team collaboration solutions, as well as UC and contact centres in the cloud, with enterprise respondents suggesting that these additional functions will be implemented in 2017.
- Cloud PBX – Just over a tenth of respondents commented that their businesses would be adding cloud PBX solutions over the next 12 months. Year over year, comparisons show a rise from around 20% to 28% of enterprises indicating that they use cloud PBX, and the latest survey suggests a continued trend for growth.
- Team Collaboration and Mobile Apps – The use of cloud-based mobile apps and team collaboration has jumped by 8% from 2015 to 2016. This trend is suggested to continue, with 16% of respondents suggesting that they would be adding mobile apps to their services in the next 12 months.
- Contact Centre – The growth in cloud contact centre usage was only 2% up to 2016. However, 10% of respondents in 2016 suggested that in the next 12 months, their organisations would be using cloud contact centre services.
- UC – Around a third of respondents said that they were already using UC cloud-based services, while an additional 20% said they would begin using them in the next 12 months.
The growth in cloud adoption is clearly in the move at this time, as more companies than ever before recognise the benefits of cloud solutions, and enterprises across the globe are looking for new ways to get cloud-ready.
The full No Jitter 2016 Cloud Communication Survey can be seen here.
About No Jitter
No Jitter is a North American online publication focusing on unified communications and enterprise IP telephony. No Jitter is produced by the same people who run Enterprise Connect, the largest conference/exhibition in the U.S. devoted exclusively to enterprise communications.
