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The past year or so has been an interesting time for companies in the Unified Communications space. While there hasn't been a one-size-fits-all strategy for Digital Transformation (DX), many of the biggest vendors in the marketplace have shared the same universal feelings about what needs to be done to prepare for the future.
As always, customer acquisition remains to be the name of the game, but today it appears acquiring the right clients could be more important than ever. While in the past, struggling to get enough users might have been something that left you trailing behind your competitors, in an age of increasing market saturation, the vendors that don't know how to attract new revenue could be left dead in the water within a matter of years, or months.
We've seen a lot of consolidation in the market recently. Cisco bought BroadSoft, Avaya came out of bankruptcy and immediately purchased their own Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution. Mitel and ShoreTel joined forces - the list goes on. Everyone's trying to gain more market share, because if you can grow your customer base, then you can compete.
Whether it's growth through organic means, like RingCentral's quest to build a billion-dollar revenue business by 2020 without acquisition of a customer base, or development that's been bought, it's time for vendors to figure out what they need to do to win more customers.
The Changing Nature of Vertical Markets
As the scramble for market share becomes more obvious, another major priority for vendors lately has been around the way they connect with their vertical markets. For decades, vendors in the UC space have focused their attention on areas like healthcare, education, professional services, and the like, leaving smaller verticals to their channel partners to handle.
However, the way that the vendor works with a vertical could begin to change in this new era where customers demand more from the businesses that they work with. Many of the leading vendors in the communication space are beginning to branch out and form strategic partnerships with other vendors in markets such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help them offer more relevant technology to the right people.
There are plenty of big-name brands already experimenting in use cases with AI, Blockchain, and IoT. For instance, Avaya showcased their adventures with Blockchain at last year's GITEX, while Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise have begun to do interesting things with IoT and Communications Platform as a Service (/unified-communications/cpaas). It might be time for some vendors to start thinking about how they can add emerging technologies to their offerings.
Customer Experience and Digital Transformation
One of the biggest priorities for any business in UC right now - whether they're a channel partner, reseller, or vendor, is the rising trend of Digital Transformation (DX) and Customer Experience (CX). It doesn't matter which event you go to lately, you're sure to hear some talk about CX and DX, as these two factors remain to be the underlying theme for those seeking long-term success.
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