UC analyst sees collaboration, conferencing driving growth

Unified communications analyst Blair Pleasant said she had to revise her projections for the market after the economic downturn caused budget cuts and project postponements, according to her post [1] at No Jitter. She said sales of most unified communications equipment, once hyped as the next serious revenue driver for the industry, will remain sluggish through 2009.

But Pleasant does see a growth area in collaboration and conferencing, which she feels may be the "key" to ROI for unified communications deployments. The same cost cuts that caused sales for general UC equipment to miss projections have led to increased interest in and sales of collaboration and conferencing solutions. While Pleasant doesn't think these solutions will ever replace important face-to-face meetings, she thinks the shift to replace expensive and time-consuming travel budgets with collaboration and conferencing options will remain even after the economy recovers.

For more:
- see Pleasant's full analysis at No Jitter here [1] 

Related articles
Seeking a definition for 'unified communications' [2]
Perspectives on unified communciations [3]