Table of Contents
- Summary
- Market Categories and Deployment Types
- Key Criteria Comparison
- GigaOm Radar
- Vendor Insights
- Analyst’s Take
- Methodology
- About Ben Stanford
- About GigaOm
- Copyright
1. Summary
Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) has risen dramatically in popularity in the last few years, accelerated by the need to respond to COVID-19 working conditions. Even as the pandemic was a catalyst for change, it also caused us to question why we work the way we do, as much as how we do it. Large enterprises in particular already had video meeting capability, but it was generally used only by small groups and the effort to deploy firmwide was not justified. As a result of the pandemic, it became less a matter of if they should invest than which service they should adopt. Similarly, enterprises that were already invested in private branch exchange (PBX) and UC solutions face tactical questions about their deployment, and these are leading to more strategic decisions for IT buyers.
The vendors in this report represent a range of UCaaS capabilities that go well beyond the core of meetings, telephony, and messaging to drive greater adoption, collaboration, and data insights about their usage. The PBX and on-premises backgrounds of a number of the vendors strongly lend themselves to hybrid solutions and bundled licensing. Others have far stronger cloud capabilities and are either building out their own telephony and hardware solutions, or have strong go-to-market capabilities with partners and managed service providers (MSPs) to complete the UCaaS solution.
In the accompanying GigaOm report, “Key Criteria for Evaluating Unified Communications as a Service Solutions,” we list the major features and evaluation metrics that should be applied when selecting an UCaaS solution. In this report, we analyze the leading solutions in the market, weigh the key criteria and evaluation metrics used to assess them, and identify important technologies to consider for the future. All vendors featured in this report offer viable solutions capable of providing core UCaaS features, but there is much greater differentiation in the more advanced areas that form the key criteria for evaluation.
How to Read this Report
This GigaOm report is one of a series of documents that helps IT organizations assess competing solutions in the context of well-defined features and criteria. For a fuller understanding, consider reviewing the following reports:
Key Criteria report: A detailed market sector analysis that assesses the impact that key product features and criteria have on top-line solution characteristics—such as scalability, performance, and TCO—that drive purchase decisions.
GigaOm Radar report: A forward-looking analysis that plots the relative value and progression of vendor solutions along multiple axes based on strategy and execution. The Radar report includes a breakdown of each vendor’s offering in the sector.
Solution Profile: An in-depth vendor analysis that builds on the framework developed in the Key Criteria and Radar reports to assess a company’s engagement within a technology sector. This analysis includes forward-looking guidance around both strategy and product.