Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (SaaS) Opportunity

. . The Radicati Group, Inc. . . 595 Lytton Avenue . . Palo Alto, CA 94301 . . Phone 650-322-8059 . . Fax 650-322-8061 http://www.radicati.com THE RADICATI GROUP, INC. Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (SaaS) Opportunity A whitepaper by The Radicati Group, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (Saas) Opportunity Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................3 1.0 What is Unified Communications ...............................................................................4 2.0 UC as SaaS Benefits for SMEs ...................................................................................7 3.0 Choosing the right UC Platform .................................................................................8 4.0 CommuniGate Pro Unified Communications Platform ...........................................11 5.0 A Brief Cost Analysis ...............................................................................................15 6.0 Conclusions ...............................................................................................................18 This White Paper was sponsored in full by CommuniGate Systems, Inc. Copyright © September 2008, The Radicati Group, Inc. 2 Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (Saas) Opportunity INTRODUCTION Unified Communications presents an exciting new business opportunity for Service Providers. It allows providers to offer new services at a premium price to both consumers and businesses, while building customer loyalty and reducing ―churn‖. In particular, UC solutions allow Service Providers to effectively target the business SME market which overall represents a higher revenue opportunity than consumers, due to its propensity for premium, value-added features and stronger customer loyalty. The worldwide UC as SaaS market is expected to reach 46M subscribers in 2008, and grow to 136M subscribers by 2012 (including both business and consumer customers). Revenues in this market are expected to grow from $6.9 billion in 2008, to $28.7 billion in 2012. Figure 1, below, summarizes this strong revenue growth. Figure 1 – UC as SaaS Market Size Forecast, 2008-2012 This paper looks at how Service Providers can best leverage the emerging market opportunity for UC delivered as SaaS. It also introduces CommuniGate Pro, a comprehensive UC solution designed specifically Service Providers. In particular, the paper discusses: What is Unified Communications. How UC as SaaS benefits SMEs. Copyright © September 2008, The Radicati Group, Inc. 3 Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (Saas) Opportunity How Service Providers should choose the right UC platform. The CommuniGate Pro platform. A brief cost analysis. 1.0 WHAT IS UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS Unified Communications (UC) enables organizations to communicate quickly and more efficiently by bringing together the multitude of communication channels in use today, such as: email, voice, Instant Messaging, presence, calendar/scheduling, wireless, and video, file sharing and more, into a consolidated infrastructure that allows users to be easily located and contacted in real-time. UC also serves to make wireless devices an extension of the PBX, as well as the desktop for messaging and file access, in order to provide access from any device, anywhere in a streamlined way. Business professionals, today, recognize the increasing overload of dealing with multiple, different channels of communications. The idea is to turn communications from chaos into a productive working experience that will allow professionals to be more responsive and efficient in their work. With UC, employees can work more efficiently as teams. Here are some typical scenarios: i. Collaboration - an individual working with a colleague on a contract proposal can begin an instant messaging conversation, then through presence information see that that colleague is available and begin a voice or video call, and finally perhaps involve one or more additional parties as the conversation progresses and there is a need to draw in expertise from other individuals. This type of situation occurs constantly in business today, and the ability to draw in all the appropriate parties quickly is essential to completing tasks efficiently. ii. Customer Service - also, in a customer service situation, through the use of UC a customer service specialist can access a list of experts in real time, identify through presence information which expert is available, get an issue resolved and quickly get back to a customer. This type of efficiency is essential in many business environments, today, where customer response times are critical to retaining or securing new customers. Copyright © September 2008, The Radicati Group, Inc. 4 Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (Saas) Opportunity Unified Communications offers both individuals and organizations many important benefits, such as: More Effective Communications – as companies extend their operations to more locations and add workers with home offices, keeping in touch with their employees can become a challenge. The need for efficient communication and accountability continues to be the number one reason behind UC adoption. To ease the task of communicating efficiently, UC solutions must integrate with corporate directories (such as LDAP or Active Directory), individual contact lists, as well as calendars and scheduling information for automatic management of each user’s status and availability for calls and meetings. Makes it easier to Manage Multiple Devices - UC solutions enable users to view all messages in a single mailbox, notwithstanding of the device or media channel they were originally sent from. Users are free to think about the content of a message, and their communication priorities, rather than worry about the type of device or application being used to send or receive it, and whether or not it will be accessible to the recipient in time. Since all data is stored centrally, any message or data can be accessed anytime from anywhere, even while traveling, irrespective of the device being used. Improve competitiveness – being able to communicate effectively and in time, can make the difference between success or failure. Ensuring that employees can get back to customers quickly, can exchange information with partners effectively, and have all data accessible from anywhere at anytime can provide a real differentiation in today’s business world. Integration with Business Processes - As more UC solutions offer integration with important corporate applications, such as CRM, ERP and many others, users can quickly gain access to databases via their UC interface, or mash-ups, enabling them to provide better customer service, finish projects on time, and gain critical insights into their work. Adoption of Related Technologies – UC also allows companies to harness the benefits of many new, emerging communication technologies, such as: o Presence – Presence information allows users to initiate communications in their preferred way, and provides employees with a tool to better manage their work Copyright © September 2008, The Radicati Group, Inc. 5 Unified Communications as a Software as a Service (Saas) Opportunity day based on calendar events or other inputs such as phone activity or IM session activity. o VoIP - offers great cost savings on calls, and is an integral part of any UC deployment. o WiFi Convergence - a convergence of VoIP and WiFi, provides seamless connectivity of mobile devices to the VoIP network. It enables richer and more interactive UC communications among users with lower costs by leveraging the home, office, or roaming WiFi networks. o SIP - the integration of SIP enables UC vendors to provide high-quality multi- media user experiences for voice, video, chat, and other forms of communications that are interoperable. SIP has become the standard for devices like IP Phones, CPE equipment, and software, both client and server. Like email, UC technologies must be compatible with a wide range of vendors to insure ubiquitous usage across the marketplace. o Instant Messaging with XMPP – an open standards technology that removes barriers between isolated networks, and allows interoperability, much in the same way email broke down the barriers of closed messaging systems such as AOL, Compuserv and others.