11 February 2008
by Alex Scroxton
The future of unified communications (UC) will be tied to the growing popularity of software as a service (SaaS) as more hosted offerings combine IP PBX, UC and conferencing facilities to run alongside applications.
The findings from Datamonitor added weight to suggestions that the cost-saving benefits of UC were becoming more important to enterprises as they set IT budgets for the rest of the year in the face of the slowing economic climate.
"A minority of enterprises are decreasing their IT budgets but more are keeping their budgets flat and considering their options, including SaaS," said Datamonitor technology analyst Aphrodite Brinsmead.
While the report also drew attention to the growing focus on UC as an environmentally friendly solution, one source believed the much-discussed issue would play second fiddle this year.
"There have been questions over whether enterprises have taken notice [of ecological concerns]," Brinsmead said. "Cost-savings are really the key driver here."
Consumer activity will also begin to have a greater effect on UC purchasing as enterprises adopt policies on instant messaging programmes and social networks. Brinsmead argued there was a place for such things within the UC picture but pointed out that it was important for them to be used alongside presence and contact information solutions.
