Value-Added Apps Drive World Enterprise Telephony Platform Markets

Two major factors steering the world enterprise telephony platform markets forward are the need for migration from an old legacy infrastructure to Internet Protocol (IP) and the introduction of value-added applications through unified communications (UC).

The benefit of cost efficiency that IP telephony offers is too large to ignore, and enterprises will be forced to consider IP as a long-term strategic initiative. As the technology revolution rolls on, IP has emerged as the foundation for a number of technologies designed to build a new cost-efficient infrastructure for the enterprise.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World Enterprise Telephony Platform Markets, finds that the market generated $7.6 billion in 2008, and expects revenues to decline and then stabilise to $7.6 billion in 2014, due to saturation of the market. However, line shipments are expected to continue experiencing growth, increasing from 46.8 million in 2008 to 52.3 million in 2014.

“The challenge to adoption has been the weak value proposition at a time when cost savings were not a priority for CIOs,” explains Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Vanessa Alvarez. “Today, cost savings, coupled with the need for tools to create a collaborative environment, which in turn drives innovation and productivity, makes IP essential to their strategy.”

Vendors operating in this space must refine their messaging not only to stress the cost-saving aspect, but also to project it as a critical component of a long-term strategic technological evolution. As the economy hits the path to recovery, enterprises must prepare to evolve with the fast-track developments in the technology landscape. A new, cost-efficient infrastructure will help rev up business prospects and create a smarter way of working. Inability to lay the foundation of IP can be detrimental to a company’s bottom line, and detract from its ability to compete in this marketplace.

IP telephony allows for a more functional and integrated communications infrastructure. Above all, it enables collaboration, a concept, which is poised to revolutionise the work environment. Enterprise vendors must showcase the ability of IP telephony to allow for a more functional and integrated communications infrastructure, with data and voice running over the same network. As IP has provided an entirely new way of communicating, a whole new skill set and expertise are needed to understand and effectively deploy and manage an IP network.

Most skill sets are attuned to traditional time division multiplexing (TDM) systems, and changing this behaviour will require time. With more applications added to the network, the complexity intensifies and, coupled with this, the various approaches that exist confuse the market participants and constrain market progression. In addition, the competitive landscape is in a constant state of flux as more vendors venture into this space with diverse marketing strategies and architectures. Clearly defining the specific advantages of each approach will guarantee deeper market penetration and a better competitive position.

Strategic alliances and eco-systems will be vital for vendors to reach out to a larger audience and offer customers a complete set of infrastructure components, applications, and services required for the effective implementation of a UC environment. In this scenario, value-added applications are at the crux of marketing strategies, providing the cutting edge over competition.

“These are critical times for vendors, and they must not only deliver the promises of IP telephony, but also stress its importance as the foundation for the next-generation communications architecture,” advises Alvarez. “This message should be convincingly communicated to ensure greater traction for IP telephony and significantly boost the overall technology evolution.”