Gartner's Magic Quadrant Lights the Way for UCaaS
Gartner's Magic Quadrant depicts the positioning of competing players in various technology markets. It contrasts the “Ability to Execute” with the “Completeness of Vision” and breaks down into four regions: challengers, leaders, niche players, and visionaries. Its recent quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service shows how industry participants can help your UC today and in the future.
Last month, Gartner released its Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). It defines UCaas "...as supporting the same functions as its premises-based unified communications (UC) counterpart. Only the delivery model is altered." Gartner also describes six broad communication functions for UCaaS. They include:
- Telephony—Fixed, mobile, and softphone enterprise telephony, and PBX functionality.
- Meeting solutions—Multiparty audio, video, and web conferencing
- Messaging—Voicemail and unified messaging
- Presence and instant messaging (IM)—Real-time status and text communications
- Clients—Unified clients enable access to multiple communications functions
- Communications-enabled business processes—Integrations of a UC solution with broader work and a business applications context
UCaaS Planning Assumptions
Readers of the Magic Quadrant for UCaaS will find it interesting to note which providers represent industry leaders as well as which aspire to such, shown as current visionaries and challengers. The pictorial, while skimmable, only illustrates which company is winning the horse race, so to speak. For some businesses, the real actionable information comes from the editorial that Gartner includes with the graphic.
Gartner emphasizes the shift by businesses from premises-based UC to cloud UCaaS. It stresses that technology leaders “...should deploy UCaaS when possible, because virtually all vendor R&D investment is going to cloud solutions, with little investment for premises-based UC.” Because of this, the company assumes that future cloud UC offerings will be so advanced that 90% of IT decision makers will not purchase premise-based communication infrastructure by 2021.
[Read: Migrating to a New Communications Platform]
Follow the Leaders in Making UCaaS Decisions
If you’re concerned that the future of communications is already here, and your business hasn’t made the switch to a unified solution, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there are options. IT leaders can jump in with both feet or choose a hybrid solution. The latter providing a more metered approach. It offers the ability to leverage existing on-prem equipment that may not be ready for the metaphorical dinosaur graveyard.
In considering a unified communications provider, it serves to look at the attributes that Gartner pins to those companies it places in the leader quadrant. For instance, providers that have invested in their platform by way of enhancements like an IT administration portal, user interface, or the inclusion of advanced analytics should go to the top of the list. Beyond their initial investments, these companies also continue to meet the needs of their customers and the demands of the marketplace.
Other factors for consideration in moving to or augmenting a unified communications platform might include whether the company can provide professional services and managed services after the implementation. Adoption is a particularly important service to focus on to ensure your ROI. Cutting over to a new communications platform will take time, effort, and money, but you must make sure employees utilize the features of the new service. Lack of end-user engagement often holds back an otherwise successful launch. Several companies, which Gartner cites as leaders, offer this service.
UCaaS Even Without a Worldwide Perspective
To be considered in this Magic Quadrant, the UCaaS provider must offer solutions in three regions: North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. Despite the fair amount of media dedicated to this topic, this point seems to have gone unmentioned. With that kind of market reach, these are clearly the big players in unified communications.
If your business activities don’t extend to the same level as the providers featured in this study, unified communications as a service can still be for you. Some of the companies noted in the quadrant have a robust partner ecosystem that may serve your needs best. Cisco, which recently acquired Broadsoft, offers what they call a Customer Journey Platform. This is a unified omnichannel contact center solution deployed and managed from the Cloud. As a challenger on the cusp of being a leader in UCaaS, Cisco relies on market-leading partners to roll-out this service.
If you’re still on the fence about the move to the Cloud or communications as a service, now might the right time. Let the recently released Magic Quadrant guide your way.
Read our guide to learn how you can migrate to a new communications platform today!
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