The Rapid Evolution of UCaaS Adoption in 2020 and Beyond

UCaaS adoption has been growing steadily for several years now.

Ever since we discovered the benefits of the cloud for cost savings, flexibility, and scalability, companies have been moving more of their processes into this environment. However, the acceleration into the UCaaS environment reached new levels when we hit 2020.

According to IDC, during the pandemic year of 2020, UCaaS and hosted voice grew 26.1% year over year and 6.8% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, UCaaS revenue increased by around 21.2%. Elsewhere, Grandview Research predicts that the industry will grow at a rate of 23.6% from 2021 to 2028.

Let’s take a closer look at the UCaaS marketplace, and how it’s evolved since 2020.

What Sparked the UCaaS Revolution?

There are countless factors convincing companies to make the transition into a UCaaS environment. With as-a-service technology, companies can build the perfect subscription for their needs, supported by a cloud-based company. Rather than managing your entire UC ecosystem yourself, you can simply use a digital portal to update your system, manage communications technology, and more.

Cloud technology like UCaaS also gives companies the opportunity to avoid things like in-house maintenance costs for their communications tech. However, the pandemic sparked a faster adoption of UCaaS because more companies were required to work from home.

UCaaS paves the way for better hybrid and remote working strategies, because it allows today’s teams to roll out UC technology to staff wherever they are. Your remote team members can access all the same features and functionality as your in-office workers.

The 2020 state of disruption report found that UCaaS growth and penetration skyrocketed during the pandemic. Customer interest in UCaaS ramped up by around 86% during the pandemic, and organisations began increasing their investment in other cloud communications related technology, like SD-WAN.

The Biggest Benefits of Adopting UCaaS Today

UCaaS has always had a range of benefits to offer as a cloud-based solution for communications. It’s more affordable than a standard legacy investment, and easier to update when you want to expand the functionality of your communication system. Today, UCaaS also:

• Supports a hybrid workforce: Most experts agree that the future of work is hybrid employment. Team members will be operating both in the office and remotely. Fortunately, with UCaaS, it’s easy to manage and support your staff wherever you are. You can control your UCaaS features from an online platform and roll out updates remotely.
• Improves scalability: Most companies are moving through a period of growth as we approach this new era of work. UCaaS ensures that as your business and its needs change, the technology you can offer to employees will evolve too. UCaaS allows you to scale your service up or down depending on the changes in your landscape.
• Encourages cost efficiency: UCaaS vendors are becoming increasingly versatile, with many offering a wide range of communication, collaboration, and other features in one environment. An aligned UCaaS solution can simplify your monthly bills and give you one predictable expense to plan for each month.
• Opens the door to new technology: As digital transformation continues in the current landscape, UCaaS will open the door to simple methods of unlocking new innovations. If you’re keen to invest in things like AI and machine learning, your UCaaS vendor can help you to take the first steps into those areas.
• Stays flexible: As mentioned above, UCaaS adapts according to the needs of your business. This also means that you can add integrations and extra features unique to your company. Most of today’s vendors are becoming increasingly flexible about the integrations they can offer, creating connections with things like contact centre tools, CRMs, and third-party apps.

For the new era of flexible work, UCaaS also often comes with access to collaboration features too. The UC and collaboration market is set to reach a value of $70.2 billion by 2025, and companies are now investing more than ever in solutions that bring distributed teams together.

What Kind of Companies are Adopting UCaaS?

Initially, UCaaS used to be most popular among forward-thinking start-ups investing in remote work. Now, virtually every business can benefit from the flexibility and scalability UCaaS systems have to offer. Larger companies with existing investments in legacy technology can use open platforms and integrations to move some of their technology to the cloud and keep some on-premises.

Smaller businesses can maintain levels of productivity and efficiency that put them in the same league as bigger businesses, unburdening IT staff with a simpler provisioning and management strategy and paving the way for streamlined scaling. Even companies with specific industry needs are beginning to see the value of UCaaS technology.

During the pandemic, countless financial and healthcare services started adopting cloud-based UCaaS solutions to communicate both internally and externally. In the healthcare environment, UCaaS helped to keep professionals connected, while ensuring clients could get the right level of care. In financial environments, UCaaS offered excellent smart routing capabilities and automated systems for managing transactions, all with fantastic security.

Even businesses who hadn’t considered using UCaaS in the past can leverage the benefits of a cloud-connected platform. The UCaaS environment now has countless partners and resellers capable of offering custom-made packages for specific team requirements.

Getting Ready for the Future of UCaaS

The rise of UCaaS as a tool for innovation and business growth has been inevitable for some time. However, the pandemic of 2020 added fuel to the fire.

Experts say that COVID-19 helped to accelerate digital transformation by around 7 years, and this is becoming increasingly evident in not just the UCaaS space, but in the contact centre and Communication Platform as a Service landscape too.

To stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving landscape, business leaders need to be willing to invest in a UCaaS solution that’s equipped to serve their needs. If you’re not sure where to start with your UCaaS adoption, we’re here to help. Let us help you find the right UCaaS package.