The Rise of UCaaS Enterprise Adoption: UCaaS is Here to Stay

For years now, old-fashioned solutions for communication and collaboration have been gradually disappearing. Although there are still a handful of companies investing in the traditional “PBX” and on-premises technology, the majority of brands need something more flexible and agile.

Unified Communications as a Service or “UCaaS” has been taking the communication landscape by storm, promising a more versatile solution for modern businesses. According to Fortune Business Insights, the market will be worth around $69.93 billion by 2028. More importantly, the benefits of UCaaS technology aren’t just evident to smaller businesses anymore, they’re also gaining attention from the larger enterprise market.

The age of UCaaS being the go-to solution just for companies with the flexibility to rapidly move into the cloud is over. Now, companies of all sizes are learning that the only way to ensure business continuity, and long-term growth, is to move more of their technology into the cloud.

UCaaS is officially replacing the old-fashioned phone system.

UCaaS Adoption: Demand for UCaaS is Rising

Demand for Unified Communications as a Service has been growing for some time now. For years, companies have known the best way to minimize costs in the communication stack, and improve the management of communications technology, is to align their ecosystems with UC. However, the old-fashioned definition of UC, which involved aligning a handful of legacy tools, is no longer enough.

As reports from the Synergy Research Group reveal, part of the reason for the growth of UCaaS, is a rising demand for agility and flexibility. Companies are discovering that they need a more agile environment for communications, one where they can add and remove features at will, provision new phone numbers rapidly, and scale to suit demand.

When UCaaS was first being introduced to the business landscape, it was a natural choice for smaller companies who hadn’t yet invested in legacy equipment and technology. Smaller brands could easily choose the cloud for their Unified Communications ecosystem, and benefit from keeping initial investment costs low in the process.

Unfortunately, enterprise brands with large investments with existing technology providers didn’t have the same freedom to move into the cloud landscape. Many refused to simply rip and replace existing technology. Some brands even maintained an “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” attitude, sticking with the same legacy tools in an effort to avoid the stress of transitioning to a new tech stack.

However, when the pandemic arrived, it revealed just how important flexible, cloud-based technology was to the future of communication technology investments. Many large companies were forced to rapidly invest in the cloud to ensure their teams could continue to communicate when working remotely, and a rapid transformation began.

Why UCaaS is the Future for Companies of All Sizes

In the early days of the pandemic, some larger companies held onto their legacy ecosystems, purchasing temporary cloud solutions as a short-term fix until they could initiate a “return to normal”. Unfortunately, as social distancing rules and guidelines continued, many brands discovered there was no “back to normal” in sight.

Even now, as the threats of the pandemic begin to soften, 70% of workers say they want flexible working opportunities going forward. Most companies are progressing into a future of hybrid and remote work, which requires a continued investment in the UCaaS landscape.

By delivering everything companies need to keep their teams connected and aligned on a day-to-day basis in one flexible package, UCaaS solutions are paving the way to the future of work. For many brands, the UCaaS ecosystem has become a new “digital” workspace, where teams can connect and share knowledge through voice, video, messaging, and collaboration tools.

Before the pandemic groups like Orion research believed expanding compatibilities, low costs of ownership, and easy integration would be the reasons behind the enterprise’s eventual adoption of cloud technology. Now, while these benefits are still evident to larger brands, most have begun the transition to UCaaS out of necessity.

In an unpredictable landscape, where workplaces and teams are constantly changing, UCaaS is the only solution for communications which allows brands to adapt at the right speed. As an agile, flexible, and inherently scalable ecosystem, UCaaS environments allow businesses of all sizes to access the tools they need, when they need them most.

According to Metrigy research, around 70% of companies will now be using UCaaS solutions by the end of 2023. This is a huge upgrade from before the pandemic, when only about 20% of all organisations were building their communication stack in the cloud.

The Benefits of UCaaS for the Enterprise

The advantages of a UCaaS environment for companies of all sizes have been evident for some time. However, it’s only in the last couple of years that many enterprise-level brands have been forced to look more closely at their UCaaS strategies.

Today, moving into a UCaaS environment allows larger businesses to become more cost-effective, saving significant money on the use of legacy technologies, which often required expensive installation and maintenance contracts. UCaaS tools also ensure businesses of all sizes can take advantage of the cost savings associated with a flexible workforce, with fewer investments in real-estate for team members who can work from home.

Some of the other major benefits of UCaaS driving adoption for enterprises include:

• Flexibility: With UCaaS technology in the cloud, leading companies can access the latest tools and technology without a huge initial investment. Businesses can implement things like AI, virtual assistants, IoT connections, and even 5G mobility, all with minimal setup costs.
• Business continuity: Just one day of team members being unable to communicate in an enterprise environment can lead to millions in lost revenue. UCaaS ensures employees can remain productive and continue to operate from anywhere in the world.
• Scalability: As bigger companies continue to evolve and scale around the world, UCaaS solutions ensure they can provision new technology to team members and access new features easily. You can even manage your communication ecosystem remotely from a central environment, which makes provisioning even simpler.
• Improved security: With all communications technologies aligned in the same cloud environment, it’s easier for IT teams to track information about the communications landscape. This can help with ensuring better levels of security for the entire team and prioritising high levels of compliance.
• Productivity: With access to multiple tools connected in one place, it’s much easier for employees to perform at their best. The less time teams spend jumping between apps, the more time they can spend getting work done.

Ultimately, no matter the size of the business, every company can benefit from transitioning into a more flexible communications environment. UCaaS is the future of the modern workplaces for small businesses and enterprise brands alike.