The International Data Corporation (IDC) report, Worldwide Unified Communications and Collaboration Forecast, 2024-2028, revealed that the worldwide unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) market is projected to reach $69.1 billion in revenue in 2024 and $85 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7%.
"The UC&C market has matured after significant investments were made in the past few years by businesses to address the changed work environment," said Jitesh Gera, Unified Communications and Collaboration research manager at IDC.
"In addition, the crowded UC&C market has led many solutions toward commoditisation. However, AI is changing the game altogether, bringing a fresh wave of new and differentiated capabilities likely to draw more investments in the coming years as businesses vie for enhanced employee productivity and better customer engagement."
Drivers of adoption
The continued introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into UC&C solutions, including AI-enabled videoconferencing and telephony solutions, are among the drivers of UC&C adoption.
As security and data integrity continue to improve, IDC forecasts an increase in cloud-based UC&C deployments, replacing on-premises deployments. IDC also forecasts the integration of UC solutions with contact center platforms to continue simplifying technology stacks and reducing administrative load.
UC & C
UC&C, as defined by IDC, UC&C is a bundled, integrated UC/UCaaS and UC collaboration solution stack. It may include an advanced telephony solution integrated with messaging, instant messaging or chat, presence, and conferencing platforms.
The UC&C market includes the primary hardware that enables communications in addition to the software-based platforms that facilitate them.
