Research and Markets: Small and Large Businesses Buck the Economic Downturn and Drive Business in the Web Conferencing Markets in Asia Pacific in 2010

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7c3c17/asia_pacific_web_c) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Asia Pacific Web Conferencing Software and Services Markets" to their offering.

“Direct selling to end customers is usually the fastest way to make a sale in the web conferencing market”

The Asia Pacific Web conferencing services market witnessed a growth of 24.9 percent overall in 2008. The Asia Pacific Web Conferencing study offers an insight into Asia Pacific with focus on 6 sub-regions- ANZ, ASEAN, Greater China, India, Japan and South Korea. Topics covered include market drivers and restraints, pricing analysis, opportunity analysis by vertical segment, major trends, revenue forecasts and market share.

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Asia Pacific Web Conferencing Software and Services Markets provides market trends, drivers and restraints, competitive and financial analysis, and country analysis. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: hosted services/software as a service (SaaS) (Web meetings and webinars), on-premise software, and webcasting.

Market Overview

Globalization and borderless organizations have helped the Web conferencing software and services markets fly in the face of the economic downturn. Businesses have been looking to stay afloat during these turbulent economic times by using Web conferencing to improve collaboration and cut travel costs. The rising concerns about communicable diseases and carbon footprints have encouraged not only multinational enterprises with offices in Asia, but also local companies - both small and large - to invest in Web conferencing. Growth was high in all markets of the Asia Pacific as it is a very young market compared to North America or Europe. "On-premise software has a strong following in Japan, China, and South Korea, while SaaS services is favored in Australia, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region," says the analyst of this research. "Certain markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea were very competitive due to the presence of local market participants and higher entry barriers for multinational competitors."

Owing to the wide range of customers adoption potential, Web conferencing needs to evolve to solve the challenges of both very large and small business users. This usually means providing a no-frills, first-rate, and competitive service for small companies and an integrated set of services that may include messaging, mobile integration, online Web meetings, and some form of asynchronous document collaboration product or service for the larger enterprises. "Customers that deploy web conferencing expect simplicity, reliability, and ease of use as most important features," notes the analyst. "Recently, however, integration with audio conferencing, high-quality webcam-based video, and mobile connectivity are becoming increasingly important in the Asia Pacific market." Integration of desktop with video, using a webcam, was an important feature for customers in China, Japan, and

South Korea, and local participants products and services reflected this need, in addition to catering to the local tastes and cultures. However, for a growing section of the customers, the simplicity and ease of use for SaaS services provided by major multinational giants have proved a huge draw, and this has led to the explosive growth of both on-premise software products and SaaS services in Asia Pacific.

For all its potential, the awareness about the benefits of Web conferencing among potential customers is still inadequate. The prospects for the Web conferencing market are vast, as the solutions are typically inexpensive for most companies and retail users. Nevertheless, there are growth bottlenecks in China, the ASEAN, and India as the response from major telecom companies to providing web conferencing as a value-added service has been only lukewarm. This has resulted in slower indirect sales for major market participants. "Direct selling to end customers is usually the fastest way to make a sale in the web conferencing market," observes the analyst. "To expand further, participants must seamlessly integrate telecom providers and other channels into the sales strategy."

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

Hosted services/software as a service (SaaS)