CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the recently released annual InfoTrack five-year forecast on IP Telephony (IPT) and Unified Communications (UC), US spending on these technologies will increase by an average of 10% per year, led by spending on Hosted IPT services which will almost triple between 2011 and 2016. Among US Enterprises, defined as firms with 500 or more employees, spending on Hosted IPT will grow at an average rate of 27%, which is almost two times faster than the average increase among US SMBs (firms with fewer than 500 employees).
InfoTrack, a division of T3i Group, has been forecasting the market for IP Telephony since 1999 and expanded it in 2005 to include UC applications and Hosted IPT. The UC applications forecast projects shipments and spending on nine separate applications in the following five categories – Collaboration, Mobility, UC Clients, Messaging and Contact Center.
“In 2011, SMBs represented 46% of the US installed base of IPT lines, but accounted for only 30% of the spending on UC applications. But over the next five years, the growth of SMB spending on UC apps will be more than twice the rate of US Enterprises, which represents the mirror image of what we project happening in the Hosted IPT sector,” said Ken Dolsky, Senior Program Director for InfoTrack.
The forecast combines an analysis of end-user demand, gathered in connection with the InfoTrack for Unified Communications (IUC) program, along with trend analyses of actual vendor shipments from two leading market share tracking programs, InfoTrack for Enterprise Communications (IEC) and InfoTrack for Converged Applications (ICA).
“One of the unique advantages of the InfoTrack forecast is the use of market segmentation to project the spending of four different segments based on company size – Small and Medium-sized SMBs and Medium and Large-Sized Enterprises. This segmentation is developed based on surveys of the Enterprise and SMB members of the InfoTrack panel of IT and UC decision-makers. For example, US-based Large Enterprises (firms with 2,500 or more employees) accounted for about one-third of the spending on Hosted IPT in 2011, but by 2016, their share will increase to almost half,” said Terry White, founder of the IUC program, who led the forecast study.
The details of this forecast are divided into two volumes. Volume 1 is a 20-page report that summarizes the results and describes the methodology. Volume 2 is a set of 66 detailed forecasts on shipments, installed base and spending by segment which is presented in Excel spreadsheet format.
About InfoTrack
Founded in 1990, InfoTrack provides in-depth, primary research on enterprise communications, along with custom research and survey work for leading industry participants, including manufacturers, service providers, systems integrators and consultants. It also provides reports and research services to enterprise clients spanning a wide variety of industries. InfoTrack is a division of T3i Group, a diversified telecom information provider. To learn more about InfoTrack, visit www.t3igroup.com.
About T3i Group
T3i Group is a research and advisory firm specializing in the worldwide telecommunications industry. It provides reports, analyses, surveys, databases, decision-support tools and consulting services to a global client base that includes operators, regulators, equipment manufacturers, distributors, enterprises and governments. T3i Group conducts its business through three operating units – Tarifica, InfoTrack and TelecomTactics – all of which maintain deep, long-standing relationships with major vendors and other leading industry participants. To learn more about T3i Group, visit www.t3igroup.com.