Cedar Knolls, NJ August 27, 2010 - According to a recent T3i Group study involving almost 300 business decision-makers, 47% of US firms with 500 or more employees are spending more on Unified Communications (UC) applications in 2010 than they did in 2009.  An additional 37% of these enterprises plan to maintain spending at 2009 levels.  A similar trend was found among US businesses with 100 to 500 employees.  According to Susan Hobart, co-leader of the study, “this is a significant change from one year ago, when a similar T3i Group study found that 45% of these firms were reducing their expenditures in this area.  In general, this is good news for the business communications industry in the US.”

However, some segments are still being cautious.  Within the US, 68% of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees are holding spending at 2009 levels, while 19% expect to spend more this year.  Outside the US, 24% of European businesses are cutting their budgets for Unified Communications, as are 27% of businesses in other regions.     

InfoTrack, a division of T3i Group, recently published InfoTrack for Unified Communications: The Business Value of UC, which tracks anticipated deployment of 14 Unified Communications applications.  Applications tracked by the study include web collaboration, audio conferencing, desktop videoconferencing, instant messaging, unified messaging, UC client on a PC or smartphone, teleworker and fixed mobile convergence.  Of these areas, collaboration and mobility are higher priorities for the decision-makers who were surveyed. 

The study’s “Business Value Index”, (BVI) identifies, based on the results of the survey of decision-makers, segments that are farthest ahead in realizing value from their investments in UC applications. According to the BVI, 39% of enterprises expect to realize tangible benefits in 2010, which is up from 21% in 2009.  Among small and medium businesses (SMBs), 32% expect to see a benefit this year, compared to 12% last year. Small and Medium businesses tend to define themselves as being in one of two segments: those wanting only basic communications, and those who are early adopters of UC applications.  For the latter group, which the study refers to as the “Business Value Segment,” 59% report that they will have achieved measurable results in 2010, compared to only 14% in the former group, which seeks basic communications capabilities.

The study also found that firms not investing in UC applications report that they do not understand how UC technologies can improve their business process and generate positive returns on their investments.  “Basically, these businesses are waiting for their vendors to demonstrate how they can create value through investments in UC,” according to Hobart, who continued, “vendors that successfully communicate solutions will come out ahead”

The full report, InfoTrack for Unified Communications: The Business value of UC,” is available via subscription at www.t3igroup.com/iuc

The InfoTrack for Unified Communications (IUC) program conducts several comprehensive, primary research studies each year that analyze and forecast enterprise and small/medium business (SMB) demand for IP Telephony and Unified Communications applications.  The program also reviews major market disruptions and evaluates their likely impact.  For more information about the IUC program or this report, please visit www.t3igroup.com/iuc or email sales@t3igroup.com.

About T3i Group

T3i Group provides market research, analysis and advisory services to the business communications industry. It has clients in every global region and operates three lines of business:  InfoTrack monitors and analyzes demand and market share for global enterprise telephony, unified communications, messaging and contact center systems; Tactics provides detailed feature comparisons for over 1,000 telephony, collaboration and unified communications products in an easy-to-interpret side-by-side format; Tarifica is the global leader in telecom competitive pricing intelligence with a database covering hundreds of operators in every global region.

 
T3i Group LLC is headquartered in Cedar Knolls, N.J; with additional locations in New York City and London.