Asia's unified comms to churn US$1.2B
Contact centers operating on Internet Protocol (IP) and conferencing applications will drive the unified communications (UC) applications market in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, between 2007 and 2011, says IDC.
In its study released last week, the research house predicted the region's UC applications market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16 percent across the five-year period, churning US$1.2 billion in revenue by 2011.
Shalini Verma, senior analyst for IDC's Asia-Pacific telecommunications research, said in a statement that IP contact centers currently contribute, at 39 percent, the bulk of UC applications spending.
Verma added: "During the latter part of the forecast period, conferencing applications revenues will outperform other UC applications as enterprises get serious about improving collaboration in the region."
Market growth is currently fueled by the adoption of IP telephony in the government, banking and financial services, and services industry verticals, as well as greenfield projects in emerging markets, IDC said.
These industry sectors are also likely to be the early adopters of UC applications, which include video conferencing tools, the research house added.
According to IDC, reducing the cost of communication remains the top priority of IT managers in the Asia-Pacific region.