February 2023 //
Over the last five years, we have seen a significant shift in how we work. Cloud-based unified communications (UC) platforms now empower organizations to take collaboration to a new level. Workers have moved beyond corporate-based email as a primary means of communication for most interactions, including one-on-one exchanges, sales calls, employee check-ins and company-wide updates.
Consequently, cloud adoption has seen a sharp rise in recent years, while the use of traditional platforms has declined. The numbers tell the story of how fast businesses are transitioning to the cloud. In its 2022 Global UC Forecast, ZK Research predicts that cloud UC will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7% to $19.2 billion in 2027. Meanwhile, on-premises platforms will decline at a CAGR of –6.53% in the same period (Exhibit 1). This is consistent with other research conducted in this area. For example, Fortune Business Insights pegs the growth of the global team collaboration software market at a CAGR of 13.2% from 2022 to 2028.