-- Service providers must position their brand to cater to an enterprise segment that is still forming their opinions on the cloud

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Latin American market for unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) in the cloud began around 2008 with certain vendors developing private clouds on-premise for large enterprise customers. Things have changed since then, as in 2013, the most common architecture was no longer the private rather than the hybrid cloud. As a matter of fact, most interviewed vendors affirmed that mid-2012 and 2013 was when hosted UC&C started gaining traction in Latin America.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) in the Cloud in Latin America, finds that unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solutions are generally rolled out in the second phase of software as a service (SaaS) installations, that is, after enterprises have adopted other SaaS. Firms that already use e-mail and customer resources management are more inclined to shift to UCaaS.

"Businesses in Latin America are embracing the pay-as-you-grow component of UCaaS as it does not require a large upfront investment," said Frost & Sullivan Information and Communication Technologies Industry Manager Juan Manuel Gonzalez. "This component will continue to be popular as on-premise systems are not only expensive but also commit a company to a specific solution for a long period—a situation that does not occur with the cloud."

Security is one of the principle concerns that dissuade potential customers in the region from employing UCaaS. Businesses become tentative when they are told that their data will sit alongside data from a completely different organization. Resistance within many IT departments to switch to newer processes further limits migration to cloud UC&C.

During this nascent stage of the Latin American cloud UC&C market, it is especially important that vendors and service providers position their brand to suit an enterprise segment that is still forming their opinions on the cloud.

"Increasing awareness on benefits such as the scalability of UCaaS, where companies can upsize and downsize active licenses based on their needs, will boost uptake," concluded Gonzalez. "Another advantage that can be communicated is that, unlike many on-premises deployments, these solutions don't require additional hardware components when a customer wants to add more licenses."

If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an e-mail to Francesca Valente, Corporate Communications, at francesca.valente@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country.

Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) in the Cloud in Latin America is part of the Conferencing & Collaboration (http://www.conferencing.frost.com) Growth Partnership Service program. Frost & Sullivan's related studies include: The Latin American Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions Market, Global Web Conferencing Market, The Middle East Unified Communications Market, and North American Audio Conferencing Services Market. All studies included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) in the Cloud in Latin America
ND53-64

Contact:
Francesca Valente
Corporate Communications – Latin America
P: +54-11-4777-5300
F: +54-11-4777-5300
E: francesca.valente@frost.com

http://www.frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan