Week in research: Businesses prefer bundles; enterprise SBC on track for 30 percent revenue growth

Bundling grows on businesses: For SMBs as well as large enterprises, being able to bundle wireline services is an increasingly important factor in overall customer satisfaction, a J.D. Power and Associates report reveals. "Among business customers bundling their services, satisfaction is 668, compared with 660 among those purchasing only data services from a single provider, and 653 among those purchasing only voice services from a single provider," a release said. Network performance and quality remained critical factors in business customers' satisfaction ratings, as well. Cox Communications topped the very small and small-medium business segments with a rating of 700 and 710, respectively. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) held the lead in satisfaction among large businesses with a 705 rating. News release

Putting cloud first boosts providers: Companies that view cloud services as a progression in IT services are open to new technologies and are also 25 percent more likely to see themselves as more progressive and innovative than their peers, according to a new study by IDC for Telus (NYSE: TU). "The survey indicates that the number one priority for Canadian businesses is improving customer service.  IT leaders are realizing that moving IT functions to the cloud can have a real impact on their bottom line and can help them focus on their core business, including their customers," said Tony Krueck, vice-president, Business Solutions Marketing at Telus. "The IDC survey found that an impressive 81 percent of Canadian businesses reported lowering the cost of IT due to cloud adoption." Over the next four years, IDC predicts 25 percent growth for cloud services. News release

SBC competition rises: Enterprise session border controllers will likely see a huge jump of 30 percent in global revenue in 2013, says Infonetics Research, with demand in North America remaining strong. "Competition in the enterprise SBC market is very dynamic, with more than 20 vendors offering some form of SBC functionality, either integrated in another network element or as a standalone device," notes Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC and IMS at Infonetics. "And it's extremely tight at the top, where Cisco, Acme Packet and Sonus Networks were within 1 revenue share percentage point of each other in 1Q13." News release

Infonetics SBC market 2013