Public cloud deployments may still be the dominant method of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) deployments, but hybrid clouds represent the fastest growing segment.
Hybrid cloud may have only accounted for only 14 percent of total UCaaS subscribers as of the end of the first quarter of 2014, but according to Synergy Research, hybrid deployments rose 46 percent over the past year.
Led by 8x8, which has a 14 percent market share, five service providers drove more than 50 percent of UCaaS service revenues.
8x8 reported that total fourth-quarter fiscal 2014 revenue increased 29 percent year-over-year to $35.8 million. A big piece of 8x8's revenue was driven by channel and mid-market sales, which it said comprised a record 39 percent of new monthly recurring revenue sold in the quarter.
Not far behind 8x8 are RingCentral, ShoreTel, Mitel and Vonage/Vocalocity. In addition, iCore Networks, West IP, Jive Communications and Fonality are making progress in the UCaaS market.
"In common with developments seen in other enterprise cloud markets, hybrid deployments are relatively small but gaining a lot of traction with UCaaS customers," said Synergy Research Group's founder and chief analyst Jeremy Duke. "They combine the cost and flexibility benefits of public cloud with the control and security benefits of private cloud."
Duke added that "UCaaS still has a long way to go in terms of penetrating the managed and hosted business voice market, and I fully expect hybrid to take an increasing share of the rapidly growing UCaaS market."
For more:
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