HYDRASIGHTS 2009: Unified Communications

Hydrasight foresees that the majority of unified communications projects will be canceled or scaled back significantly in 2009. In some cases, unified communications implementations will be rolled back, returning the majority of users to basic instant messaging and presence awareness, rather than continuing to attempt to converge all forms of digital communication and computing technologies. However, IP-centric unified communications projects (i.e., those that are predominantly software based and delivered on a pure Microsoft stack) will have a slight advantage. In these cases, existing implementations will remain static with a small percentage of leading adopters, primarily contact centers, continuing to pursue the benefits of application integration. Rising enterprise interest in mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone will also hamper existing UC efforts and drive additional capital, operational, and support costs.