29 January
IP contact centre investment set to hold steady in 2009
Although the recession is bound to have a substantial negative effect on enterprises’ telephony products budgets, researchers are predicting that IP Contact Centre (IPCC) investment could buck the trend this year. Such technologies naturally lend themselves to cost cutting imperatives and smart businesses will be looking to strip out operational costs. However, it won’t all be plain sailing, IPCC still requires substantial upfront investment and, while vendors may be prepared to slit each other’s throats in search of deals, it’s a case of speculate to accumulate for enterprises.
Last year was a good for the IPCC market according to Infonetics Research. It says that revenues ended 2008 up 37% on the previous year, with many vendors reporting robust sales. However, the wider downward pull of the economic collapse will also negatively affect the IPCC and Unified Communications sectors albeit with less ferocity than other sectors. It’s also worth considering that after a feast comes a period of considered digestion and, with more than one million IPCC seats sold worldwide in the first half of 2008, capacity already in place may become a factor in new purchasing decisions.
IPCC, being so close to the delivery of customer service, may also find itself insulated as enterprises chase harder for each buck by aiming to service their existing customers more effectively. In any case, we’re not necessarily looking at a nuclear winter of non-activity. Analysts at Forrester reckon that communications investment will shrink by just 3% this year from US$364bn in 2008 to US$353bn in 2009. Compared to other industrial sectors, that’s a walk in the park.
With the emergence and ready availability of advanced, SaaS-based on-demand IPCC solutions, with essentially zero cap-ex requirement and simple, very low cost-per-seat monthly rentals, there is absolutely no reason why any company cannot provide a comprehensive, 24/7 contact solution, whether on a local or global scale to satisfy any customer demand, no matter what size of enterprise.
For me, there is no question that the (wait for it) "credit crunch" has had an impact on companies' willingness or ability to invest in new or upgraded CPE-based systems, but company, from smallest SME to full scale global enterprises can "afford" to innovate and provide comprehensive, effective CRM solutions on an overnight basis using the latest, SaaS-based systems available.
Sorry this reaction is a little late, but I've only just blogged in!