Top 6 drivers of the cloud communications market

1. Enterprise migration to the cloud

Enterprises undergoing digitization are driving greater cloud adoption, primarily because of the following factors:

• Technology: Digital transformation or incorporating the latest digital technologies into everyday operations is not possible unless enterprises connect the dots between their customers, applications, and infrastructure. The cloud, with its ability to develop services from existing essential core services, helps in doing so.
• Agility: Enterprises need business agility - the ability to adapt quickly and succeed in a rapidly changing environment. Cloud-based services enable them to be agile and flexible.
• Cost and management: The management of cloud-based communication systems can be outsourced to reliable providers who can map their offerings to match customer requirements at reasonable, pay-per-use rates. Besides, the on-premise assets businesses own can be incorporated into the cloud as one logical unit. Furthermore, multiple businesses can share resources, leaving nothing to waste.
• Service quality: Cloud communications maximize uptime and coverage through multiple, off-site data centers, avoiding interruptions and downtime. They also help enterprises have business continuity after a disaster or even during it.
• Simplicity and scalability: Cloud communication platforms are user-friendly enough to connect, chat, and collaborate anytime. They can be scaled up or down as needed.
• Mobility: Remote work and the gig economy necessitate advanced features and capabilities. Cloud-based unified communications can provide these easily and securely.

2. The rise of social communication

Social communication refers to the ways in which information can be collected, transmitted, and perceived, and the impact those methods have on the society. It can happen via social media, face-to-face meetings, or other ways.

Although quite effective, many issues such as confusing messages, little or too much information, and speed can cause problems. Cloud-based unified communication tools, such as video conferencing and internal social networks, help make collaboration in organizations natural and seamless. They also improve productivity by helping people find the right information at the right time.

3. Enterprise and contextual communication

Context-aware cloud-based advertising platforms and innovative techniques, such as contextual computing and cyber foraging, help organizations to provide messages at the right time and context. They also consider if the customers are ready to receive them.

Cloud-based analytics and predictive modeling help customize these messages based on their personal information and products of interest.

Also, enterprises can harness the power of SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud), the convergence of four technologies, to drive business innovation, by combining social media and marketing.

4. The e-Commerce industry boom

The e-commerce industry is booming with the advances in online marketing and the rise of online purchases. Cloud communication platforms are stable, quick, reliable, and secure enough to handle issues such as complicated logistics and erratic demand in the online space.

They have scalable architecture and easy-to-use interfaces. They provide secure data access, built-in redundancy, timely back-ups, accessibility, and a diverse range of communication services.

5. The evolution of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) and other such technologies help convert the large amount of data collected from customers into actionable insights. AI in cloud-based solutions also creates consistent omni-channel experiences and fosters personalization. Moreover, such solutions are highly responsive, resilient, flexible, autonomous, and self-healing.

6. The need for more customer engagement

Nowadays, customers expect enterprises to offer not only personalization but also anticipatory and predictive offerings. Cloud communication platforms help organizations create comprehensive customer profiles, enhance campaign monitoring, deliver context-aware personalized content, and use analytics and machine learning to detect engagement opportunities, without relying on IT personnel.

Whatever the drivers, the myriad benefits cloud communications offer will prompt customers to accept it as a primary business strategy and further add to the growth of the market.