UC-as-a-Service MetriRank 2023

Author: Diane Myers, Principal Analyst

Metrigy’s global Workplace Collaboration MetriCast 2023 market size and forecast study, conducted with 1,418 companies, finds that 36.9% of businesses worldwide are using UC as a service (UCaaS). The remaining 63% are either using on-premises PBXs, dedicated hosted solutions managed by a third-party partner, or other alternatives. Although the majority of telephony seats are still on customer-owned platforms, the adoption trend is toward UCaaS in that a cloud architecture provides better flexibility and scalability, the ability to move to an OpEx model, quicker access to enhanced capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI), and more. In this UCaaS MetriRank 2023 report, Metrigy examines the leading providers across product capabilities, financials, and customer insights.

The global market for UCaaS was $19.0 billion in 2022, up 8% year-over-year. Metrigy forecasts the market to grow at a 5% CAGR from 2022 to 2027, reaching $24.4 billion by 2027. The UCaaS market has been highly competitive, with providers of varying sizes, capabilities, and reach—some are global, and others are regional. However, the market has coalesced around a few large providers, with Microsoft at the top and tough to beat, forcing other UCaaS providers to figure out ways to coexist with integrated telephony and contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS) solutions.

Although dozens of companies operate globally in the space, market share is the No. 1 factor for inclusion in the UCaaS MetriRank. However, other criteria such as financial strength, market momentum, and customer sentiment are significant at setting providers apart in the rankings. Having the right mix of features and capabilities is critical, although most of the top-tier providers share common capabilities today. Metrigy considers 2023 as an important year of enhanced product development, particularly around AI, which will become important moving forward.

The top five providers are as follows:

• Microsoft is the undisputed leader in our inaugural UCaaS MetriRank report, with the largest market share, strongest financials, and above-average marks for market momentum, customer sentiment, and customer business success. Its UCaaS offering, Microsoft Teams, has a commanding lead on the field, putting Microsoft in a good position to continue top performance over the next few years.
• Cisco is right behind Microsoft with Webex. As a legacy on-premises PBX vendor, Cisco has been able to capitalize on its long history in the enterprise communications market in the movement toward the cloud. Cisco is second in market share and has the highest possible scores for financial strength, market momentum, and product mix. With its installed base of businesses to migrate to the cloud, coupled with its ability to sell a suite that includes CCaaS, CPaas, and devices, Cisco has an important advantage for future UCaaS growth.
• Zoom is the fourth largest UCaaS provider with Zoom Phone but ranks third with a jump from its financial strength and strong market momentum. The provider has effectively capitalized on its video meeting customer base to upsell bundled solutions. Zoom will need to continue focusing on strengthening its telephony platform to grab large enterprise businesses with more complex telephony requirements.
• 8x8 is the fourth-ranked provider through continued growth of its Experience Communications as a Service (XCaaS) installed base and the highest customer sentiment and customer business success scores. With XCaaS, 8x8 has been successful selling UC and contact center as an integrated platform. It has a strong proposition for businesses seeking a single-vendor solution across both domains.
• RingCentral rounds out the top five providers with the third-largest market share for its MVP offering. It has a strong product mix but falls short on the financial scoring; however it has been making significant improvements with the financial metrics we measure over the past year. RingCentral sets the gold standard with its calling solutions, while continuing to develop areas such as AI enhancements and its own CCaaS solution.

The remaining providers in the top 10 include Comcast, GoTo, Nextiva, Verizon and Vonage.

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• About the Study
• UCaaS Leadership
  • Top Providers
• UCaaS Provider Profiles
  • Microsoft
  • Cisco
  • Zoom
  • 8x8
  • RingCentral
  • Verizon
  • Vonage
  • Comcast
  • GoTo
  • Nextiva
• Appendix
  • Methodology
  • Leadership Metric Definitions
  • Further Reading
• Working with Metrigy