Bye-bye, Office Meetings: Cloud Conferences Rule

SAN FRANCISCO: Worldwide end-user spending on cloud-based Web conferencing will grow nearly 25pc in 2020 on the back of workplace restrictions, due to the coronavirus pandemic – but will taper off in 2021.

Market researcher Gartner predicts end-user spending on cloud-based conferencing is to reach US$4.1 billion in 2020, up from $3.3 billion in 2019. 

It is the second-fastest growing category in the unified communications (UC) market, behind spending on cloud-based telephony, tipped to reach $16.8 billion in 2020.

Overall UC market end-user spending is projected to decline 2.7pc in 2020 and return to growth in 2021, as cloud telephony initiatives regain momentum.

Gartner predicts that, by 2024, in-person meetings will account for just 25pc of enterprise meetings, a drop from 60pc before the pandemic, driven by remote work and changing workforce demographics. 

As a result, there is a higher demand for convenient access to videoconferencing and other collaboration tools.

In 2020, new premises-based telephony investments are predicted to drop sharply, as existing installed telephony system life-spans are stretched and investment priorities shift to the cloud.  

The cloud telephony market is projected to grow 8.9pc in 2020 and 17.8pc in 2021.