Small Businesses are a growing force in our society, and many giant corporations started out as an idea in someone’s garage or in a backroom of an apartment. Last week I was writing about how UC was showing a positive growth over the next 5-10 years, and it made me think, where is this growth focused? Well it is not just centered on large corporations and enterprise level companies – in fact, most of the growth is coming from small businesses around the globe.
According to new statistics by InfoTrack, UC technologies are expected to grow by ten percent every year for the next five years. SMB’s represent roughly 30 percent of the spending on UC applications, and in the next five years it is expected that the growth of SMB’s will be double that of enterprises. The amount these companies spend on UC technologies such as VoIP, videoconferencing, headsets, and software is also expected to go up by ten percent a year for the next few years.
As I mentioned in a previous post, UC can be a great money saver, and is a fantastic way to benefit your business financially. I can’t help but think that this is one of the driving forces behind the surges of SMB’s moving toward UC. They need productivity and they don’t have time to waste, nor do they have any money to waste. This economy has hit small business owners hard, and every little bit helps. With the cost savings from taking advantage of UC alone, it’s not surprising that small businesses will be grabbing at it as soon as it is feasible. Add on the benefits of saving time and increasing productivity, you can see why a struggling small business may see that as a fantastic move.
UC is a growing field, and it is predicted that it will continue to grow for the next several years. The investment being made by these small companies appears to be a wise one, as they have to keep up with the larger organizations that may already have UC systems in place. As UC grows, so will these companies, and they will have made the necessary preparations to communicate with a larger staff as they have already adopted UC strategies.
Big and small organizations alike are taking advantages of everything UC has to offer. Small businesses are pushing forward with technology more than ever before, using it to grow and reduce costs. As technology becomes easier and cheaper to implement, more companies will start using it to improve their businesses and communication, especially in tight economies.