UK cloud telephony market to reach £1.76bn by 2028 – Evolve IP

Evolve’s latest study aims to put its partners in the driving seat to secure a bigger slice of millions of pounds worth of new business

Evolve IP is readying its partners for the transformation AI is set to bring to new areas of activity in an increasingly competitive UK arena, expected to be worth almost £1.8bn by 2028.

Teaming up with research house Cavell, the duo has published a new study to help partners tackle the different opportunities in unified communications (UC).

The research revealed that the UK cloud telephony market will be worth £1.76bn by 2028.

On the UCaaS side, the country already represents “one of the most advanced and mature markets in Western Europe in terms of cloud comms penetration,” according to Patrick Watson, head of research and UC lead at Cavell.

But with maturity comes reduced market growth, with Watson predicting a slowdown in the UK, leading to more “cloud v cloud competition” rather than premises-based telephony migration.

The traditional business telephony user market is also set to plummet “to around 18 million users as more organisations choose collaboration only solutions, rather than DDI external telephony capabilities.”

On the other hand, “cloud users will rise and mitigate any revenue loss,” as four million new users are currently “up for grabs” says Watson, reaching 19.1 million business telephony users over the next four years.

Comms adoption is also set to increase 85 per cent from the current 58 per cent, with AI, Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) and customer differentiation becoming more important, according to Watson.

“AI demand and interest is growing to improve business efficiency, but organisations are currently not sure how that’s going to happen,” said the head of research.

“The onus will fall on resellers as a trusted advisor to deliver returns on investment. There’s lots of hype and market consolidation is expected in the AI ‘arms race’”.

Focus on cybersecurity and compliance, as well as expertise in a particular technology niche, is also on the rise.

Brand recognition and reputation are now an important part of the buying process as well.

“Businesses would generally prefer to use a single provider for multiple elements of their converged technology provision, leading to a rise in MSPs,” explained Watson.

He also noted that “customer relationships and customer service are key ways to stand out from the crowd.”