16 Oct 2008

Microsoft ranked as top strategic vendor

Microsoft has been ranked by firms as the top strategic vendor they are considering in their unified communications adoption plans, it has emerged.

The fifth annual enterprise VoIP survey, conducted by IDC in conjunction with InfoWorld, sought to discover end users' perspectives on unified communications solutions in relation to their organisations.

More than 41 per cent of respondents said applications that allow for an integration of business communications solutions should be purchased for their company from Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes or Domino environments.

Some 79 per cent of respondents said their definition of unified communications technology was a desktop or mobile-based solution which combines a common inbox for email, fax and voicemail, with advanced IP telephony management, instant messaging, and web, audio and video conferencing.

Nora Freedman, senior analyst at Enterprise Networks, said: "End users have become more sophisticated about their understanding of unified communications, as well as having higher expectations about what solutions providers should be able to offer."

Recent research from the Radicati Group found that the number of hosted email seats is likely to grow by almost 40 per cent over the next four years.