The global market for web conferencing shows impressive growth, with some service providers indicating as much as a 30% growth in the use of their products. Much of the current demand for audio, video, and web-based communication seems to have exploded within the last few years, and sources indicate that the field will only continue to grow as the services evolve to meet the changing needs of business owners.
The demand for advanced video and conference calling solutions necessitates that vendors constantly improve their service offerings, and the concept of what constitutes conferencing is continually reinvented as the market shifts. It is no longer enough to provide a video-based service, for example, and many customers are demanding that a single service plan provide for all of their business communication needs. A new study offers insight about the increasing growth of the web conferencing field and looks at emerging technology platforms to consider where all of the innovation and improved efficiency in the market will lead.
Impressive Market Growth
A recent report by Frost and Sullivan, titled “Analysis of the Global Web Conferencing Market”, explores the growth of the Web Conference market and considers some possible implications that the growing demand could have on service providers.
The report finds that the market grew by 10.5 percent in 2013 and earned a total of $2 billion in revenue, and includes software as a service (Saas) and on-site solutions in the analysis. Market growth shows no signs of stopping, and is expected to reach $3.05 billion in revenue, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 percent, by 2018. The report also indicates that SaaS continues to dominate the field and comprised 83 percent of the total online Conference revenue in 2013.
As the strong market growth implies, the demand for the “best” Conferencing solution is high. Competition among vendors is already fierce, and the pressure to create the most efficient service – without sacrificing reasonable price and advanced capabilities – promises to remain steady.
The Increasing Demand for Efficiency
To meet the growing demand for service that matches the quickly expanding needs of global businesses, many vendors are increasingly looking to cloud and mobile platforms as the new face of the Web Conferencing. Indeed, the entire idea of business communication has changed dramatically in recent history. Now that the mobile platform is being seen as a valuable professional tool, many businesses are intensifying their expectations of employees as well as vendors: they demand that Web Conference solutions be compatible across platforms and see the emergence of mobile computing as an opportunity for increased customer support and productivity. Employees are now able to use almost any device as a business communication tool, whether it is on-site or not.
As time passes, the expectations will only increase: clients will demand better product design with enhanced functionality and an easy-to-use interface. Tools such as synchronized collaboration, instant messaging, multipoint meetings, and file sharing will become the new norm, and the future of cloud and mobile technology will only continue to grow.
New Platforms Emerge
One interesting result of the strong growth of the virtual Conference market is the emergence of “virtual workplaces”. No longer willing to purchase separate services for audio, video, and web communication, businesses are creating the demand for a single service that meets all of their communication needs, both internal and external. The resulting software offers the ability to instantly collaborate on projects, share vital files, maintain an easy-to-access knowledge base, and update entire organizations with a single message. While these workplaces are far from perfect, the utilization of cloud and mobile computing to meet professional needs seems like the logical next step in meeting the technology needs of global businesses.
The importance of the Webinars in the business environment is clear, and the rapid market growth of this kind of technology continues to drive service providers to continually improve or reinvent their services. With so many businesses looking into online conferencing as a possible solution to meet all of their communication needs, the future of cloud and mobile technology seems assured, and will most likely see rapid growth and development in the near future. It will be interesting to see just how the emergence of virtual workplaces is handled, and how current providers of video conferencing handle the new technology – or whether they will become casualties of the booming industry and give way to newer, more innovative developers with the ability to work with the convergence of applications and services rather than fight against them.
