2020 was a disruptive year for the entire world and for the unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and cloud meetings landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean. While these markets were negatively impacted by a tremendous economic downturn along with the loss of millions of jobs (potential users), the demand for remote enterprise communications substantially increased in the new environment. As most companies implemented extensive remote work programs, they realized the need to emulate face-to-face collaboration and streamline communications in order to maintain high levels of productivity. To do this, many organizations turned to UCaaS and cloud meeting solutions.

Price compression continues to be a worrying reality in these markets. As technology becomes more cost-effective, more UCaaS and cloud meeting offerings at lower price points are released, which increases competitive pressure and leads most providers to review their prices and bundling. As a beneficial effect of this dynamic, lower prices result in higher adoption rates and democratization of the service.

Growth is expected in several market segments, including mid-size companies; banks, insurance and financial services; retail and consumer goods; professional services firms; industry; government; healthcare; education; and travel and hospitality.

OPEX-based contracts between the technology provider and the service provider are also growing in the UCaaS market. This provides flexibility to the service providers as it substantially reduces the investment needed to provide UCaaS services, which in this case is often only restricted to hardware equipment (a small portion of the overall investment needed). This modality has been facilitating and is expected to expedite the launch of new service offerings in the UCaaS. However, many service providers are reluctant to accept this modality as they perceive that OPEX-based contracts might limit their profit margins.

Frost & Sullivan explores several major growth opportunities:
·     The Future of Work is Hybrid
·     Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration
·     Partner to Strengthen Your Value Proposition
·     Secure Your Communications
·     Competitive Differentiation

This report provides a detailed assessment of the UCaaS and cloud meeting services market in Latin America and the Caribbean, considering location, customer size, type of license, industry vertical, technology platform, architecture type, hard phone as a service, use of UC capabilities, direct vs. indirect sales, bundled vs. standalone, and market share. The base year of this study is 2020. Revenue and users are forecasted until 2027.

Author: Sebastian Menutti