Technology is often a great equalizer for small to midsized businesses (SMBs), allowing them to compete with larger enterprises that have far more resources at their disposal. Few technologies do more to level the playing field than unified communications (UC) solutions.

In a popular tune from the 1930s, legendary jazz artist Fats Waller sang, “find out what they like, and how they like it, and let ’em have it just that way.” Nearly a century later, that message is right on the mark for business communication providers.

People are a company’s biggest expense. Wages, benefits, payroll taxes, training and equipment expenditures account for as much as 70 percent of total business costs. However, successful businesses understand that employees are also their most valuable asset.

Analysts say the market value of cloud-based Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions will more than double by the end of the decade. Organizations are adopting UCaaS to create a cohesive communication and collaboration strategy to support increasingly decentralized operations.

After a couple of years of supporting remote workforces, most organizations felt quite prepared for the transition to a hybrid work model in which employees split their time between onsite and office work. However, many are finding that disjointed communication environments are making it more difficult than they imagined.

The ability to deliver advanced communication and collaboration services to increasingly distributed workforces is driving rapid growth of cloud-delivered unified communications solutions. Analysts with Metrigy predict that 70 percent of businesses will be using UC-as-a-Service within two years.

In response to pandemic-triggered distancing mandates, businesses across the globe moved quickly to adopt cloud-based communications and collaboration solutions for their suddenly remote workforces. Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) adoption surged by 86 percent at the start of the pandemic, according to one survey of U.S. enterprise organizations.

Lacking a coherent collaboration strategy, many organizations adopt multiple collaboration solutions from multiple vendors, and don’t have much of a grasp on how much it all costs. The subscription and license fees are only the tip of the iceberg. Network and IT support costs and a poor user experience add to the TCO of collaboration.

Many organizations focus all of their energy on growing the business but fail to adequately prepare for the challenges that business growth can bring. Growing pains are commonly felt in the areas of communication and collaboration, which become even more important with business expansion.

A recent report from Eastern Management Group found that more than half of all surveyed organizations are considering the adoption of a hosted unified communications solution to replace their aging phone system. The top reasons for adoption of Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions focus on popular capabilities such as VoIP, mobility, presence and collaboration tools.