SCIENCE

Cisco and Avaya were named leaders in the mobile unified communications and collaboration market in a recent IDC MarketScape report.

Other major players in the market included ShoreTel, Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft, Siemens, IBM , NEC and Aastra.

IDC ranks vendors based on capabilities and strategies. The firm uses a scoring and ranking model based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position in the market.

"Businesses have been investing in unified communication and collaboration tools to respond faster to customer needs, boost productivity, and make quicker business decisions. At the same time, mobility has become increasingly pervasive in the enterprise," observed Stacy Crook, senior research analyst in IDC's mobile enterprise group.

The majority of revenue in the mobile unified communications and collaboration market is derived from mobile PBX extension revenue from IP line shipments, mobile collaborative application revenue and mobile video revenue.

IDC said it anticipates continued growth in the market as many companies include greater support for mobility, video and collaboration in their unified communications strategies.

Decreasing barriers to entry via lower costs and simplified deployments, as well as better user experiences, are also driving growth. Trends such as consumerization are taking hold and opening the door for more mobile application integration over the next several years. Vendors that can bring unified communications and mobility together will prosper in the future enterprise communications marketplace.