The engines of business are humming again, and that means increased IT spending is on the way.
Globally, the IT market is set to reach $3.8 trillion in 2014, according to Gartner (News - Alert). It predicts that North American IT spending will be especially strong.
There are few jobs that don’t interface with a computer these days, making IT a crucial part of every business. And while some computer systems may still be running Windows XP, for most systems there is a growing need to stay current or be left behind. Now, more than ever, IT systems must interconnect to be relevant. And that means staying current.
The uptick in IT spend should especially benefit the hosted phone system market.
That’s because the computer systems workers are increasingly using for their jobs are smartphones and tablets in the field, and business is still catching up with the trend.
Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is one of the hottest trends in business, and firms are still figuring out (and investing) in systems to enable their employees to best use mobile technology. This means having mobile device management software in place, as well as a communications system that employees can use in and out of the office.
Hosted phone systems are particularly well-suited for the BYOD trend, as they can be accessed anywhere since they are hosted in the cloud instead of on-premise like traditional business phone systems. It is relatively trivial to set up a hosted phone system so employees can use it from their mobile device in addition to their office cubicle.
Providers are finding this to be the case.
“Companies are increasingly allocating money to mobile devices to support and build their enterprise BYOD strategies,” noted Jason Stephen Ali in a recent BroadConnect blog post. “This is creating huge demand for streamlined VoIP and SIP communications.”
BroadConnect offers hosted phone systems that can be accessed through mobile devices just as easily as an IP-capable desk phone
So while the outlook for IT looks promising for the rest of the year, it should be especially good for hosted phone providers and others catering to the mobile trend.
Edited by Alisen Downey