8x8 (News - Alert), Inc. has been really proving themselves as an industry leader, and now a new July 2012 report, “Analysis of the Hosted IP Telephony and UC Services Market,” by market research firm Frost & Sulivan declared the company the “clear leader” over several reputable competitors providing communications services during 2011, thus solidifying 8x8’s clear position of leadership in the hosted IP telephony/UC services market.
8x8 held a market share of 7.8 percent, and the top five hosted IP telephony and UC service providers across North America contributed 32.1 percent of the total installed base for last year, said Elka Popova, global program director, unified communications. Popova added that 8x8 led the competition with approximately 220,000 users, representing an almost 70 percent growth rate over 2010. The company achieved such a large stride by ramping up brand recognition, reducing churn, and being adopted by larger businesses.
It is true – almost every website I’m on, I always see an 8x8 advertisement – whether it’s a media magnate like YouTube (News - Alert) or a random song lyric site, like directlyrics.com. Needless to say, 8x8’s aggressive marketing strategy has proven very successful. So what was the thought process behind this proactive strategy?
Debbie Jo Severin, chief marketing officer at 8x8, Inc., took the time to explain this to me more in detail, saying, “At the core, 8x8 is about delivering enterprise communication capabilities ‘for the rest of us.’ Why should a business settle for a phone system that just handles calls? 8x8 is about empowering conversations with the seamless integration of phone service, contact center solutions, web and video conferencing, presence, chat, fax, and mobile apps. We have a suite of unified communication solutions that is compelling to companies with distributed sites and mobile employees. They don’t have to be constrained by premises-based equipment solutions.”
“We know that most technology decisions are researched in a variety of ways online, so we work hard to be there,” Severin added. “But, we also incorporate offline tactics. For example, we’ve been advertising in the Southwest airline magazine for years. As we’ve begun to move up the market, we expanded our approach. Last year, we developed a very compelling channel strategy that blends the commission structures of traditional hardware sales with telecom channel residuals. We believe the indirect channel will take time to develop, but will gain further momentum as the industry reaches past the early innovators and budget-conscious businesses.”
Service providers also named to the top five included heavyweights like Comcast (News - Alert) and Verizon, who, along with the other contenders, accounted for the remaining 67.9 percent of the market, the report stated.
"We're pleased to see validation of our leadership position in the hosted telephony and unified communications space from such a prestigious market research firm," Bryan Martin (News - Alert), chairman and CEO, 8x8, Inc. "8x8 has been successfully deploying UC services to businesses that want to reduce the complexity of their IT and communications infrastructure, and spend less time and money managing such resources.”
Martin continued to explain the company’s dedication to supporting an extensive collection of platforms, happily displaying his pride in the company’s achievements. He added, “8x8 offers innovative, cloud-based communications solutions from a highly flexible, standards-based platform that's completely owned and developed internally. PCs, Macs, desk phones, iPhones, Androids and tablets are all supported by 8x8's suite of services, which include phone, fax, Web conferencing, chat, desktop sharing, call recording and more. It's easy to see how 8x8 empowers business conversations between people and groups on any device, anywhere, anytime."
I think I speak for everyone when saying that this is certainly no small feat. Only the future can tell what else is in store for the thriving company!
8x8 Inc. is a Platinum sponsor of ITEXPO West 2012. To be held Oct. 2-5 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX, ITEXPO (News - Alert) (News - Alert) is the world’s premier IP communications event. Visit AudioCodes in booth #808. For more information on ITEXPO West 2012 click here.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey