October 17, 2006
IDC: VoIP Equipment Support Services Spending Will Reach $1.27 Billion in 2010
By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor
An evolutionary change is taking place in the worldwide VoIP
equipment market, IDC said in a new report out this month. The walls between telephony and IT are eroding, and equipment vendors are making the switch from proprietary hardware and software to software running on dedicated servers.
equipment market, IDC said in a new report out this month. The walls between telephony and IT are eroding, and equipment vendors are making the switch from proprietary hardware and software to software running on dedicated servers. As a result of this change, IDC (News - Alert) said, support services spending will reach $1.27 billion in 2010.
The increase is spending is projected based on the idea that the shift toward non-proprietary software will continue to create a competitive market in which third-party companies will find lots of opportunities to provide support services for the hardware required to run VoIP software.
“As the IP PBX (News - Alert) market shifts from proprietary systems to software applications running on a general purpose servers, the model for support services will begin to look more like the model for other mission-critical software applications,” said IDC analyst Matt Healey, in a statement.
PBX (News - Alert) market shifts from proprietary systems to software applications running on a general purpose servers, the model for support services will begin to look more like the model for other mission-critical software applications,” said IDC analyst Matt Healey, in a statement.He continued: “In this model, the VoIP vendors will be responsible for supporting the software in partnership with a systems vendor or a third party will be responsible for supporting the hardware.”
IDC also reported some specific recommendations for third-party vendors interested in capitalizing on the support market. Server vendors, the research firm said, would do well to partner with network equipment vendors. Meanwhile, VoIP equipment vendors will need to switch from a hardware-centric support model to one based on software.
Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page.
