A 'Perfect Storm' Increases Global Demand for Visual Collaboration Managed Services, Finds Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, January 26 - Visual collaboration, after years of constant challenges, became a
technology that businesses regarded as difficult and unlikely to be used on
regular basis. However, a perfect storm of technological, economic, and
environmental developments has brought visual collaboration to the forefront
again. To capitalize on this prospect, vendors should be aware of their
customers' applications and requirements in order to develop products, which
fulfill clients' needs. They should also focus on leveraging relationships
with strategic channel partners who are successful in providing visual
collaboration equipment.

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New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.conferencing.frost.com),
World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets, finds that the market
earned revenues of US$82.7 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach
US$938.3 million in 2015, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
162.4 per cent.

"A driver that is most likely to contribute to the growth of the visual
collaboration market is the reduction of travel required by a company," notes
Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Iwona Petruczynik. "This can create
significant cuts in business costs and help improve productivity levels;
employees can conduct their businesses without the need to meet face-to-face
with their clients or partners. New models offered by service providers that
do not require up-front capital expenditure (CAPEX) by customers are also
adding to the widespread adoption of visual collaboration services globally."

In addition, growing concerns about the environmental impact of business
operations are motivating companies to look toward eco-friendly solutions
that will not require a large investment. Another factor that significantly
adds to the rising adoption of visual collaboration services in general is
the dispersed workforce that needs to stay in touch with each other and their
clients. The recent swine flu pandemic has proved that using online
collaboration tools, including visual collaboration, has helped in preserving
business continuity.

Until recently, visual collaboration services were perceived to be a
privileged tool for the use of the upper management, as they were believed to
be difficult to deploy and required extensive training. However, with the
emergence of managed services, visual collaboration has been simplified to a
click of a button.

A major challenge that high-end visual collaboration services providers
have confronted is low awareness about the benefits and ease-of-use of visual
collaboration tools among business leaders. A common misconception, quite
prevalent until recently, was that such tools and services were difficult to
use, required extensive expertise, and were reserved mostly for upper-level
executives.

This was compounded by the glaring lack of interoperability between
devices and networks provided by different vendors. Lastly, the shortage of
display rooms in certain regions, especially in Europe, added to that
misconception, as potential clients did not have the opportunity to
experience high-end visual collaboration at first hand.

"Despite the increase in interest in visual collaboration managed
services, business leaders in less developed countries still prefer to meet
in person to conduct their business," states Petruczynik. "Moreover, current
networking and compatibility issues limit the interconnectivity of different
visual collaboration systems with traditional videoconferencing systems and
other managed services solutions from different vendors, demanding the
development of consistency-of-quality."

Visual collaboration managed service providers will likely experience
some pricing pressure in the coming years in the more mature markets, but
mostly in the emerging markets, where prices have further to fall.
Additionally, increasing automation will lead to lowered demand for managed
services. In order to fight this fall, vendors will have to expand their
offers and include new or upgraded features.

"Rising interest in high-definition and immersive visual collaboration is
leading to increased competition among value-added resellers and equipment
vendors, fuelling pricing pressure which, in turn, will contribute to falling
prices," cautions Petruczynik. "Service providers will need to improve their
product portfolios to create a one-stop-shop for managed services."

If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an
e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at
joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title,
telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and
country.

World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets is part of the
Conferencing & Collaboration Growth Partnership Service program, which also
includes research in the following markets: visual collaboration, enterprise
communications and communication services. All research services included in
subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that
have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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             World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets
                                      M4AF

    Contact:
    Joanna Lewandowska
    Corporate Communications - Europe
    P: +48-22-390-41-46
    E: joanna.lewandowska@frost.com

www.frost.com

Joanna Lewandowska of Frost & Sullivan Corporate Communications - Europe, +48-22-390-41-46, joanna.lewandowska at frost.com