The global spending on cloud-based web conferencing continues to expand significantly due to the workplace restrictions spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to hit the $4.1 billion mark in 2020, according to data gathered by LearnBonds.
This will represent a 55 per cent jump in two years. It comes as no surprise with businesses and people around the world becoming more technologically dependent on nearly all types of tasks amid the ongoing crisis, according to the online investment and personal finance publication.
“As a result of workers employing remote work practices in response to COVID-19 office closures, there will be some long-term shifts in conferencing solution usage patterns. Policies established to enable remote work and experience gained with conferencing service usage during the outbreak is anticipated to have a lasting impact on collaboration adoption,” Megan Fernandez, senior principal analyst at Gartner.
Despite cutting their overall software spending, 67 per cent of enterprises around the world reported increased spending on web conferencing, according to a TrustRadius survey conducted among software buyers and users in April. The survey ranked collaboration tools as the second-most significant software investment in 2020, with 57 per cent of businesses increasing their spending on these solutions. Remote desktop tools and security software follow, with 52 per cent and 41 per cent share among respondents.
An increasing number of businesses around the world have even cancelled their important in-person events and conferences to hold them digitally via web conferences or webinars.
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The latest forecast by Gartner says global end-user spending on cloud-based web conferencing solutions will also expand throughout 2020 in the same way. Worldwide end-user spending on cloud-based web conferencing solutions will grow by nearly 25 per cent this year, but growth will taper off in 2021, according to the global research and advisory firm.
“Cloud collaboration investments will buoy the UC market downturn as remote work initiatives spurred by the COVID-19 outbreak drive conferencing adoption and market growth,” said Fernandez, in a press release.
