Unified communications is on a roll on Kenya according to new research from Frost & Sullivan. Its recent report on the Kenyan Unified Communications Market says that the market earned revenues of $101.9 million in 2008, and predicts it to reach $134.3 million by 2015.
Frost says that the market is being driven by the increasing use of IP telephony in Kenya, along with the increased bandwidth provided by new undersea cables. However, it warns that the large base of installed legacy equipment and limited understanding of the merits of advanced communications technology will slow uptake.
"Early adopters like large enterprises are deploying IP telephony and UC solutions, thus promoting market growth," says Frost & Sullivan Programme Manager Birgitta Cederstrom. "Large enterprises typically have multiple branch offices, mobile or remote works, and seek to consolidate several resources to reduce costs. The business and financial services industry (BFSI), telecommunications, and government sectors are early adopter segments."
However the cost of new equipment is posing a serious barrier to uptake for some companies, particularly amongst those who have not yet realised their return on investment in legacy equipment. "Large investments made in legacy equipment along with the cost perceptions about IP telephony are the greatest threat to the growth of the Kenyan UC market," explains Cederstrom. "Pricing is often out of the reach of local companies as the industry is largely dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."
After a Masters in Computer Science, I decided that I preferred writing about IT rather than programming. My 20-year writing career has taken me to Hong Kong and London where I've edited and written for IT, business and electronics publications. In 2002 I co-founded Futurity Media with Stewart Baines where I continue to write about a range of topics such as unified communications, cloud computing and enterprise applications.