​Connected living trend set to propel unified communications market

The connected living market is set to grow to more than $730 billion by 2020, according to Frost and Sullivan, presenting huge opportunities for Unified Communications and IT vendors.

Connected Living is defined as a world in which consumers use many different devices to experience compelling new services that integrate video, voice, and data services to provide access and ubiquitous connectivity.
Analyst firm Frost and Sullivan predicts that by 2025, the rise of connected living will see 3.7 billion smartphones, 700 million tablets, 520 million wearable health-related devices and 410 million smart appliances in the connected person world.

The connected worker world will see 90 million IP Telephones, 400 million laptops and more than 60 million unified communication platforms.

Frost and Sullivan analyst and Head of Research at ICT Australia & NZ, Audrey William, said mobility and Cloud computing were two pillars of growth that had brought about significant changes. “Cloud computing, Big Data, mobility and low cost sensors are driving the internet of things and connected industries, and the internet of things is forcing transformation and innovation across the connected home, connected workplace and connected city.”
The connected home incorporates home automation; smart meters and smart thermostats, intelligent lighting, remote monitoring and control as well as home health, remote diagnostics and wearable health devices.

William said that Australian players like Telstra and other telecom operators had already offer bundled connectivity and entertainment services. “Unified communications vendors like Microsoft Lync, Cisco, Mitel, Alcatel Lucent, Shoretel, Interactive Intelligence and Avaya are bringing it all together, offering robust and rich solutions that enable the connected worker to experience seamless transitions from various applications to various devices every day” she said.

“While the ecosystem of players is complex, there is no denying that collectively, the market potential is huge and presents immense opportunities for the telecom operators and ICT vendors” notes William. Further, the “connected work” encompasses mobility (Mobile email, enterprise mobile apps, people locator, bring your own device), communication (unified messaging, remote desktop access) and networking (web-based project collaboration tools, cloud-based file sharing services). While the “connected city” comprises eGovernance, eCitizens, smart transportation cards, e-learning, mobile banking and digital classrooms, remote education services as well as digital libraries.

Frost and Sullivan forecast that the connected the connected city will contribute the largest percentage at 54%, equating to an estimated market potential of $392.94 billion, with smart governance and education services making up 50% of growth in this segment. Connected work will comprise 3%, contributing $228.44 billion, while connected home chips in the remaining 15% at $111 billion.

William said the value chain of smart solutions to service all the components of connected living was extremely fragmented with no clear “one stop shop” solution provider providing end-to-end solutions. “There are many players, ranging from module/component providers to device vendors to network and platform providers to system integrators. Within these groups are big name players such as Sendum, Gemalto, Apple, Samsung, Telefonica, AT & T, Cisco, SAP, Oracle, IBM and Accenture.”

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Learn more about connected living at the Integrate Conference. Day 2 focusses on Unified Communication, and the technologies that elevate our lives. Find out more.

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This article was first published on ARN. Read the full article, as well as relevant white papers, here.