ARG has deployed cloud-based unified communications and contact center solutions for over 2,000 clients including the Fortune 500.  We’ve seen how dozens of providers perform on pricing, installation, and ongoing support.  Without this kind of experience, it can be challenging to find good information in the market. There are conflicting viewpoints creating noise in the market and what is right for one organization might not be a fit for another. Research firms such as Forrester, IDC, and Gartner are data points but come with some bias. They create evaluation criteria that may have nothing to do with your business needs. Consider the Magic Quadrant. To qualify for inclusion, vendors had to meet the following criteria:

• • Self-developed, multitenant UCaaS core software 
  • Provider-operated core 
  • User base: Each UCaaS provider was required to have at least 200,000 users. At least three customers must have over 1,000 calling users.
  • Geographic serving area and user base split: UCaaS providers must be licensed to provide services in the three regions listed below. They must have at least 15,000 calling users in at least two of these regions and have contracted customers in those regions.
    • Region 1: North America — the U.S. and Canada
    • Region 2: Europe — the U.K. and western continental Europe
    • Region 3: Asia/Pacific — must include at least one of the following: Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China.
  • Sales and support: UCaaS providers must have more than 100 sales and support staff in at least two regions from the above list.

This isn’t the criteria of a US-only organization. It doesn’t into consideration enterprise software investments, ease of user adoption, or the support experience after install.

ARG offers insight into what your peer groups are doing, what solutions are best for specific verticals, what providers play best with specific software, how providers are executing for other clients, and where the provider roadmaps are headed. In short, our IT Clarity process ensures that the solution you end up with is the right one to further your business objectives.  Our inside information on performance and the competitive market is also why we are invited to sit on industry-leading advisory boards.