When the pandemic hit, many utilities were forced to provide employees with mobile work options. A few years later, the approach continues to gain momentum because it provides employees with work/personal life flexibility while boosting productivity.
Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C) solutions are the cornerstone for mobile employee collaboration. Sales of these solutions grew 6.9% year over year and 2.4% sequentially and reached $15.9 billion in the second quarter of 2023, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). For the full year 2023, worldwide UC&C revenue is expected to grow 8.6% to $64.7 billion. The projection represents an increase of roughly $500 million from the previous quarter's forecast. In a time when many utilities are curbing expenses because of concerns with inflation, they consider this sector so important that they are investing more in it.
Microsoft Teams is the Most Popular Remote Work Option
Many utilities installed Microsoft software to run their day-to-day operations. The vendor was the big winner during the second quarter. Its UC&C revenues rose 20% year over year in the second quarter and were $6.8 billion. Microsoft has 42.8% market share, up 40 basis points from the first quarter in 2023, according to IDC. Clearly, energy companies prefer working with one enterprise software vendor rather than choosing best of breed products.
Utilities sent a decidedly mixed message to Cisco and its UC&C offering, Revenue fell 19.3% year over year to $951 million, but its market share grew, but just 11 basis points over 1Q23, to 6%.
Zoom's revenue rose 2.5% in the second quarter and was $1.1 billion. The solution accounted for a 6.8% market share and stayed flat compared to the first quarter.
The pandemic forced energy companies to extend remote work options to more employees. Consequently, they are still investing in such solutions, with Microsoft Teams the most popular choice.
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