Blogger: Bill Pray
A recent CNN article in their small business section of CNNMoney.com cited Frost & Sullivan research that indicated that SMB web conferencing industry broke above $1B in sales with 19% growth in 2008. While market size estimates are always questionable, it is estimated that total web conferencing market has moved above $2B in sales.
Web conferencing serves as a bellwether for the economy. In economic downturns, enterprises turn to it as a way to decrease travel expenses. Now, companies are also pointing to it for eco-friendly messaging through the "green" story it contributes to an enterprise's social responsibility efforts. Given those two drivers, enterprises are revisiting web conferencing once again. Web conferencing, although it has been a technology staple for the last decade, becomes a “hot” technology when economic conditions or political unrest create conditions in which employee travel and IT budgets come under review. Interest in web conferencing grew after the dotcom bust and it became popular again after 9/11 and the SARS epidemic.
With the current economic turmoil, revisiting the choice of a web conferencing solution is a good idea. Reviewing the advantages and benefits of web conferencing, as well as taking a look at some new benefits and the current web conferencing offerings from the major vendors, can provide an organization with reasons to change or update its current web conferencing solution.
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