The prestigious industry report from Gartner, known as the magic quadrant, sees hopeful participants in the UC and collaboration space vie to make the 'top right corner of the famous diagram.
This year saw Microsoft Teams take the top position for both Ability to Execute up the Y axis and Completeness of Vision along the X. The other four market leaders to prove their offerings and make top right were RingCentral, Zoom, Cisco and 8x8.
Here we've assembled the responses of all the senior heads of the companies to the recognition of appearing in the most desired part of the magic quadrant.
Microsoft Placed Highest on Both Axes
This is the fourth consecutive year Microsoft Teams has made the Gartner Magic Quadrant.
Nicole Herskowitz, Vice President Microsoft Teams, responded to the Redmond-based firm placing in the top right corner again; she said: "We are particularly excited and humbled to have been placed highest on the Ability to Execute and furthest on the Completeness of Vision axis."
Over the past 12 months, Microsoft has brought in over 450 features in Microsoft Teams to address the constant changes happening with the modern workforce. This includes Teams Phone Mobile, which is now available in Rogers in Canada, Telia in Sweden, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, and BT, with Swisscom launching soon.
Microsoft has also introduced its Digital Contact Center Platform, Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plans, SIP Gateway to enable Teams calling functionality on compatible third-party SIP and DECT devices and a Financially backed service level agreement that comes with a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee.
Herskowitz spoke about the increased engagement with the platform; she stated: "With 270 million monthly active users... we are seeing increased usage and engagement in Teams — users interact with Teams 1,500 times per month on average and spend more time in Teams chat than they do in email."
On LinkedIn, she thanked her team, customers and partners:
"This recognition is a testament to all the hard behind-the-scenes work done by many at Microsoft who have relentlessly driven product innovation over the years. And a huge thank you to our customers and partners for making this possible. Your feedback, ideas, and collaboration continuously inspire us to raise the bar and shape MicrosoftTeams to serve you better."
Gartner named RingCentral a worldwide UCaaS leader for the eighth year. Additionally, the Belmont-based company is the only vendor for 2022 to come first in two out of four categories in the Gartner Critical Capabilities for UCaaS (Worldwide Report), first in Unified Communications with Integrated Contact Center Use Case and number one for Midsize Enterprise Use Case.
RingCentral Recognised for Integration
Mo Katibeh, President and CEO of RingCentral, announced the results on LinkedIn and cited Gartner's recognition. He stated: "Gartner called out the tight integration between our UCaaS and our Contact Center, our world-class telephony, and our differentiated, mobile-first experience."
Katibeh pointed out the timing of the award:
"The publication of the Magic Quadrant report comes at a critical time for organisations still developing and fine-tuning their future of work vision. Unified Communications as a Service plays a central and significant role in how these companies look to enable and optimise new hybrid work environments."
RingCentral has been busy delivering multiple enhancements this year, aiming to simplify communications and collaboration while providing insights for more informed business strategies and improving customer usability. According to Katibeh, this includes ".. .the introductions this year of RingCentral Webinar, AI-based Meeting insights and summaries, Whiteboard, live transcription, next-gen analytics for lines of business, AI Agent Assist, and Integrated, Connected Experiences."
Zoom Consolidates Influence in UC Space
Zoom had made the Magic Quadrant for the third year in a row. This year the firm has shown vision and leadership with its solutions: Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Phone, Zoom Meetings and Zoom Whiteboard.
Greg Tomb, President of Zoom, declared: “We are proud to be included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS and believe it solidifies our influence in this space. Zoom continues to prioritise and pair ease of use with innovation to build a platform that meets emerging collaboration demands and further delivers customer happiness.”
