Peer-to-Peer Blog: How Big Is the Virtual PBX Market?

By David Byrd

Yesterday while I was interviewing a candidate to join Broadvox, I was asked the simple question, How big is the market for C4 IP and GO!VBX?” What makes the answer interesting is to understand the target markets and underlying technologies of the two platforms. C4 IP is intended for enterprise customers given the per-seat cost and CENTREX-like feature set. GO!VBX is positioned for the SMB market with potential to support an array of third-party software and hardware solutions. Both products have options that move them from being business communications platforms to providing the most advanced Unified Communications capabilities. Therefore the answer lies in what markets are we pursuing.

Enterprise Connect was almost dominated by cloud computing or cloud-based applications, which must concern our market leaders, Cisco and Avaya. Infonetics Research establishes that the enterprise PBX and UC market achieved $8.3 billion in 2010 with 7.4 percent growth over 2009.

Thats a good number. If I had interviewed the guy today, I would toss that out and look really good. But why stop there? After pouring over a mixed bag of other market data to identify the size of the SMB virtual PBX and UC space, the current spend is around $4 billion per year with adoption rate climbing.

Clearly, we are in a growing multibillion-dollar-a-year market. That is good. What is bad is our ability to grab a significant percentage. In addition to the major players mentioned early, there are many smaller purveyors of these products. Being a service provider should help us to stand out until, of course, I remind you of the announcements of XO and Verizon earlier this week. Winning in this market is going to take every resource in our ecosystem, including the sales channels.

The next time I am asked the question, I will be ready.

BTW I am now in the middle of my fifth day of fasting.

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for

Broadvox

, and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.