Increasing Collaboration, Deployment of Cloud and Remote Access will Drive Unified Communications and Collaboration Market in Middle East

"UCC Market Predictions for 2013 and Beyond" report from Frost & Sullivan predicts top drivers for UCC market. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) February 27, 2013 - DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - According to a recent report issued by Frost & Sullivan entitled "UCC Market Predictions for 2013 and Beyond", growth in the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) market in the next few years can be expected predominantly in the field of mobile technologies, videoconferencing and social networking business solutions. The research firm had previously predicted that the Unified Communications (UC) market in the Middle East will reach US$235 million by 2014.

According to the survey, UCC will be driven by growing virtualization of communications platforms and cloud-based delivery, and the migration of enterprises to single-vendor solutions as opposed to the current scenario of deploying disparate technologies from multiple vendors.

"The integration of disparate solutions not only creates a complex IT environment, but also makes the rapid adoption of new technologies almost impossible. As the modern workforce now pushes for the integration of mobile devices, better connectivity and more services to be delivered though the cloud, having a tightly integrated end-to-end Unified Communications solution can well be the competitive edge that businesses are looking for," said Shaheen Haque, Regional Manager, Middle East & Turkey at Interactive Intelligence.

Research done by Frost & Sullivan against more than 700 US companies found that around 50% of firms apply a large number of poorly integrated applications from different vendors to serve their communications needs. This percentage will have dropped to 24% in 2014.

Most respondents stated that their organizations currently provide employees mobile access to a small number of unified communications and collaboration applications, of which the most popular, implemented by 45% of the respondents, are mobile mail clients and PIM tools. Access to corporate telephony through mobile devices remains relatively uncommon with only 19% of respondents stating they have already deployed this capability.

Approx. 30% of those surveyed declared having a policy of business exposure in social media; and a similar number of respondents use social media to analyse customer feedback, while 25% use them for marketing purposes. The survey also revealed that while videoconferencing is gradually gaining popularity, most organizations still mainly apply inexpensive and flexible solutions such as desktop and mobile video.

"Nearly a third of CIOs in the Middle East have included the private cloud in their IT budgets for 2013. These private cloud deployments will be driven by continued adoption of IP communications and collaboration applications and the need to consolidate and centralize the management of UCC infrastructure," said Shaheen Haque.

"There is also a clear shift toward mobile and remote workers. As they account for a growing portion of the total workforce, businesses will need to provide them with communications and collaboration tools that help them stay connected and productive regardless of physical location. Businesses need to invest in UCC and other technologies that enable the use of personalized services, devices, and applications."

Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center™ (CIC) delivers an all-in-one, unified application suite to manage business communications on a single platform. Built from the ground up on a single platform, CIC combines voice, unified messaging, presence, IM and more - along with remote and mobile access. The platform reduces total cost of ownership by centralizing system administration to one interface, converging voice and data on a single network, and lowering overall maintenance while simultaneously enhancing security with advanced voice encryption methods and fewer access points for system "break-ins".

About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of contact center automation, unified communications, and business process automation software and services. The company's unified IP business communications solutions, which can be deployed on-premises or via the cloud, are ideal for industries such as financial services, insurance, outsourcers, collections, and utilities. Interactive Intelligence was founded in 1994 and has more than 5,000 customers worldwide. The company is among Forbes Magazine's 2011 Best Small Companies in America and Software Magazine's 2012 Top 500 Global Software and Service Providers. It employs approximately 1,400 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or info ( @ ) inin dot com; on the Net: www dot inin dot com dot

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.

Interactive Intelligence is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Product Information Contact:
Mr. Shaheen Haque
Turkey & Middle East Territory Manager
Interactive Intelligence Middle East
Dubai, UAE
Direct phone: +971(4) 4347217
Mobile: +971 (50) 4573186
Email: shaheen.haque ( @ ) inin dot com

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