Editorial the forecast is for more clouds. An editorial on the advent of Cloud computing technology and growing competition in this industry.
Clouding computing allows service providers to provide the application platforms and infrastructure components for Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP services.
Cloud-based VoIP applications helps companies save money on hardware investments associated with VoIP calling solutions.
Cloud computing is even facilitating international business cost reductions by saving companies money on international calling costs and initial investments related to hardware. Because of the emergence of VoIP and the need to reduce expenses, the necessity and demand for cloud-based VoIP has increased. Due to the fact that there is excessive competition, the costs have now come down drastically for small business voip solutions and this opportunity should ideally be used by them. A low investment can also result in getting such businesses huge benefits compared to the conventional calling facility.
How the Cloud Can Help with International Business
Since the global recession, international companies have been searching for ways to save money. VoIP is a solution to lower international business call costs and encourage international commerce. Business owners save money on the cost of international calls, but more importantly, businesses save on the initial investment of the VoIP infrastructure. The savings can be reinvested into the business for use on other mission critical applications.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are the three cloud technologies employed in the typical cloud-based VoIP solution. IaaS provides the hardware, power sources, CPU, data storage, core network components and bandwidth associated with VoIP. Many businesses that can afford the infrastructure opt for this service as a part of a disaster recovery procedure.
PaaS is important to the reliability and security of the cloud-based VoIP solution. The best vendors will use products that are easily scalable, proven and redundant. The platform should also be stable to deliver the best quality VoIP calls with no disruptions.
SaaS will support the software necessary to operate the VoIP calling system. This must also be reliable, resilient and flexible. A reputable SaaS provider can provide security to prevent fraud, denial-of-service attacks and hi-jacked IP addresses. Security will also prevent unauthorized traffic.
Competition Among Cloud Computing Vendors
Many cloud computing vendors are competing for market share as VoIP grows in popularity. Many businesses initially began selecting cloud-based VoIP as a solution for disaster recovery. Now, businesses are recognizing the ability to save every day with cloud computing.
The number of VoIP businesses hosting services in the cloud is expected to double between 2012 and 2016. These businesses will be competing for almost $58 billion in revenue according to 2011 statistics. The demand for cloud-based VoIP services increased revenue by 33 percent, and the number of vendors increased by 44 percent. In 2011, NTT had the largest percentage of market share of any VoIP service provider. Comcast and France Telecom held the second and third place positions.
Cloud computing is a viable and cost-effective solution. As the network becomes more reliable, more people are considering it as an option. Experts expect more cloud-hosted VoIP vendors to emerge in the coming years.
