IDC: On-Demand Contact Center Services Forecast Shows U.S. Spending Will Grow to $1.6 Billion in 2018

In a newly released study, International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts that U.S. spending for on-demand (cloud) contact center services will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5% to $1.6 billion in 2018. A majority of companies are using or evaluating a hosted or on-demand solution for their contact center, according to IDC demand-side data.

“End consumer demands combined with a need for speed, flexibility, and cost reduction are all driving companies to evaluate hosted and on-demand solutKey research findings include:

-- While the majority of companies are still using on-premise contact center solutions, most of them are also using or evaluating a hosted or on-demand contact center service. IDC survey data shows that 39% of respondents were using a hosted or on-demand service, 38% were evaluating a hosted or on-demand service, and only 23% were using an on-premise system and not evaluating the hosted or on-demand model.

-- Factors contributing to the growth of hosted and on-demand contact center services include cost reduction and pricing model, cloud-based outsourcing, increased shift in spending, and multi-channel customer care.

-- As customer experience becomes more of a strategic focus for enterprises and the pressures for speed, flexibility, and multi-channel increase, hosted and on-demand contact center services must continue to evolve to keep up to client expectations and support consumers' future channels of preference.