A study into the global CCaaS market has concluded that product innovation within the space is “slowing”.
The Juniper Research report makes this claim while pointing its finger toward the increasing merger and acquisition (M&A) activity within the space.
These acquisitions have come as service providers “look to develop an all-in-one SaaS platform” – according to the research firm.
Examples of high-profile mergers and acquisitions include NICE rolling up LiveVox, Sharpen merging with Plum Voice, and Enghouse Systems taking control of what’s left of Lifesize following the latter’s bankruptcy.
As some of these vendors pull these newly acquired solutions into their ecosystem, product innovation may have stalled.
Yet, some may argue that the generative AI (GenAI) wave has accelerated innovation in CCaaS – and there are emerging, exciting capabilities entering the CCaaS market.
Auto-generating knowledge articles, conversation flow models, and contact summaries for contact transfers are excellent examples.
However, most GenAI solutions – from automated post-contact processing to agent-assist solutions – replicate other offerings that leading CCaaS brands already have within their portfolios.
After all, CCaaS stalwarts previously spent years building and training natural language processing (NLP) models to bring such innovations to life. GenAI cuts through much of that work.
As such, GenAI has perhaps helped new market entrants close the AI gap with market leaders more than it has inspired new, cutting-edge thinking.
CCaaS Innovation Beyond GenAI
While most CCaaS vendors prioritize GenAI innovation, many CCaaS competitors have recently released unique, non-GenAI-centric innovations.
For instance, last year, Genesys unveiled its Experience Index for more prescriptive CX measurement, and Zoom launched a Kiosk that links in-store and contact center communications.
More recently, AWS introduced a feature that allows contact centers to route contacts based on agent proficiency, and Verint released an entirely new concept for a CCaaS platform.
In addition, some conventional market leaders are innovating in areas outside of what is conventionally considered CCaaS.
Consider Genesys and NICE; both are innovating around journey orchestration. Meanwhile, vendors like 8×8, Cisco, and Vonage are pulling CPaaS tools into their CCaaS platforms.
So, while many CCaaS vendors focus on delivering that all-in-one platform, examples of unique, innovative thinking within the space have not completely fallen by the wayside.
CCaaS Subscription Revenues Will Jump to $18BN by 2028, Claims Juniper
Alongside its commentary on the state of CCaaS innovation, Juniper Research suggested CCaaS vendors will generate over $10BN in subscription revenue in 2025 – up 21 percent from its estimation for 2024.
The analyst then predicts that growth will plateau in the three years following, and subscription revenues will rise steadily to $18BN by 2028.
While that growth may seem healthy, Juniper notes that the plateau will stem from an “anticipated reduction in service innovation and over-saturation of service providers”.
Such over-saturation comes as many tech juggernauts have entered the CCaaS space over the past two years – including Google, Microsoft, Sprinklr, and Zoom.
Therefore, while many more big contracts are up for grabs, the competition will grow more fierce.
To stand out from the crowd, Juniper suggests these providers should prioritize service innovation, targeting workforce engagement management and customer data platforms to remove silos.
The analyst also recommends focusing on co-browsing and interactive calling initiatives to support branded communications.
Sharing her thoughts, the author of the study, Elisha Sudlow-Poole, Senior Research Analyst at Juniper Research, stated:
By promoting these product innovations, CCaaS will cater to marketing, sales, and service intelligence business teams to provide a differentiated end-to-end service platform.
To make its estimates and draw these conclusions, Juniper Research has gathered 38,700 market statistics over a five-year period, building “in-depth” market forecasts across 60 countries.
For more on the future of the CCaaS space from another prominent industry research firm, read our article: CCaaS Growth Is Decelerating. Now What?