Enterprise communications heading to the cloud

A new report from ABI Research has revealed that companies are migrating much of their enterprise communications systems to the cloud. It would appear that enterprise mobility is perfect for such a move.

According to ABI, 41 percent of enterprise communications users, out of a global total of approximately 386 million, will be migrated to the cloud by 2016. The addition of smartphones and tablets at many companies is driving this trend, researchers stated.

"Enterprise mobilization is also driving migration to the cloud," practice director Dan Shey said. "Cloud applications ease application delivery for businesses that are increasingly relying on access across fixed and mobile endpoints."

Given the consumerization of mobile device management, mobile professionals require the ability to access the same enterprise apps and data no matter what device they are leveraging, whether it's a desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet. According to ABI, the cloud allows a company to accommodate such needs.

Both mobility and the cloud are on the rise, especially in this part of the world. This year, according to a recent Gartner report, North America will account for 64 percent of cloud revenues.