In these times of the pandemic, everyone is hooked to their computer, not in the office, but at home. This is because almost the entire corporate sector has shifted to the work-from-home (WFH) model since the lockdowns were first implemented in March last year. Not being in the office created a severe communication problem, which was instantly solved by web conferencing software, which can accommodate up to 200 people in a single meeting!

People are having office meetings, appreciation meetings, product launches, birthday celebrations, and even condolence meetings on such computer programs and mobile applications. Thus, with the growing adoption of such software, the web conferencing market value, as claimed by P&S Intelligence, is expected to increase monumentally from $2,109.3 million in 2019 at a 39.3% CAGR between 2020 and 2030. Moreover, even after the pandemic officially ends, many companies are expected to continue to WFH policy, as it has been found to decrease operating costs and increase productivity.

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On average, people are working 1.4 days more every month from home compared to from the office. This means an additional 17-day productivity every year, which is something companies are looking to cash in on even more in the coming years. As this model eliminates the time spent in commute, the working duration increases automatically. This also reduces the spending on transportation and fuel, which can further help companies reduce their operational costs. Moreover, companies are saving handsomely on electricity bills as most employees are working from home.

This has arguably driven the demand for web conferencing solutions, more so among large enterprises than small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as the former have more employees spread around the world. Due to their dispersed operations, their employees are always on the move, which necessitates having web conferencing solutions on their devices to connect with clients and the office team remotely. Similarly, SMEs are also now adopting such solutions at a rapid pace as they help them reduce their operational costs. Moreover, the availability of cost-effective web conferencing solutions on the cloud is encouraging SMEs to try them out.

However, it is not only SMEs that are getting attracted to cloud solutions, but large companies as well. Cloud offers several benefits over software deployed on premises, including lower infrastructure requirement, anytime, any-day access, and scalability. Therefore, even those companies that have been using on-premises web conferencing solutions have begun to shift to cloud-based variants in order to reduce their operational costs even further. Even though cloud solutions carry a fair risk of data breaches and other cybercrimes, the advancements in cloud security are helping dissipate the concerns of users.

Presently, the highest usage of these solutions is being witnessed in the information technology (IT) & telecom sector. Corporate firms around the world are using these solutions to help their team members interact remotely and boost productivity. Companies have shifted a great part of their workflow on the cloud, which is allowing employees to work from wherever they are. The increasing adoption of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy is also playing an important role in this regard. This policy allows employees to use their smartphones and laptops for office work from anywhere, which creates a need for web conferencing solutions.

The usage of such solutions has been the highest in North America till now because of the availability of high-speed internet, presence of numerous IT companies offering such solutions, and existence of a huge number of multinationals. In the coming years, the fastest web conferencing market growth will be seen in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region on account of the widespread implementation of the WFH policy. For instance, Tata Consulting Services Limited aims to shift 75% of its entire workforce to this model by 2025.

Thus, web conferencing solutions will continue seeing wide adoption as they are instrumental in helping companies save on operational costs.