Polycom the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC), on Thursday  unfolded its strategy to enable service providers to offer cloud-delivered, Video-as-a-Service (VaaS) solutions to its customers.

As part of today’s announcement, Polycom is unveiling Polycom Real Presence Cloud, a wholesale, carrier-ready offering to enable service providers to quickly bring to market VaaS offerings.

Airtel, a leading service provider in India, is also using the Real Presence Platform to deliver VaaS solutions to SMBs and enterprises throughout India. These solutions provide a differentiated offering for both companies and are helping to drive further adoption of video collaboration throughout China and India.

Polycom Real Presence Platform Powers Video Clouds from China Unicom and Airtel Polycom will continue to work closely with service providers to develop VaaS offerings for a range of business and delivery models from on-premises to be hosted to managed services.

Real Presence Cloud solutions are designed specifically for service providers to equip them with the carrier-grade infrastructure, endpoints and services they need to offer businesses of all sizes subscription-based solutions for video collaboration. The new offering for service providers is designed to accelerate the penetration and adoption of Polycom video collaboration solutions among SMBs (small to medium sized businesses) and enterprises who want either a hybrid solution of both premises-based video collaboration solutions and video on demand, or a pure VaaS solution. 

Wainhouse Research predicts the five-year compound annual growth rate for the hosted and managed UC market worldwide is forecast to be 30.7 percent with revenues of approximately US$5 billion in 20151, further expanding Polycom’s total addressable market. Polycom’s cloud strategy builds on the company’s goal to make video collaboration ubiquitous and is a key proof point of Polycom’s recently announced software strategy.

“Polycom Real Presence Cloud is a key component to our vision of making video collaboration ubiquitous.  Service providers are critical partners to drive video collaboration growth through VaaS offerings, which will dramatically lower the up-front investment for SMBs and enterprises, enabling them to reap the benefits of video collaboration,” said Andy Miller, President and CEO, Polycom.

“As the demand for video collaboration continues to grow, cloud-delivered video offerings will be a key contributor to this growth. Many SMBs and enterprises will find Video-as-a-Service offerings attractive due to their flexibility, scalability and cost savings,” said Rich Costello, IDC senior research analyst.