This IDC study reflects on the Finnish IP Telephony (IPT) and unified communications (UC) market as it continue to show growth. The forecast here was taken down significantly to reflect on the more dire conditions the market is facing right now.

"Vendors have been used to seeing double-digit growth rates over the last few years, but will now have to face the new market conditions," says Brian Troelsen, research manager, IT Services and Telecoms, IDC Nordic.

"The customers are further demanding lower costs, but are also more focused on the benefits to be reaped from the applications side of UC," he said. "Infrastructure vendors should recognize this development and increasingly seek to either upgrade their own application competencies or partner with IT services vendors to address this market opportunity," adds Troelsen.