European web conferencing market grows to $162m

More companies in Europe are turning to web conferencing as their awareness of web conference services grow and they look for ways to cut travel expenses and comply with environmental laws.

According to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, the hosted web conference services market in Europe grew 14.9 per cent from 2007 to 2008, up to $162.6m. The market is estimated to reach $657.1m in 2014 at a compound annual growth rate of 26.2 per cent.

"The global recession and stringent environmental laws introduced by the European Parliament in 2008 are driving organisations to reduce their travel expenses and comply with "green" policies," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Iwona Petruczynik in a statement.

More companies are becoming aware of web conferencing services and greater numbers of vertical, small and medium businesses, which traditionally stayed away from web conferencing due to thinking it is too difficult to use or too expensive, are being drawn to the services as costs come down.

Countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which have high awareness of web conferencing, well-developed infrastructure and have access to services from several global companies, are expected to see continued high demand. Web conferencing is expected to expand in countries like Italy, Spain, Ireland, Poland and Hungary, which either have had some web conferencing presence or are just emerging as markets.

The expansion of more companies into more countries, though, is also expected to create more competition and lead to pricing battles as local web conferencing providers bring down prices in response to larger, global companies entering their territory.

Other challenges to the market identified by Frost & Sullivan include the general low awareness of services, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, poor infrastructure in some areas, and low adoption by small and medium businesses.

Frost & Sullivan details its analysis in its European Hosted Web Conferencing Services Market report.

This article first appeared on GreenerComputing