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50 Years of Growth, Innovation and Leadership

A Frost & Sullivan Buyer’s Guide

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An Executive Brief Prepared for IntelePeer

Communications Platforms as a Service Buyer’s Guide Understanding the Diverse CPaaS Market is Key to Choosing the Right Partner

Frost & Sullivan

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 3

Market Definitions ............................................................................................ 3

Competitive Environment ................................................................................. 4

Transactional CPaaS ............................................................................................. 4

Enterprise-grade CPaaS ......................................................................................... 5

CPaaS as Part of Broader Telco Services Portfolios ................................................ 5

Service Provider Enablement Partners .................................................................... 6

Hybrid CPaaS Offerings ....................................................................................... 6

Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................... 7

Provider Spotlight ............................................................................................. 8

IntelePeer ............................................................................................................. 8

Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 10

Legal Disclaimer ............................................................................................... 11

About Frost & Sullivan ..................................................................................... 12

Communications Platforms as a Service Buyer’s Guide

3 All rights reserved © 2018 Frost & Sullivan

INTRODUCTIONCommunications Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) is arguably one of the more disruptive innovations to affect the business

communications market. These solutions represent a significant departure from the way businesses of any size have

become accustomed to purchasing and deploying communications and provide a powerful toolset to make business

applications richer and more tightly integrated into business workflows. Similar to other cloud-based services, most CPaaS

solutions offer businesses a compelling operating expense (OpEx) alternative to costly capital expenditures (CapEx) in the

appropriate communications and network infrastructure needed to securely support API-driven voice, video, and messaging

services. Also important, cloud-based CPaaS offerings are priced at published per-API call or per-minute rates, enabling

businesses to pay for the exact amount of services they consume. This is a particularly compelling value proposition for

organizations with varying levels of demand or seasonal spikes in business. The inherent scalability of cloud architectures also

benefits CPaaS, enabling businesses to consume as much or as little of a provider’s API-directed services as needed by their

application or work process.

Beyond flexible consumption pricing, CPaaS allows businesses to utilize communications in a new way. While business

PBX and unified communications focus on the value of a tightly integrated set of collaboration tools, CPaaS breaks down

voice, video and messaging services to simple but useful elements. With CPaaS, an organization only needs to consume the

specific communications element(s) it needs. For example, an organization decides that it wants to allow its customers to

communicate with its employees using SMS on business numbers. While its existing on-premises UC platform does not

support SMS messaging, the business can leverage a CPaaS provider to enable text messaging as an integration or overlay of

its existing communications tools. In this example, the business maintains the existing relationship with voice providers and

its preferred UC vendor, while leveraging a CPaaS to address a gap in customer interactions. Put another way, CPaaS, with its

API-driven architecture, affords businesses the opportunity to leverage voice, video, and messaging elements in a consumable

way. Going forward, CPaaS is not likely to entirely replace a business’s existing UC infrastructure or services, but rather

build on that foundation and make communications more effective and better integrated into critical workflows.

This buyer’s guide defines the CPaaS market as it stands today and provides an overview of the diverse competitive

environment of market participants. In addition, this study provides a look at select providers and the value proposition they

bring to the CPaaS market.

MARKET DEFINITIONSCommunications Platforms as a Service (CPaaS)

Frost & Sullivan defines CPaaS as any cloud-based platform that enables developers to programmatically embed voice, video,

chat and messaging services within their business or consumer applications. In nearly all cases, the embedded communications

and collaboration services leveraged through a CPaaS are a feature of the larger application and are rarely the primary focus of

the application. For example, consumer-focused ride-sharing applications require a means for driver and passenger to connect

with one another via short messaging service (SMS) or a voice call. CPaaS can be leveraged to deliver the communications

features of the application, enabling the developers to focus on the mission-critical aspects.


4All rights reserved © 2018 Frost & Sullivan

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTWith this focus on enabling and/or embedding communications into business workflows, rather than delivering a full suite of

user-facing communications and collaboration tools, the CPaaS market is fairly unique in the broader enterprise communications

space. As a result, it is also unique in terms of the diversity of market participants and solution offerings. Unlike other segments

of the UC market, participation is not limited to a single type of provider or vendor. Small startups, traditional incumbent

and competitive telecommunications carriers, and even many UC vendors are developing CPaaS solutions and evolving their

value propositions around the new API economy. Frost & Sullivan has identified five distinct segments that characterize CPaaS

providers and their most common go-to-market approaches. This buyer’s guide includes competitive profiles of vendors in

each of the five categories.

Transactional CPaaS

Arguably the most visible in the market today, transactional CPaaS providers are leading the charge in embedding on-demand

voice, video and SMS services into mobile and business applications. As the name suggests, transactional CPaaS providers

have adopted a pure consumption business model by offering flat-rate published pricing for each API call to their service. A

consumption model enables an independent developer or development teams within an organization to quickly get started

with communications integration. Transactional CPaaS providers are particularly developer-focused, building developer

communities and online forums, as well as posting frequently asked questions (FAQ) and API documentation in support of

their CPaaS services. While some limited integrations to traditional UC platforms exist, most transactional CPaaS offerings

are delivered as standalone solutions.

Consumer-focused ride-sharing applications

require a means for driver and passenger

to connect with one another via short

messaging service (SMS) or a voice call.

CPaaS can be leveraged to deliver the

communications features of the application,

enabling the developers to focus on the

mission-critical aspects.



Enterprise-grade CPaaS

Enterprise-grade CPaaS providers distinguish from their transactional competitors by focusing efforts on larger businesses and

systems integrators. Unlike independent developers and small businesses, enterprises often have more stringent requirements

and an expectation of large-scale deployments. For enterprises, service-level agreements (SLAs) that ensure the quality of

API-driven connections, pricing models reflective of large-scale engagements, and a higher level of customer support and

professional services represent important criteria in CPaaS provider selection. CPaaS providers that focus on this customer

profile have built out their own networks to ensure quality of service (QoS) can be maintained. This class of providers also

develops pricing models that are reflective of anticipated scale and staff larger professional services and care teams to offer

high-touch services as part of customer engagements.

CPaaS as Part of Broader Telco Services Portfolios

API-driven communications have not escaped the notice of more traditional telecommunications, video conferencing

and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) providers. With extensive investment in IP-based communications

infrastructure, incumbent and competitive carriers and hosted providers are well positioned to extend to businesses

the value of their existing services and the convenience of a single invoice for all customer communications services.

Established providers can offer an alternative business model and pricing structure to that of transaction-based CPaaS

providers. For example, voice-based service providers can charge customers for the additional voice and messaging usage,

rather than a per-call API fee. In this way, service providers can position CPaaS as a value-added service to existing and

new customers, rather than a separate solution. The ongoing challenge for established providers, however, will be to

continue to compete effectively against agile and disruptive startups that are not burdened by legacy telecommunications

assets. The upside for more diversified providers is that they can bundle and integrate CPaaS with other key offerings,

such as Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.



Unlike the pure cloud-based CPaaS

offerings, a hybrid CPaaS provides

access to a business’ existing resources,

such as telephony and video endpoints,

telecommunications services, and

phone numbers. It also protects the

investments a business has already made in

communications infrastructure.

Service Provider Enablement Partners

Communications services providers acknowledge a compelling opportunity to enter the CPaaS market, but the time to develop

in-house capabilities to create and manage API-driven solutions could present a major obstacle to success. While market-leading

and Tier-1 providers possess the resources to undertake a CPaaS project, there are many smaller and regional providers that

lack the required skill set and staffing. For providers facing these challenges, a number of vendors are developing cloud-based

CPaaS solutions that can serve as part of the service provider’s communications infrastructure. These enablement solutions allow

providers to more rapidly launch CPaaS offerings to their customers while sharing the risk with the CPaaS partner. Much like

transactional CPaaS providers, enabling technology vendors often structure pricing based on the volume of API calls, allowing the

communication service providers to ease into the CPaaS market at a lower upfront cost. These vendors not only eliminate most

infrastructure investment, but also foster and support the development community around their products. In essence, enabling

technology vendors bring an ecosystem of developers, consultants, and system integrators to the telecom service providers.

Hybrid CPaaS Offerings

Application integration between on-premises UC platforms, third-party and in-house business applications has been an ongoing

challenge for many businesses. This challenge has been complicated by the transition of business apps such as customer

relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERP) tools to the cloud. If not done correctly, PBX

or UC integration with these online platforms can expose on-premises business communications systems to security threats

and exploits. These and other factors have had a chilling effect on customers and, in the process, have limited many of the

productivity benefits and the workflow optimization that integrated solutions can provide.

To address the accelerating migration from on-premises UC platforms to cloud-based services, many competitors in this

market are developing hybrid solutions that can leverage a mix of cloud and on-premises UC applications and hardware. By

creating a secure link between on-premises platforms and cloud-based services, UC vendors are opening up their traditional

platforms to a full range of cloud services, including CPaaS. Unlike the pure cloud-based CPaaS offerings, a hybrid CPaaS

provides access to a business’s existing resources, such as telephony and video endpoints, telecommunications services, and

phone numbers. It also protects the investments a business has already made in communications infrastructure.



Evaluation Criteria

The specific capabilities that a particular provider can deliver are just one of the factors to consider when evaluating CPaaS

solutions. Additionally, the long-term financial viability of a CPaaS provider should be an important consideration. In line with

broader telecommunications market trends, the CPaaS market will likely experience a significant number of mergers and

acquisitions going forward. Consolidation will be driven by competitors seeking greater scale, market share and growth, as well

as traditional telecommunications service providers acquiring CPaaS players to gain quick access to the market.

Also important, an organization should get a clear understanding of the costs and charges of each CPaaS provider. For example,

some CPaaS providers charge a per-minute rate, while others bill in per-second increments, which could have a significant

impact on monthly costs, depending on the specific application or integration. Similarly, CPaaS providers charge varying

recurring fees for phone numbers, toll-free numbers or specialty services, such as direct connects to MPLS networks.

Finally, organizations should be clear that a prospective provider aligns closely with both their geographical reach and the

broader ecosystem. While a number of CPaaS providers offer international numbers or a global network, many are regionally

focused and only allowed to operate as a provider in their home country. Multi-national corporations or businesses that operate

virtually abroad will have to consider CPaaS providers that match their own theaters of operations. Similarly, businesses should

factor in the established partners and application integrations of a CPaaS provider, particularly in the growing integration

platform as a service (IPaaS) market. Existing partners and integrations can significantly speed up deployment times and ensure

compatibility between CPaaS solutions and business applications.



PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT IntelePeer

Core Offerings Price Options Key Features/Capabilities Key Performance Metrics

Voice Services

Bundle and pay-per-use pricing

• Unlimited per user• Unlimited per port• PRI-style pricing• Usage

• Available via over the top (OTT), EPL, MPLS, and SD-WAN

• Unlimited US and Canadian calling (based on bundle)

• Global footprint• Emergency calling• Portal or API-based

provisioning and configuration

• 40% average cost-savings over traditional telecom carriers

• 99.999% platform uptime • Customer story: Fortune

1000 utilities company resolved reliability or capacity issues after switching to Atmosphere® Voice

Short Messaging Services (SMS)

Bundle and pay-per-use pricing:

• Unlimited per-user• Usage

• API-driven inbound and outbound SMS over business lines for toll-free and direct inward dialing (DID) numbers

• Global reach and footprint• Pre-packaged SMS integrations

available for leading UC&C and Workstream Collaboration applications

• 99.999% platform uptime • Customer story: Technology

service provider using Atmosphere® Messaging for Webex Teams has seen significant improvements in internal collaboration and increased engagement between customers and sales/customer experience teams

Applications Simple application license and/or usage

• Off-the-shelf voice and messaging applications for common line-of-business communication needs

• Campaign and notification applications

Customer story: Fortune 500 consumer services company leveraging end-to-end application with automation and analytics for 400,000 customer notifications per month

Automation Simple application licensing and usage

Build and deploy applications, bots, and scripts within the Atmosphere® Platform using packaged marketplace applications and easy-to-use tools

Customer story: Services firm implemented automation for its collections process and has seen 3% improvement in recovery on monthly collections

APIsAvailable with all Atmosphere® product offerings

APIs to leverage:• Voice• SMS• Provisioning• Integrations• Billing • Reporting and Analytics

• Industry-leading platform availability of 99.999% uptime

• Full lifecycle service management available via including number porting and billing

AnalyticsAvailable with all Atmosphere® product offerings

• Actionable insights into customer interactions across channels

• Real-time and batch data integrations available for third-party analytics platforms and business applications

• Customer story: One of the world’s largest franchise restaurants leverages analytics to standardize the customer communications experience, boost sales, and improve customer satisfaction globally



Company Background

IntelePeer has delivered IP-based business communications services since 2003 and was an early pioneer in the enterprise

migration to SIP. IntelePeer offers multi-channel cloud business communications, including voice and messaging applications and

voice enablement services to enterprises, technology partners, and platform providers across its carrier-grade network. The

provider has steadily moved into the CPaaS market by delivering APIs, automation tools, scripting capabilities, and analytics for

each of its core offerings.

IntelePeer has also built brand recognition through partnerships it has forged, including being the first fully integrated media

partner for Cisco Webex Teams (formally Cisco Spark). IntelePeer additionally provides voice and SMS for other global UCaaS

platforms and services some of the largest organizations in the world through these strategic relationships.

Through its extensible platform, IntelePeer has made the transition from telecommunications vendor into a complete CPaaS

platform provider, serving mid-to-large enterprises both directly and through strategic technology partners with a highly

scalable voice and messaging portfolio and highly redundant network. As a result, IntelePeer has become a trusted provider

to medium and large enterprises, cloud application vendors and channel partners such as value-added resellers (VARs) and

system integrators (SIs).

Sales Model

IntelePeer’s sales approach is completely driven by channel and strategic partners. Telecommunications resellers can leverage

IntelePeer’s Atmosphere® Communications Platform to quickly deliver ready-to-use communications applications as well

as PSTN voice and SIP trunking for their customers through on-premises, cloud, and hybrid UC deployments. VARs and SIs

leverage the CPaaS capabilities of the Atmosphere® Communications Platform to incorporate voice and messaging services

within their solutions. Finally, IntelePeer engages directly with strategic partners, including Cisco and other UC and contact

center vendors, to tightly integrate IntelePeer services as a key component of the partner’s end-user applications and services.

This sales approach is particularly differentiated in the emerging CPaaS market. While many market competitors engage

and sell primarily to developers, IntelePeer is focused on the enterprise and partnering with executive and senior-level

decision makers to solve business challenges with its communications platform. Ultimately, IntelePeer’s approach leverages its

history as an enterprise-focused provider of telecommunications services and builds on strengths as an innovative and agile

communications platform vendor.

Portfolio Description and Analysis

IntelePeer’s complete portfolio of cloud communications, messaging, applications, automation, and analytics is powered by the

provider’s internally developed Atmosphere® Communications Platform and the strength of its well-developed network. By

deploying in a number of key data center locations, the provider delivers high availability and performance through geographic

diversity. This diversity also affords IntelePeer the close proximity to partners’ Ethernet connections and MPLS links, allowing

it to deliver voice services in whatever manner the customer chooses. IntelePeer’s network has global reach, including global

origination and termination of voice and messaging.

IntelePeer’s Atmosphere® Communications Platform allows users to consume product offerings in multiple ways with the

flexibility to mix and match services. Customers using Unified Communications & Collaboration applications can add IntelePeer

voice and messaging as an all-inclusive bundle, further extending the capabilities of popular team collaboration tools. The

IntelePeer platform supports consumption of services through APIs, putting it in competition with pure-play CPaaS providers.



Customers may choose between unlimited plans or pay-per-use APIs to build and host their own applications, and provision

and manage voice and messaging services alongside other established services. IntelePeer is one of few providers in the

communications market today offering pre-built integrations, ready-to-use applications and APIs to partners and customers.

IntelePeer also offers pre-packaged applications and tools for channel partners and customers to build and deploy

communications-enabled applications and automated processes in or on the Atmosphere® Communications Platform.

Customers also can access analytics across the Atmosphere® platform and IntelePeer network, such as call and messaging

reporting, sales and location performance, call flow tracking, and more. IntelePeer is rapidly delivering additional analytics and

automation capabilities to customers and partners, building on top of the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including

sentiment analysis, tonality, machine learning, and predictive analytics.

Strengths Concerns

IntelePeer has a history as a trusted provider of voice services, which will translate into a trusted CPaaS partner for its channel.

IntelePeer’s channel sales approach hinders brand recognition among many end customers.

IntelePeer’s ability to interconnect with customers’ networks to deliver its voice and messaging services is a key differentiator to purely over-the-top CPaaS providers.

While IntelePeer has built a large partner ecosystem, its developer ecosystem is new and will need to grow rapidly in 2018.

With its Atmosphere® Communications Platform, IntelePeer controls its own innovation and product roadmaps, enabling quick innovation to respond to a rapidly evolving CPaaS market.

CONCLUSIONCommunications platforms-as-a-service offerings can extend an organization’s capabilities to interact with customers,

suppliers, partners and employees in new and exciting ways, many of which were not possible using their existing

communications infrastructure. Many forward-thinking businesses are forgoing new infrastructure investments and

leveraging CPaaS to enable in-app communications, streamline and automate internal business processes, and move forward

on their digital transformation journeys. However, care must be taken to understand the benefits of CPaaS, how it can fit

into the organization, and ultimately selecting providers that can deliver CPaaS as a strategic asset for better internal and

external communications for your organization.



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ABOUT INTELEPEER IntelePeer delivers ready to use, cloud-based, multi-channel business communications you can build on with voice and

messaging applications via multiple connection options, backed by an award-winning support team and disaster avoidance

solutions. Partners and companies of any size can leverage our innovative solutions to create more effective customer

interactions and improve business processes. We believe business communications are meant for more than just simple

interactions. It’s time to move beyond basic communications! Visit www.intelepeer.com to learn more.

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