Enterprise Platform Gravity. Enterprise tech giants Microsoft and Google continue to dominate mindshare with their Teams and Voice offerings—tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace and backed by their expansive ecosystems. Teams defines the UCaaS standard. Microsoft continues to benefit from its platform bundling strategy, as one CIO/CISO for a large IT business services enterprise put it: “You just get so many things with an E5 license, it’s like, how can I not pass this up?” Earlier described as “adequate” or “good enough,” Teams’ perception–and functionality–has improved over time as Microsoft steadily adds features and reinforces the value of its bundle.

Though Google is less dominant than Microsoft or AWS in the broader enterprise technology world, it is well-regarded in productivity and collaboration, especially among SMBs and in education or government. Within those ecosystems, Voice is a natural extension of Workspace.

Cisco retains trust in regulated environments, especially among existing networking and information security customers, but newer features have yet to shift perceptions. Zoom, meanwhile, continues to be appreciated for its simplicity, though sometimes struggles to shake the reputation of being only a video-first solution. Zoom’s expanding feature sets mark a foray into broader productivity, collaboration, and workflow automation.

Function Over Flashiness. UCaaS innovation is now measured more by ecosystem depth than isolated features; users are not looking for bells and whistles – they are looking for fewer tabs, fewer apps, and smarter workflows. Teams leads on perceived innovation (43%), well ahead of Zoom (21%), with Cisco (7%), Google (6%), and RingCentral (4%) further behind. Vendor rebuild scenarios align: 53% would choose Teams again if starting fresh.

Teams’ integration and maturity are often praised, though limitations persist. One CTO noted how “Teams just wasn’t even close” for needed contact center functions, which drove the organization to purchase RingCentral as a point solution, while keeping Teams internally. Other users noted post-pandemic consolidation: “You sort of threw licenses out [back then].” In the ensuing time, peppered with macroeconomic unpredictability, this leniency in spending has eased. Now, growth is incremental, with fewer feature requests and a push toward optimization over reinvention.

Explaining the rationale for a Teams consolidation, one IT services CIO opined: “Is it as good as Zoom? No, but is it adequate? Yeah, it’s good enough.” Another mentioned how finance questions “paying twice” with Teams in the environment: “I can see a possible shift from Zoom to Microsoft Teams.” Though, he considered that “Zoom has very good integration with Slack, so it's almost the same thing,” which highlights the commodification and broad interchangeability of UCaaS functions.

Still, there are benefits to going “all in on Teams,” as one CTO described: “We're all over the planet, so if the old PBX had a problem, there were certain subject matter experts you had to get, and they had to be in their time zone to be able to help. Nowadays, we have distributed skillsets around Teams as well. So, we're better able to manage any issues that do [surface]. Frankly, there have not been too many; [Teams] has certainly been quite stable.”

The smooth veneers of easy-to-use SaaS platforms oversimplify the technology infrastructure and integrations at play. Even with this push towards consolidation, many organizations still operate multi-vendor environments due to regional limitations, backup needs, physical infrastructure requirements, and coverage gaps. Regulated sectors like healthcare, finance, and government lean toward Microsoft or Cisco for compliance and security. Cost-sensitive buyers, especially in the mid-market, may still turn to RingCentral or 8x8 – but increasingly, Microsoft or Google platform bundles offer stronger cost efficacy.

Per-user licensing remains dominant – used by 83% and preferred by 68% – with predictable budgeting cited as the main draw. Alternative models like site-based or per-device licenses retain niche appeal (21% preference), Usage-based pricing, once championed by Amazon Chime (now retired), was experienced by 19% but preferred by only 5%.

ROI expectations vary: 79% of Microsoft users report seeing returns within the first three years (49% within 12 months). Zoom follows closely (69% within three years, 43% within one). Cisco, Google, and RingCentral also see a majority citing ROI within three years. Meanwhile, vendors like 8x8, GoTo, and Avaya reflect slower or more uncertain returns.