For 8×8, no 13th consecutive year among the UCaaS “leaders” — at least in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant.
We could sense the wind turning last year. Gartner highlighted the American company’s growing inability to differentiate its products in a crowded competitive landscape. This year, it notes a further drop in visibility, partly because its offering is guided more by telephony than by collaboration.
Consequently: 8×8 has been downgraded to the “Visionaries” quadrant. The four other “Leaders” of 2024 remain in place (they have been since 2020). In alphabetical order: Cisco, Microsoft, RingCentral and Zoom.
11 providers, 4 “leaders”
From one year to the next, Gartner evaluated the same scope: internal collaboration, remote work, and external presentations. Webinars, as well as remote support and training, were not mandatory (Gartner places them in another segment: “Meeting Solutions”).
Vendor assessments were based on two axes. The first is forward-looking (“vision”), covering strategies (sector, geographic, commercial, marketing, product…). The other focuses on the ability to actually meet demand (“execution”: customer experience, pre-sales performance, quality of products/services…).
On the “execution” axis, the situation is as follows:
| Rank | Provider | Year-over-year Change |
| 1 | Microsoft | = |
| 2 | Cisco | = |
| 3 | Zoom | + 1 |
| 4 | RingCentral | – 1 |
| 5 | 8×8 | = |
| 6 | = | |
| 7 | GoTo | = |
| 8 | Vonage | = |
| 9 | Dialpad | = |
| 10 | Wildix | + 1 |
| 11 | Sangoma | – 1 |
On the “vision” axis:
| Rank | Provider | Annual Change |
| 1 | Microsoft | = |
| 2 | Cisco | = |
| 3 | Zoom | = |
| 4 | RingCentral | = |
| 5 | 8×8 | = |
| 6 | Dialpad | = |
| 7 | GoTo | + 1 |
| 8 | Vonage | – 1 |
| 9 | = | |
| 10 | Wildix | = |
| 11 | Sangoma | = |
On this commoditized market, the trend is toward building out the contact center backbone, especially for internal needs.
Another differentiator lever is AI. Including agentic AI, foremost for administration and maintenance. However, the offering appears ahead of demand: the AI criterion is not yet a fundamental buying criterion, except for specific scenarios involving customer-facing roles.
From deployment to operation, Cisco Webex demands effort
Last year, Cisco earned points for its cross-cutting AI investments. Gartner also highlighted the depth of its catalog (including networking, security, and endpoints) as well as the latest generation of its devices.
This year again, AI investments are praised. The catalog is similarly regarded, as Cisco remains one of the few Quadrant entrants to combine UCaaS, CCaaS (contact center) and CPaaS (communications in business apps), in addition to hardware. Gartner also appreciates its sector-specific strategy, implemented with certifications and standards.
In 2024, Gartner had noted inconsistent support, largely indirect. It had also flagged the complexity of Webex in the eyes of the mid-market (100 to 999 employees) and the tendency of many buyers to source only the telephony portion from Cisco.
This latter remark still holds. The same for Webex’s complexity: initial setup and ongoing management require more time and effort than rivals. As for pricing, it can be harder to understand and negotiate for the mid-market.
Microsoft can improve on graphical administration
Last year, Microsoft earned praise for its SLAs, flexibility of PSTN options, and AI innovations under the banner of Copilot in Teams.
This year Gartner again commends a robust AI base, though currently focused on the meetings component. Microsoft also differentiates itself by geographic coverage of telephony needs, thanks to its broad support resources and telco partnerships. It benefits from a relatively low TCO, ease of use, and tight integration with major UCaaS solutions.
In 2024, Gartner had noted a proliferation of RTC connectivity options, making the choice difficult. It had also flagged gaps in advanced telephony (SMS, CRM integration, advanced call recording) and an inability to fully meet most call-center needs.
This time, the firm stresses the need to improve administration and device management capabilities via the GUI. It laments that the Dynamics 365 Contact Center component launched last year is not delivered natively with Teams. It also notes that collaboration features tend to compete with telephony.
RingCentral, price hikes at renewal
Last year RingCentral was lauded for its native RingCX contact center, complemented by NiCE for more advanced needs. Another plus: the level of AI integration (translation, post-meeting action suggestions, detection of sensitive content, creation of thematic video clips…) and third-party apps.
The AI continues to resonate with Gartner this year, notably with the “virtual receptionist” feature. The same goes for the depth of third-party app integration. Add to that the richness and intuitiveness of the telephony features (call transfers to mobile, in particular).
Telephony remains the entry point for most contracts, even as Gartner warned last year that this component was driving fewer purchase decisions. It also noted uneven sales and support experiences. While partnerships with legacy vendors had not yielded the expected results.
This year again, keep an eye on support, both response times and problem resolution. Also watch for price increases at renewal. RingCentral remains voice-centric, and the native analytics capabilities of RingCX still need to mature to scale.
Tendency toward bundling at Zoom
Last year, Zoom stood out for its service history and support, the fit of its native contact center for small-to-mid-sized businesses, and its meeting capabilities (notably the intuitive UI).
This year, one of the bright spots is the straightforward deployment and maintenance of the embedded contact center. Gartner also praises the quality of services and support, and the completeness of the Trust Center, paired with notable investments in security, privacy, and compliance.
In 2024 Gartner noted a slowdown in client base growth. It also observed that buyers were leaning toward competitors for the collaboration or contact center portion. At the same time, the report lamented fewer discounts and incentives than in the past.
In recent years, Zoom’s licensing has evolved faster than the market average, Gartner notes this year. Ultimately, renewals might present bundles that include features that aren’t strictly necessary. We will also remain vigilant about potential shortcomings in the newly added calendar, mail, and word-processing components. And watch the user experience, which can prove complex as Zoom is used beyond core meeting functions.
