CPaaS Revenue to Exceed $10 billion Globally in 2022, as Vendors Seek Further Platform Differentiation

A new study from Juniper Research has found the global value of the CPaaS market will exceed $10 billion for the first time next year; rising from $8.6 billion in 2021. This represents growth of 17% year-on-year. To capitalise on this remarkable growth, the research predicts CPaaS vendors will seek to further differentiate their services by integrating novel solutions directly into their service platforms. [CPaaS platforms offer a centralised management service for outbound communications, including SMS, OTT business messaging, RCS and voice services].

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Customer Data Platforms – Key to Differentiation

The new study, CPaaS: Future Market Outlook & Emerging Opportunities 2021-2026, urges platform vendors to expand their range of value-added services to achieve this differentiation. The research identified the development of CDPs (customer data platforms) as a key service that will increase the significance of a CPaaS platform by providing actionable insights into end user preferences, such as contact time, contact channel and upselling opportunities. In turn, brands and enterprises using CPaaS platforms will enhance the value of mobile communications by automatically contacting users over preferred channels at preferred times.

Research author Sam Barker commented: “CDPs are an important step in creating differentiation in an increasingly saturated CPaaS market. As traffic over rich media channels increases, CDPs will enable brands and enterprises to tailor communications at a user level; creating a compelling and convenient experience for mobile subscribers.”

Rich Media Messaging to Benefit from CDPs

The report predicts contribution of rich media messaging formats will become increasingly significant in generating CPaaS vendor revenue. By 2026, over 20% of CPaaS revenue will be attributable to RCS and OTT business messaging channels; rising from less than 2% in 2021. As SMS business messaging traffic growth slows, the research advised platforms to onboard SMEs willing to explore rich media messaging. In turn, CPaaS platforms must then highlight the benefits that CDPs will bring to the rich media functionalities of OTT messaging channels to attract new customers.