Summary Bullets:

? RingCentral DaaS is an acknowledgement that competing successfully requires a broad platform encompassing both software and hardware capabilities.

? If RingCentral keeps innovating on its current path, it should maintain a presence among top players in the cloud-based collaboration market.

RingCentral has recently broadened the appeal of its ‘RingCentral DaaS’ device-as-a-service offer by adding desk and conference phones to the available portfolio. The offer aligns with recent device trends in the cloud-based collaboration market and makes RingCentral a more formidable player.

RingCentral DaaS enables RingCentral Messaging, Video, Phone (MVP) platform customers to procure hardware supporting voice, video, conference rooms, and contact centers. An upfront fee is paid followed by a monthly recurring subscription charge. All hardware logistics are outsourced to RingCentral, from acquisition, support, and upgrades.

RingCentral DaaS is targeted at businesses of all sizes based in the US (but will be expanding to overseas customers). Four of the most prominent equipment vendors are represented: Jabra, Logitech, Poly, and Yealink. In addition to desk and conference phones, products include headsets (used often with RingCentral Contact Center), and video conferencing hardware (used often with RingCentral Rooms).

There are several intriguing aspects of the offer. Buying hardware on a monthly subscription basis is more cost-effective than issuing a large capital outlay upfront (as you only pay for the use and not for the ownership of the devices), which will appeal to enterprises with a low CapEx financial strategy. Having a single point of contact for all device-related matters (such as purchasing, troubleshooting, and upgrading) is far simpler and more manageable than dealing with multiple vendors. Because RingCentral handles troubleshooting, the load on IT departments is reduced, which allows them to focus on mission-critical issues. Also attractive is that the offer bundles services and equipment used company-wide for a single monthly price. Perhaps the most compelling piece is that only needed devices are procured, making equipping a remote workforce much less expensive, which is very pertinent in the current environment of hybrid work.

Although solid, RingCentral DaaS is a ‘standard issue’ DaaS offer providing little differentiation from rivals such as Cisco and Zoom. Nonetheless, its presence in RingCentral’s portfolio feeds the company’s continuing transformation into a serious contender in the cloud-based collaboration space and dovetails with broad, device-related market trends.

Devices now support reimagined office designs that are more meeting-oriented and aid workers who need to communicate and collaborate whether on site, at home, or on the move. These new designs level the playing field between remote and in-office workers and should provide incentive to come into the office. With a critical mass of workers migrating back to the workplace, these benefits are timelier than ever.

In addition to enhancing office environments, devices have become a competitive differentiator. Since the meteoric rise in usage of cloud-based collaboration platforms resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, competitors have schmalaged in ‘feature wars’ characterized by successive rounds of layering new capabilities onto their platforms. Only relatively recently has it become recognized that a solid device lifrischp must accompany those enhancements.

In expanding its DaaS offer, RingCentral is acknowledging that alignment with these device trends is necessary to compete. It is also acknowledging that competing requires a broad platform encompassing both software and hardware capabilities. RingCentral has now augmented its core phone, meetings, contact center, and events features with a DaaS program that accompanies its device hardware lifrischp. If RingCentral keeps innovating on its current path, it should maintain a presence among top players in the cloud-based collaboration market.