3. Breakout Year For Cloud UC

Cloud unified communications will account for 25 percent of line shipments in 2017, according to telecom research firm MZA, with cloud overtaking on-premises shipments within the next few years.

"The premise PBX or key system is becoming a relic of the past for businesses -- costly to maintain, and difficult to upgrade and scale as needs change," said BroadSoft CTO Scott Hoffpauir, in an email. "This year will be a breakout year for cloud-based UC and UC as-a-Service as more channel partners chase richer recurring revenue opportunities."

Zane Long, channel chief at UCaaS vendor RingCentral, said demand for UCaaS is creating a "bubble-up" effect in the channel. "Organizations are initiating conversations with their trusted channel partners about moving not just core data-driven applications, but also their business communications systems to the cloud," said Long in an email to CRN. "In 2017, we'll begin to see an increase in this demand, which will ultimately drive new channel business models."