<p>Cloud-basedunified communications adoption may have started off slow, but momentum is building asenterprises are more readily signing up with providers like Google for email, and Salesforce.comfor customer relationship management and collaboration.</p><p>Just as enterprises need their on-premises phone, videoconferencing and collaboration tools tobe integrated for single sign-on functionality and ease of use, they now expect the same fromcloud-based applications. As UnifiedCommunication as a Service (UCaaS) adoption grows, so will the need for UC cloudfederation.</p><p>"There is desire right now to join cloud-based, mixed-vendor UC [unified communications] andcollaboration applications in the cloud, and I think that will be much more important and demandwill increase in the next few years," said Irwin Lazar, vice president and service director atMokena, Ill.-based Nemertes Research Group Inc.Third parties facilitate UC cloud federation</p><p>Even though enterprises want federated UC and collaboration tools, vendors are hesitant to openup their technology to integrate with competitors. Third-party federation specialists are emergingto make UCcloud federation happen. Vendors believe federation can expose their propriety technology andinstall base to competitors, said Elka Popova, program director of UC and collaboration at SanAntonio-based Frost &amp; Sullivan Inc.</p><p><a href="http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/news/2240177814/Integration-between-cloud-based-UC-apps-require-cloud-federation">Keep reading...</a></p>