70 Essential Online Collaboration Software Statistics: 2024 Market Share Analysis & Data

Globally, 80% of businesses have been rethinking and retooling company processes in view of the COVID-19 pandemic (Avaya, 2020). The latest online collaboration software statistics show how technology has propelled the way teams work together either as purely work from home or in hybrid mode.

The rate of adoption of online collaboration software gives a glimpse of the future of work—where hybrid work will be permanent. This means that online collaboration tools will be at the core of organizational strategies.

The following online collaboration software statistics for 2022 describe how collaboration software is growing and at the same time conquering new markets. The data also show how organizations are adopting new tools, and also offers other crucial information that will help your organization formulate a competitive strategy.

Online Collaboration Software Market Statistics
Online Collaboration Software Adoption Statistics
State of Collaboration in the Workplace Statistics

Most Common Features of Online Collaboration Tools
Benefits of Online Collaboration Statistics
Statistics on Online Collaboration Challenges

Online Collaboration Software Market Statistics

An operating model for the future that works for both employers and employees is at the core of the proliferation of online collaboration software. Since shelter-in-place policies were implemented due to the pandemic, organizations quickly learned to work remotely as enabled by technology.

After almost two years, companies are done with retooling and are now optimizing processes. As communication and collaboration continue to take place virtually, online collaboration software continues to offer enhanced features that address specific communication nuances.

Consequently, this brought massive stock market gains to the online collaboration software sector, which may eventually have an impact on the cost of collaboration tools. The following statistics highlight how this sector benefited from the rapid adoption that underscored the importance of collaboration tools in pandemic settings.

The revenue of collaboration applications worldwide grew to $22.6 billion in 2020, an increase of 32.9% over 2019 (IDC, 2021)
Microsoft had the biggest market share in global unified communication and collaboration at 35% from Q2 to Q4 of 2020 (IDC, 2021).
As of 2021, Slack’s paid version has over 3 million subscribers (Slack, 2021).
In 2020, Microsoft’s Productivity and Business segment accounted for 34% of its total revenue (Microsoft, 2021).
Zoom’s revenue increased by 370% from Q4 of 2020 to Q4 of 2021, with total sales soaring 326% to $2.6 billion (BBC, 2021).
As of Q3 of 2021, Zoom reported 2,507 customers contributing more than 100,000 each in revenue for the past 12 months (ZDNet, 2021).
As of May 2021, Microsoft led the office productivity software market with a share of 47.5% for MS Office 365. This is followed by Google with a share of 44.5% (Microsoft, 2021).
The business productivity market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 12.6% from 2021 to 2026 (Research and Markets, 2021).
T-Mobile’s conversational AI chatbot posted a 750% ROI in 2020 due to businesses offering enhanced collaboration with clients (ZDNet, 2021).
The team collaboration tools market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 18% from 2021 to 2026 (BusinessWire, 2021).
In April 2021, Slack reported total revenue of $273.4 million—a 36% increase year over year with over 169,000 paying customers (Slack, 2021).

Sources: Microsoft, Google, Cisco

Online Collaboration Software Adoption Statistics

Gone are the days when technology roll-outs in organizations take time. As companies pivoted in early 2020, the adoption of online collaboration software became quick because business survival largely depended on it.

The shift to remote work underscored the importance of investing in communication and collaboration tools that will make companies adapt to any type of work environment. The IT investments of businesses worldwide show that collaboration tools remain a priority.

Here, we present data points that show how organizations intend to make work processes resilient and adaptable. The objective is to adopt technologies that will sustain workplace collaboration and spark innovation between teams.

Among workers worldwide in 2021, 79% use digital collaboration tools (High Fidelity, 2021).
99% of remote workers use an average of 4.8 different conferencing applications (IDC, 2020).
The use of online collaboration platforms increased by 322% from May 2019 to May 2020 (Comscore, 2020).
72% of companies rolled out at least one new collaboration app to support remote employees in 2021 (Unify Square, 2020).
96% of organizations want to improve their work environments with intelligent workplace technology (Cisco, 2021).
90% of users are using Microsoft Teams exclusively on their desktop devices (Comscore, 2020).
48% of CIOs predict that more than half of their IT budget will be spent to bring pandemic technology investments to their full potential (Cisco, 2021).
72% of executives in the US consider new investments in tools for virtual collaboration as a top priority (PwC, 2021).
70% of Zoom mobile usage are coming from mobile-only users (Comscore, 2020).
Sales teams posted the highest adoption rate of digital documentation tools at 62% (Forrester Research, 2020).
Worldwide, spending on digital transformation reached 1.5 trillion in 2021 and is expected to reach 2.8 trillion by 2025 (IDC, 2021).
65% of organizations increased funding of digital technology initiatives in 2020 (McKinsey & Co., 2021).
The use of collaboration tools in the digital workplace increased from 65% in 2019 to 79% in 2021 (McKinsey & Co., 2021).
72% of executives plan investments to support hybrid work, and 70% to invest in IT infrastructure to support virtual connectivity (PwC, 2021).
In the US, audiences spent a total of 6 billion minutes using collaboration tools in May 2020 (Comscore, 2020).
81% of employed adults use video calling or online conferencing services like Zoom or Webex while 57% use instant messaging platforms such as Slack or Google Chat (Pew Research, 2020).
200 million remote workers have used noise removal and speech enhancement from March to September 2021 (Cisco, 2021).
In May 2020, 40% of Microsoft Teams users also used Zoom (Comscore, 2020).

State of Collaboration in the Workplace Statistics

The rapid shift to full-time remote work caused work teams to become less interconnected, and this paved the way for the growth of online collaboration tools like social collaboration platforms. As these tools offered solutions to the challenges presented by remotely distributed teams, company operations stabilized.

Now that we are approaching almost two years since the transition, the effect of remote work on employee well-being is being examined. Since employee experience is crucial to the overall performance of the organization, more employers are making the employee experience a priority in the midst of IT investments.

The following statistics show how online collaboration tools have affected, both positively and negatively, the way remote workers perform their roles.

83% of workers across industries agree that a hybrid work model would be optimal (Accenture, 2021).
63% of high-growth companies have already adopted a “productivity anywhere” workforce model (Accenture, 2021).
41% of remote workers say that the major change in remote working is how they communicate and collaborate (Buffer, 2021).
Nearly 30% of employees said their organizations have put new policies in place to facilitate more frequent one-on-one check-ins (Unify Square, 2020).
45% of remote workers think that they are putting in more work in a remote setup. Meanwhile, 52% find that there are more meetings to attend (Buffer, 2021).
By the end of 2022, 70% of teams will rely on workstream collaboration as the primary means of communicating, coordinating, and sharing information (CIO Magazine, 2021).
Three out of five enterprise employees miss in-person interaction (Unify Square, 2020).
More than 61 million meetings take place globally every month via Webex, of which only 48% of participants are likely to speak (Cisco, 2021).
55% of employees believe that with the collaboration tools they have in place, they are able to be successful in working remotely (Unify Square, 2020).
73% of public sector workers in the US feel that they are a part of a community even when working remotely (Accenture, 2021).
71.7% of C-suite executives agree that connected workplace technologies are very important to future workplace strategy (NTT, 2021).
More than 25% of enterprises that adopted new collaboration and communication apps had not integrated them with their existing systems (Unify Square, 2020).
From February 2020 to February 2021, weekly meeting time increased by 148% for Teams users (Microsoft, 2021).
As of February 2021, weekly team chats in Office 365 increased by 45% per person (Microsoft, 2021).
Pre-pandemic, people used mobile devices 9% of the time to connect to their meetings, that number has tripled in 2020 at 27% (Cisco, 2021).
85% of end-users report using multiple platforms for collaboration (Unify Square, 2020).
The use of mobile devices in accessing meetings increased by 200% from February 2020 to August 2021 (Cisco, 2021).

Source: Owl Labs

Most Common Features of Online Collaboration Tools

Online collaboration software is designed to streamline team communication, task management, and file sharing, especially in remote and hybrid work environments. Here are some of the most common features of these tools:

Real-Time Messaging: Instant messaging systems allow teams to communicate in real-time, improving efficiency and minimizing delays. Channels can be organized by topics or departments for easy access to information.
Video Conferencing: Integrated video calls allow team members to hold meetings without traveling. Features like screen sharing and virtual whiteboards enhance interaction during these calls.
File Sharing and Storage: Collaboration tools often include cloud-based storage for sharing and managing files. This ensures that everyone on the team has access to the latest documents and can edit them collaboratively.
Task Management: Tools for creating, assigning, and tracking tasks help teams stay organized. Features like task lists, progress tracking, and deadline management ensure that work stays on track.
Document Collaboration: Many online tools allow multiple users to edit and comment on documents simultaneously. This enables real-time collaboration on reports, presentations, and other files.
Integrations: Good collaboration software integrates with other tools, like email, calendars, project management software, and CRM systems, allowing teams to work seamlessly without switching platforms.
Time Tracking: Built-in time tracking features help teams monitor their productivity and ensure tasks are timely.

Benefits of Online Collaboration Statistics

The wider adoption of teleworking practices shifted the way we work and brought a number of advantages to both employees and employers. Online collaboration software empowered workers as they continue to cope with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

When teams migrated collaborative activities online, organizations soon discovered that with the right tools, employees are able to work together even in virtual mode. The productivity levels achieved in online collaboration may not be able to rival what we used to achieve as we huddle together in one room, but VR and AR are slowly improving the virtual landscape.

The following statistics reveal that employers are past the coping stage. Instead, the path towards hybrid work has opened new opportunities to redefine work experience and personal growth.

85% of people who feel they can be productive everywhere say that they plan to stay with their company for a long time (Accenture, 2021).
Remote workers scored 82% on self-assessed productivity (Microsoft, 2021).
67% of organizations that have kept employees connected saw improved connections among employees (Cisco, 2021).
52% of employers and 34% of employees agree that productivity improves over a prolonged work-from-home period (PwC, 2021).
65% of teleworkers consider video conferencing and instant messaging platforms as a good substitute for in-person contact (Pew Research, 2020).
Four in 10 workers say their jobs can mostly be done at home (Pew Research, 2020).
73% of employees want flexible remote work to stay because of the flexibility it offers (Microsoft, 2021).
63% of high-growth organizations have enabled “productivity-anywhere” workforce models through the use of online collaboration tools (Accenture, 2021).
70% of tech founders reported that productivity has either remained the same or increased as a result of working remotely (Entrepreneur, 2020).
35% of US workers say they could be fully effective at their jobs and 28% said they could do their jobs with 90% efficiency while working remotely (Microsoft, 2021).

Statistics on Online Collaboration Challenges

Working from home now accounts for over 60% of US economic activity (Stanford, 2020). This shift, however, was not easy for all employees. Online collaboration brought different types of challenges depending on the employee’s prior experience on working offsite, age, role, and family dynamics. In addition, the constant use and presence of technology increased the level of fatigue.

Employee well-being, security issues, and app integration are three important points that organizations have to address. The following data points may be described as challenges, but these statistics also provide key opportunities for collaboration software developers to continually refine features and improve user and team experience.

48% of meeting participants are not engaged in conversations (Cisco, 2021).
Only 40% of IT leaders in FT1000 companies have the right remote work tools, policies, and procedures in place to support a hybrid workplace (Forrester Research, 2020).
58% of enterprises ranked risk assessment as the top security and compliance capability they need to effectively manage communications (Unify Square, 2020).
64% of organizations frequently experience issues integrating technologies and applications from multiple collaboration vendors (Cisco, 2021).
64% of companies are not seeing a boost in revenues from digital investments (Accenture, 2021).
54% of remote workers feel overworked while 39% feel exhausted based on Microsoft 365 productivity signals (Microsoft, 2021).
57% of information workers across a variety of industries said their meeting load increased since they shifted to remote work (Microsoft 2021).
30% of information workers said that brainstorming and generating new ideas was the most challenging type of collaboration to do while working remotely (Microsoft 2021).
57% reported a decrease in their ability to brainstorm with their colleagues (Microsoft 2021).
Nearly 25% of employees agreed on the ever-present challenge of clearly communicating ideas when working remotely (Vibe, 2021).
There was an over 200% growth in the use of AI capabilities from July to September 2021, which shows the need for improved meeting engagement (Cisco, 2021).
98% of the workforce reports frequent frustrations with video meetings at home (Cisco, 2020).

Source: TrustRadius

The Growth of Online Collaboration

We have yet to fully unpack the benefits and associated challenges that go with online collaboration. However, organizations worldwide are certain that hybrid is the future of work. Employees will be given the flexibility to choose where to work and when to work in an increasingly connected environment.

As the pandemic redefined the way teams collaborate, online collaboration apps provided the needed tools to keep them cohesive and synced. Online collaboration software offered features to ensure that every aspect of a project is covered, even when teams are collaborating virtually.

These online collaboration software statistics show that this market will continue to see high growth as developers continue to design new tools that can address the pain points of remote teams.

Key Insights

Rapid Adoption and Growth: The online collaboration software market saw significant growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses quickly adopting tools to facilitate remote work. This trend is expected to continue as hybrid work models become permanent.
Market Expansion: The revenue of collaboration applications worldwide increased by 32.9% in 2020, reaching $22.6 billion. Major players like Microsoft and Zoom saw substantial revenue growth and market share increases.
High Usage Rates: A significant portion of the global workforce uses online collaboration tools, with 79% of workers utilizing digital collaboration tools in 2021. Additionally, remote workers use an average of 4.8 different conferencing applications.
Increased Investment: Companies are prioritizing investments in collaboration tools, with 72% of executives in the US considering new investments in virtual collaboration tools as a top priority. Worldwide spending on digital transformation reached $1.5 trillion in 2021.
Hybrid Work Preference: The majority of workers (83%) believe that a hybrid work model is optimal, and 63% of high-growth companies have already adopted a “productivity anywhere” workforce model.
Productivity and Engagement: Online collaboration tools have generally led to improved productivity and engagement, with 67% of organizations reporting improved connections among employees and 73% of employees wanting flexible remote work to continue.
Challenges in Collaboration: Despite the benefits, remote work presents challenges such as increased meeting loads, difficulty in brainstorming, and decreased ability to communicate ideas clearly. Additionally, 54% of remote workers feel overworked, and 39% feel exhausted.
Integration and Security Issues: Many organizations face challenges integrating various collaboration technologies, and security concerns remain a top priority, with 58% of enterprises needing better risk assessment capabilities.

FAQ

1. What is the current state of the online collaboration software market?

The online collaboration software market experienced significant growth in 2020, with the revenue of collaboration applications worldwide increasing to $22.6 billion. Major players like Microsoft and Zoom saw substantial increases in their market shares and revenues.

2. Why are online collaboration tools important for businesses?

Online collaboration tools are essential for facilitating remote and hybrid work, improving communication, and enhancing productivity. They allow teams to collaborate effectively regardless of their physical location, ensuring business continuity and adaptability.

3. How widely are online collaboration tools used among workers?

As of 2021, 79% of workers worldwide use digital collaboration tools, and remote workers use an average of 4.8 different conferencing applications. The use of these tools has increased significantly due to the shift to remote work during the pandemic.

4. What benefits do online collaboration tools offer to organizations?

Online collaboration tools offer several benefits, including improved productivity, enhanced employee engagement, better communication, and the ability to maintain business operations in remote or hybrid work environments. They also support real-time collaboration and project management.

5. What challenges do organizations face with online collaboration tools?

Organizations face challenges such as integrating various collaboration technologies, ensuring security, managing increased meeting loads, and facilitating effective brainstorming and communication. Employee well-being and fatigue are also concerns.

6. How has the pandemic affected the adoption of online collaboration tools?

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of online collaboration tools as organizations quickly shifted to remote work. This rapid adoption highlighted the importance of these tools for business survival and led to increased investments in digital transformation and collaboration technologies.

7. What is the future outlook for online collaboration in the workplace?

The future of work is expected to be hybrid, with a significant portion of the workforce continuing to work remotely or in a flexible work environment. Online collaboration tools will remain central to organizational strategies, with ongoing investments in technology to support virtual collaboration.

8. How do online collaboration tools impact employee productivity and engagement?

Online collaboration tools generally improve employee productivity and engagement by enabling efficient communication, real-time collaboration, and better project management. However, organizations need to address challenges such as meeting overload and communication barriers to maximize these benefits.

9. What are the key security concerns related to online collaboration tools?

Key security concerns include ensuring data privacy, protecting against cyber threats, and managing risk assessment. Organizations need robust security measures and compliance capabilities to effectively manage communications and protect sensitive information.

10. How can organizations overcome the challenges of remote work and online collaboration?

Organizations can overcome challenges by investing in the right collaboration tools, integrating technologies seamlessly, implementing strong security measures, and addressing employee well-being. Providing training and support for remote work and fostering a culture of open communication can also help mitigate challenges.

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By Jenny Chang

Jenny Chang is a senior writer specializing in SaaS and B2B software solutions. Her decision to focus on these two industries was spurred by their explosive growth in the last decade, much of it she attributes to the emergence of disruptive technologies and the quick adoption by businesses that were quick to recognize their values to their organizations. She has covered all the major developments in SaaS and B2B software solutions, from the introduction of massive ERPs to small business platforms to help startups on their way to success.