Why Zendesk Is Betting Against the Category It Just Entered

Zendesk has officially entered the contact center ring—but not as another CCaaS or CX vendor. Instead, it’s declaring war on the term itself. Welcome to the era of Un-CCaaS.

The move comes after Zendesk closed its acquisition of Local Measure, a close AWS partner and the original creator of Engage, a CCaaS solution previously built for Amazon Connect. Now, rebranded and fully integrated into Zendesk’s stack, the offering is being rolled out to the company’s 110,000+ customers as Zendesk for Contact Center.

But make no mistake: this isn’t your typical CCaaS launch. It’s a positioning play—calculated, and aimed at rewriting the contact center narrative.

Here's The Problem With “CCaaS”

Over the past five years, CCaaS has become a bloated acronym synonymous with complexity, overpromising, and post-COVID buyer’s remorse. Many large enterprises rushed into long-term contracts during the pandemic, only to realize later that what they gained in cloud agility, they lost in cohesion and usability.

Zendesk is betting that a large swath of these customers are ready to hit reset.

By distancing itself from the CCaaS label, Zendesk is tapping into a rising fatigue among CX leaders:

• Disconnected platforms that don’t talk to the CRM.

• Excessive customization that drags out implementation.

• Voice add-ons that feel like bolt-ons.

Zendesk’s answer? A contact center natively connected to where the customer data already lives—and framed not as infrastructure, but as a resolution engine.

A Callback to “Un-carrier” Strategy

The “Un-CCaaS” moniker is a deliberate echo of T-Mobile’s legendary Un-carrier campaign, which disrupted telecom by rejecting industry norms. That branding move turned a commodity service into a movement—and Zendesk hopes to do the same in the CCaaS space.

But here’s the key difference: while T-Mobile challenged a broken experience with cheaper data, Zendesk is challenging bloated infrastructure with platform simplicity and CRM-native alignment.

This isn’t anti-contact center, it is anti-fragmentation.

What Makes This Different

While Zendesk has dabbled in voice before with Zendesk Talk, the new platform is a full-scale offering built for large, complex operations. Here’s what sets it apart:

• Built natively on AWS – thanks to Local Measure’s DNA, this isn’t a retrofitted cloud app.

• AI-first design – powered by Zendesk’s Resolution Platform, with AI agents that learn over time.

• Integrated WEM suite – workforce management and QA tools included, not tacked on.

• CRM-connected out of the box – no need to duct-tape contact center data back into support workflows.

The Strategy Behind the Spin

Some may dismiss “Un-CCaaS” as a marketing gimmick. But Zendesk’s move reflects a broader trend: the convergence of CX tech stacks around resolution, not routing.

Rather than sell a siloed voice platform, Zendesk is now offering a horizontal CX operating system, where chat, voice, email, CRM, and AI all speak the same language. Learn more about CX features here. 

Jonathan Barouch, formerly of Local Measure and now GM of Contact Center at Zendesk, said, “Customers think: I want to buy where my data is. I want to buy from a brand that has trust.”

Translation: the best contact center platform isn’t just the smartest—it’s the one that already understands your customers.

What This Means for CX Leaders

The question isn’t whether Zendesk’s product is “good enough” for enterprise voice. It’s whether CX leaders are ready to reimagine their stack from the resolution layer up.

This launch forces a moment of clarity:

• Do you need a CCaaS platform? Or do you need a platform that solves problems faster?

• Are you optimizing for channel complexity? Or for customer outcomes?

• Is your contact center tech the source of truth? Or the source of chaos?

For Zendesk, “Un-CCaaS” isn’t just a tagline. It’s a bet that CX leaders are tired of building Frankenstein stacks.

The Bottom Line

Zendesk isn’t just launching a product. It’s launching a reframing. And if the market buys into it, “Un-CCaaS” might just become the most disruptive term in contact center tech this decade.