As cloud computing continues to increase in adoption, more companies are turning to Communications as a Service (CaaS) to improve their communications strategies and lower costs and achieve greater efficiencies. TMCnet was there to cover the latest CaaS news this week. Here are some highlights:

In the latest InformationWeek 2012 State of Cloud Computing Survey of 511 business IT professionals, 81 percent found the performance of their cloud services is as good or better compared with what could be delivered in-house. That has a lot to say about the state of cloud computing today. It’s safe to say that the cloud has arrived in the mainstream amid, of course, a lot of hype.

However, many IT departments still find investing in the cloud requires a leap of faith. Still, Significant investments are being made in the cloud by many of the world’s leading companies and cloud computing continues to evolve. The fact that a company can fulfill its computing requirements on an as-needed basis by simply purchasing services is a key attractor to the cloud.

In addition, all types of public cloud services -- software as a service, infrastructure, and platform as a service -- are gaining adherents. In fact, according to the latest InformationWeek survey, one third of companies use cloud services, and an additional 40 percent have plans for or are considering it. For more information on this trend, click here.

In other CaaS news this week, Unified Communications (News - Alert) provider Mitel, which offers cloud-based UC services, has been certified as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

In the United States, a CLEC is considered a telephone company that competes with the already established local telephone business by providing its own network and switching.

Mitel’s (News - Alert) service provider division, Mitel NetSolutions, has also made updates to its AnyWare hosted cloud-based communications service, including mobile integration aimed to help small enterprises leverage the benefits of a mobile workforce, according to Jon Brinton, president of Mitel NetSolutions. For more on this development, click here.

Capping off the week, Acme Packet (News - Alert) announced that Digital China will serve as an important distribution channel and services partner for Acme Packet in China. Digital China, the largest integrated IT services provider in China, will be able to offer its customers safe, high-quality interactive communications services over IP. There are various solutions such as cloud solutions, basic voice over IP (VoIP) and unified communications and collaboration.

Chinese companies are expanding and growing at a rapid space as they continue to implement new gadgets and technologies like smartphones, high-speed broadband, enterprise-class VoIP, unified communications and cloud solutions. Some of the challenges faced while implementing these technologies include the lack of secure, reliable, and interoperable network infrastructures, which are vital to providing secure IP-based communication.

For more CaaS news, be sure to visit TMCnet again next week for all the latest developments.