2014 UC Review - UCStrategies Podcast

In my books, we've passed the point now for wishing each other Happy 2015, but 2014 is still fresh, and there was a lot of change last year in the UC space.

You won't find a more diverse and informed collection of UC perspectives than UCStrategies, and our weekly podcasts - as best we can - are a great way to showcase this. The theme for last week's session was the "most significant" events we surmised over the course of 2014.

Dave Michels was our more-than-able moderator, and we all took our turns on the topic in three minutes or less. Lots to digest here, and placeholders are provided for when each of us starts speaking.

My segment starts at the 28:40 mark, but I'm just one of many voices, and I encourage you give this a listen, as it will set the stage nicely for what's coming this year. In fact, that's the focus of this week's podcast, so if you like this one, you'll definitely want to catch the 2015 version, which should be posted around this time next week.

Until then, here's the link to the MP3, and we'd love to hear your thoughts after giving it a listen.

Hits and Misses - 6 Takeaways from Unify's Circuit Launch

Earlier this week, I was part of the UCStrategies podcast that did a collective debrief of last week's Unify event, along with the Tuesday launch of Circuit. By now, I'm sure you've seen lots of buzz from Unify as well as the industry at large, so there's lots to digest.

As someone who there last week first-hand, I had more to say than my allotted three minutes on the podcast, so I've pulled my thoughts together and distilled things down to six takeaways. In the spirit of balance that characterizes being an analyst, I've got three hits and three misses. There is lots to like about Circuit, but there are definitely shortcomings, and if you want to know more, please read my post that's running now on the UCStrategies portal. I hope you like it, and would love to hear your thoughts - and no doubt, Unify would as well.

Deploying Cloud-Based Contact Center Solutions with Lync

This is a big topic for any business looking at the cloud when deploying Microsoft Lync and looking for the best way to support their contact center. These days, if you don't have a contact center, there's no excuse not to, as the cloud makes it feasible for any size of operation. If you don't know why having a contact center is essential, drop me a line - that's a whole other topic.

Let's stick to the program - you're going with Lync for UC, and now you have to decide how best to integrate the contact center with this new regime. Since Lync is becoming so popular, there's a lot of interest here, and that's exactly what UCStrategies focuses on.

As you likely know, I'm a UC Expert, and was engaged to write my analysis about this on behalf of Interactive Intelligence, who has recently partnered with UCStrategies for some thought leadership. Being a sponsored post, you should still take it at face value, as my focus is on the issues and challenges facing all businesses in this situation. My conclusion does touch on the virtues of what Interactive Intelligence brings to the table, and I'll leave that for you to decide.

More importantly, I've tried to present an industry-based perspective on what to consider when making this particular decision. The article has been posted now to the portal, and I can think of a few parties other than myself who will be quite keen to hear your thoughts. I hope you can give it a read, and after that, the floor is yours.

UCStrategies Talks UC with... Me

The community of Experts in the UCStrategies circle is pretty broad, and we have a healthy mix of seasoned analysts and consultants. New faces such as Evan Kirstel continue to expand our roster, and I can't think of a better place to stay on top of all things UC.

One way we do this is to share our personal views, and I was recently interviewed by UCStrategies to tap into those views. The interview isn't very long, but it's a good snapshot of my current thinking about what's driving UC. As you likely know, I do a lot of writing, and every now and then it's always nice to be asked for your opinion instead of putting it out there in the hope that people are actually interested.

There's a fine line there where everyone's an expert online, and people will do anything for their 15 milliseconds of fleeting fame - as opposed to being schooled in knowing how to write for an audience. I'll save that thread for another time - for now, I invite you read the interview, and in the spirit of our community, I hope you share your thoughts back with us.

Gartner's Magic Quadrant for UCaaS - UCStrategies Weighs In

Acronyms are a fact of life in this space, and UCaaS is one of the more awkward terms, but it's accurate. When we talk about UC as a Service, we're really talking about hosted UC or cloud-based UC. Yes, that's basically three ways of saying the same thing. Don't dwell on that too long - these are the problems people like me make a living trying to understand and then explain to our followers.

The cloud is fast becoming the home for everything, and UC is no exception. This says a lot about how technology keeps changing, but it says even more about how this change is impacting the UC landscape. Whereas conventional - premise-based - UC was the sole domain of vendors, they are just one class of player with UCaaS. Since this deployment model is hosted away from the customer's operation, UC can now be provided by anyone with a carrier-grade cloud infrastructure.

That cues the music for service providers to enter the game, and that's where the mix gets more interesting when it comes to the Gartner Magic Quadrant. The criteria for inclusion into this circle differ from the premise-based market, so to get the big picture, you really have consider both sets of analysis. Our latest UCStrategies podcast was all about the UCaaS MQ, and if this side of the coin is new, you'll definitely want to check it out.

Speaking of awkward terms, I'm not sure if "podcast" is the right label since this edition was done via video. If you close your eyes and just listen, sure, it's a podcast, but if you want to see what we all look like in living color, now's your chance. The session was ably moderated by Dave Michels, who is leading the  "more video" charge with UCStrategies, and we were greatly enabled by Vidyo, who provided the video conferencing platform. I'm happy to give them a plug here, and the experience was great, and as you'll see, the Hollywood Squares tile format is pretty easy on the eyes.

We may not be the most exciting bunch to watch, but nobody really is when you're just talking from your desk. Anyhow, it's the commentary that really matters, and to help you navigate this 53 minute production, Dave has broken out the times when each of us is talking. I'm at the 8:36 mark, but I hope you'll set the time aside to view the full session. Where else can you get this much free advice from people who look so good on camera?

Can Cisco Crack the Code for Video? Do They Need To?

These are big questions, and my take might surprise you. The analyst community was recently updated on Cisco's collaboration roadmap, and the emphasis was very much on the new WebEx and desktop video. I wasn't expecting this much focus here from Cisco, but they have their reasons, and that's what I examined in my current posting on UCStrategies.

As a UC Expert, I contribute a monthly column to the portal, and this time around, I think there are as many questions as answers, and you can never have enough debate when it comes to big moves from market leaders like Cisco. There are several disruptive technologies in play here, and that's what makes Cisco's update so interesting. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so I'll steer you now to the portal and hope you give my post a read.

Five Things We Can Learn From Millennials About Collaboration

That's the title of my August post for UCStrategies, and if you want to know what the intersection of what collaboration and Millennials looks like, this is a good starting point.

As you may know, I'm a UC Expert with UCS, and it's a great collective of expertise aligned with this space. There are lots of strong voices in our group, and if you don't follow us regularly, I hope this gets you going! My post can be found here, and after that, I urge you poke around and see what else is on tap at UCS.

The Race for UC in the Cloud - is Avaya too late?

I don't have the definitive answer for that, but yesterday, Avaya announced their "fast track" cloud-based solution for UCC. By now, you should know that UC has morphed into UC&C - UC + Collaboration - making it a more strategic investment. This isn't what the pioneers of UC had in mind, but if that's what drives sales, so be it.

On top of that is the full-steam-ahead push to the cloud for everything, including network infrastructure. I sure hope this works, since almost everyone is now betting heavily on the cloud. I'm sure things will work out in the end, but right now, this is where you have to be to win or keep business - even if the business model isn't all there yet.

Avaya's news - and emphasis on "fast track" - got me thinking more about where UC is going, and that's what my current writeup for UCStrategies is about. I'm not sure if Avaya's "fast track" ultimately refers to them or their customers, but it really doesn't matter. What matters is getting to the cloud now, hopefully before your competitors do.

Just as the cloud is now superceding premise-based deployments, something else could come along a few years from now to supecede the cloud, but let's not go there yet. Instead, please go to the UCStrategies portal now, and I hope my post gives you some food for thought.

Internet Trends 2014 from Mary Meeker - UC Implications

We had a great podcast last week at UCStrategies, with the focus being our take on Mary Meeker's annual state-of-the-Web address. With over 140 slides, her presentation and video chat was OTT overkill, and you'd need to do a lot of unpacking to digest all of this.

Mary's talk was high level, but with lots of big takeaways on where the Web is going. The purpose of our podcast was to view this through our collective UC lens and share how we see this impacting our space. As our discussion unfolded, it became clear there's a lot of value to the commentary, as we reflected that Mary didn't really provide much analysis to help regular folks make sense of these mega trends. Data dump comes to mind a bit here, so it was a productive exercise for us to filter all this for our audience.

So, if you think Mary Meeker is on the pulse of technology - which I would vote Yes - then you should find our podcast time well spent. The audio file has now been posted to the UCStrategies portal, and links to Mary's slides and talk are included. Dave Michels moderated the session, and if you want to follow specific comments (mine start just shy of the 15 minute mark), there are break points provided so you can find when each of us is talking.

Changing IT Spending Habits in the UC Space - UCS Podcast

Back to blogging after some time off to take in the Montreal Jazz Festival. First rate all around, and if you like jazz, it's pretty hard to beat.

For bi-nationals like me, we have a small window this week between Canada Day and July 4, so today and tomorrow are the only days that people in the U.S. and Canada will be paying much attention to things like blogs and podcasts, so I'd better do this now!

Last week, the UCStrategies team had a deep-dive podcast looking at the various ways enterprise spending is changing. It's not hard to see how UC fits into that conversation, nor how things like the cloud, BYOD, WebRTC, social media and video - just to name a few - are impacting where/how the money is being spent. This makes the topic equally interesting for buyers and sellers of UC solutions, and it's incredible to see how telephony is increasingly less relevant when budgets are being set.

Marty Parker took the lead moderating this podcast, and we all had our say during the call. The podcast has been posted now on the UCStrategies portal, and you can find my comments around the 8 minute mark. As you'll see on the link, the start times are posted for each contributor in case you just want to hear specific commentary. Give it a listen, and we'd love to hear your thoughts.

My New Word for 2014 - Bifurcation

That's right. Splitting in two - taking divergent paths - out of one comes two - that sort of thing.

Of course, I could be talking about anything, but my context here is the world of UC. During our recent UCStrategies podcasts looking back on 2013, then ahead to 2014, bifurcation is theme I talked about. For me, this means I see two distinct ends of the business communications market shaping up. One is just interested in VoIP, and is driven by cost savings. This would typically be the lower end of the SMB space, where the thinking is still pretty telephony-centric and legacy-based. Arguably, these businesses may never become card-carrying UC converts, but it's a pretty big piece of the overall market.

Moving upmarket is the UC-friendly crowd that the UC vendors so dearly covet. Of course, this group consists of both telephony vendors that simply have to reinvent themselves to survive, along with outliers who are Web/IP-based, and are poised to inherit the earth if they play their cards right. Among this cohort, you don't hear any talk about IP PBXs or telephony - their world is Web-centric and screen-centric. Up to about two years ago, the latter meant PC-centric, but with the rise of tablets, the opportunity now is much bigger than that. Not only has the locus of communications shifted away from the desk phone, but it's quickly shifting away from the desktop altogether.

Enough said. My 2 mintues of talk on our podcast made me realize this theme needed to be laid out a bit further. That's what I've done in my latest UCStrategies post, so while I've still got your attention, you should open up this link now and get the rest of the story. Thanks for listening!

Cisco Collaboration Summit and Q1 Earnings - is Their Mojo Back?

It's a tricky question, and I know some people would love to say YES and some would love to say NO.

I'm leaning towards yes, but this is no slam dunk, especially if you're an investor. I attended their annual Collaboration Summit a couple of weeks back in Boca Raton - what's not to like? - and Cisco had their Q1 earnings call last week. I felt badly because I didn't get a chance to blog about the summit, but the stars have lined up for now, and I found that after the Q1 earnings call, there was actually a better story to tell.

That's what I've done for this month's contribution to the UCStrategies portal. Whether you're inside or outside the Cisco tent, I think you'll find this is a good read, and would love to know if you think they've got their mojo back.

UCStrategies Podcast - State of SBCs with UC

Alphabet soup comes with the territory in our space, and the most recent UCStrategies podcast focused on SBCs - session border controllers - and their impact on UC. I've followed SBCs since this category emerged in 2004, and not being a technical analyst, I focus on the business-level issues. However, even among the analysts steeped in IT, SBCs have always been difficult to understand. On some levels, you can ignore them with UC, but as many deployments are calling for SIP trunking, SBCs become unavoidable. I've learned that SBCs are fairly new and somewhat foreign to the UC space, so this podcast was a long time coming.

Stephen Leaden did a great job moderating, and I was happy to say my piece along with the other UCS Experts on the call. Since Acme Packet scored close to $2 billion being acquired by Oracle, everyone is wondering what all the fuss is about. Well, our podcast has been posted now, so to find out, you'd better head over to the portal now, where you'll find both the download and the transcript.

UCSrategies Podcast: Keep or Toss PBX? Cloud or Premise? Discuss!

Our latest UCStrategies podcast took a different route this time, with more of a debate-flavored tone. Led by Phil Edholm, we took a comparative, "versus" approach. Two topics were covered, with the merits of each side considered. First up was the PBX - do you augment it for UC, or replace it altogether? Similarly, do you stay premise-based or go cloud - or possibly have a hybrid solution?

I shared some thoughts on the first topic, and overall we expressed a wide range of views. These are timely topics for UC decision-makers, and hopefully this will clarify your thinking. The podcast has just been posted to the UCS portal, and you can download it here as well as read the transcript if you prefer.

The State of Teleworking - UCStrategies Podcast

That was the topic of our most recent UCStrategies podcast, and it's taken a bit longer than normal to get posted. There's a lot to talk about here, especially from a UC perspective, and if anything the two very much go hand in hand.

We had a lot of UCS Experts on the call, so you'll get your money's worth if you want to listen through the session. I was still struggling with my headcold and had very little voice during the session, but I made the effort and added my thoughts.

The session was ably moderated by Roberta Fox, who actually has a lot of experience in this area, so she was the logical choice for the role. You can listen to the podcast here as well as read the transcript. Either way, I hope you learn something here and we welcome your comments.

ITExpo Takeaways - Innovation, Startups and Implications for UC

Just saw Steve Wozniak's talk here at ITExpo in Las Vegas. Definitely the marquee session, so everyone is here. Lots of great stories about how he learned how to build things as a kid and how that set the stage for what was to come. The natural curiousity that comes with being a kid is the best magic of all, and if everyone followed their early instincts, most of the world's problems would be solved overnight. Nevermind....

Back to work. I just posted my thoughts about Tuesday's StartupCamp8. It's a different take, and is focused on where - or how - UC fits into the startup ecosystem, especially around driving innovation inside businesses. Problem is that I'm not seeing much of a fit, at least based on the startups we saw.

Is this a big deal? I don't know, but my instincts tell me that UC is on the outside looking in when it comes to how startups think about the business problems they're trying to solve and whether they see UC as an enabler for their ideas.

If that raises questions for you, I think you'll enjoy my post, which is running now on the UCStrategies portal. Please give it a read, and would love to hear your thoughts!

If I was a channel, would I partner with Mitel?

There's a pretty direct question, huh?

Am just back from Mitel's 2013 Business Partner Conference, and yesterday I posted my initial thoughts and takeaways. You'll have to read that to get my take, but there's a longer sequel that's running now on the UCStrategies portal, where I contribute a monthly thought leadership piece.

As the title of this - and that - post implies, I'm putting myself in the shoes of channel partners, a community that accounted for the vast majority of attendees at the BPC. I think it's an important question for them, and from Mitel's perspective, maybe even more so important for the partners who were not there and perhaps represent the future for Mitel. After all, the channel drives the business, and it's becoming a real challenge to find the right partners who are both willing and able to sell UC, especially as the cloud obliterates legacy business models.

That's what I'm exploring in this writeup, and is based on my BPC impressions on what Mitel has done to turn things around. They're definitely on the right track, but there's still plenty of risk out there and more needs to be done before they can realize the vision their management team mapped out for us this week. I invite you to read my post, and as always, your comments are welcome!

Microsoft Lync, UC and CEBP - Connecting the Dots

Busy is busy, and am blogging when I can - but it's never as much as I'd like.

This post will be short and my intention is to direct you to my May thought leadership contribution to the UCStrategies portal. A few weeks ago, I co-presented at the UC Summit with UCStrategies colleague, Kevin Kieller. Our topic was the business opportunity facing channels with Lync and it raised a lot of questions, especially around CEBP. Some was due to lack of clarity on my part, and to address all this, Kevin and I teamed up to share our thoughts and set some things straight. Hopefully this does the job, and we'd love to see more discussion, as CEBP can be a messy topic.

With that said, if any or all of these ideas are on your mind - CEBP, Microsoft Lync and UC - then I hope you'll read our analysis. The posting went live this morning, and here's the link.

Podcast - Remote Workers - is Yahoo Right?

Hot topic lately, and time will tell if old school work-at-your-desk policies will save Yahoo. Personally, I think remote working is great for certain types of people and situations, but for the masses, bad idea. Gee, can you tell that I work from home?

I could host my own podcast on that ornery topic, but you're much better served with a diversity of views, and that's exactly what come out on this week's UCStrategies podcast, moderated by Phil Edholm. We had voices on both sides of the issue, but the general sentiment was positive. As I noted, nothing drives the need for UC like remote working, so this shouldn't be surprising given our collective focus on this space.

While a lot of people talk about the merits of technology as a driver for remote working, it's all about trust to me. I don't care how many tools you throw at remote workers - some people are cut out for this, but a lot are not. Companies will get great productivity out of some employees from home, but if you're laissez faire about it, you end up on a slippery slope downhill. They work you, right? Not the other way around.

Enough rose-colored wishful thinking. Every business has its own comfort level with the leash they keep on employees, and that's the way it should be. Now its time to hear what everyone else thinks - here's the link, where you can also read the transcript if you don't have the time to listen to the podcast.

What Oracle's Acquisition of Acme Packet Means for UC and Telecom

Last week's news may have taken many by surprise, but when you look at where the communications landscape is going, seeing Acme Packet acquired by software giant Oracle isn't a big stretch to me. They are probably in the top 5 in terms of clout for shaping the IT/software/networking world, and it seems inevitable to me that communications will be subsumed there. The telco vendors have been losing control of their destiny ever since IP came into play, and as innovation continues to come from elsewhere, along with the rapid rise of the cloud, I just don't see that changing.

$1.7 billion is a lot of money to Acme Packet, but a minor investment for Oracle, so there should be nothing surprising about the economics. Oracle may not need 100% of Acme's SBC pieces right away, but their huge footprint with global Tier 1 carriers and solid enterprise customer base gives Oracle a ready ramp to support end-to-end IP applications. Acme's roots are in enabling voice over wireline networks, but the future is data applications over wireless networks, and they are ready for that as well as any other SBC vendor. This is the world that Oracle wants to be in as well, and pooling two dominant vendors only makes sense - so long as there's a shared vision and all the pieces can work together as a singular solution.

Time will tell, but until then, I think this marks a shift as to where telecom is heading, and while UC isn't the main story here, it will also be impacted. That's the focus of my current contribution for UCStrategies, and it's posted now on the portal. Even if you don't follow SBC's, I think there's an important message here for our broader space, and I'd love to hear your thoughts after you give this a read.