Newsletter Time Again - August Issue - Podcast Too

August is August, so this month’s newsletter will likely be the lilghtest of the year, but that doesn’t mean I’ve taken the summer off. Am as busy as ever, and there will be lots of new stuff to share next month and beyond, so stay tuned.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review went out yesterday, and for everyone else, here’s an easy way to subscribe if you want to follow what I’m up to. Analyst work in the collaboration and contact center spaces is never dull, and for more on that, you should check out my podcast, Watch This Space.

My partner Chris Fine and I are well into our 4th season, and this time around we weighed in on what could well be the most important M&A deal of 2021 in our space - Zoom’s acquisition of Five9. We talk a lot about future of work as well, and for the August episode, we discuss the current state of hybrid work in the broader context of how everyday life is starting to open up again - sort of.

Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast - Zoom's Acquisition of Five9

This might turn out to be the biggest M&A deal of 2021 in our space, although there’s plenty of time left this year for bigger deals to come along. Even so, it may well be the most important deal given how ripe the contact center space has become for, well… disruption, consolidation, re-imagining, etc.

There are many angles to consider with Zoom acquiring Five9, and we covered a lot of them during our latest BCStrategies podcast, which is running now on our site. I hope you give it a listen, and if you want to hear more, I discussed the implications further with my co-host, Chris Fine on our latest Watch This Space podcast. That episode launches next Tuesday, along with my August newsletter, and if you’re not a subscriber, you can find it here on my website.

Newsletter Time Again - July Issue - Podcast Too

Being the first week of the month, the current issue of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review is out now, along with our latest Watch This Space podcast. If the topic as per the thumb below piques your interest, you can give it a listen here. Otherwise, feel free to peruse earlier episodes here on my website, and same for past newsletter issues. And, to become a subscriber, just sign up here.

Newsletter Time Again - June Issue - Podcast Too

First Tuesday of the month - that usually means newsletter time, and yes, the June issue of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review went out to subscribers yesterday.

In tandem, our latest Watch This Space podcast episode went live as well. Thumbnail for that below will give you a good idea of what we talked about, and you can give it a listen here. Going forward, newsletter sign-up is easy - here’s the link, and you can explore back issues and earlier podcasts here and here.

Newsletter Time Again - May Issue - Podcast Too

Subscribers got the May edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review around this time yesterday, and with that comes the latest Season 4 episode of our Watch This Space podcast.

There are several ways to access and/or subscribe to our podcast, but the newsletter is primarily available via subscription, which is free. Links to that can be found on my website, and to make it easy, here you go.

Whether you subscribe or not, I hope you give our latest podcast a listen. As the title below suggests, we took on a big topic, which of course can’t be covered in one episode. We picked out some core themes, which Chris Fine and I will explore further during our upcoming PulveREDU course on May 13, and you can register for that here. Hope you’ll join us!

Roundup of Recent Industry Events - Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

We may not be travelling these days, but there are plenty of virtual events, along with news of note in the collaboration space. That’s the focus of our latest podcast at BCStrategies, so it makes for a good roundup of current events.

Led by Blair Pleasant, we weighed in on recent events, namely Fuze, Cisco, Avaya and Genesys, along with thoughts on the Zoom/RingCentral spat, and Dialpad’s big partnership with T-Mobile.

Never a dull moment, and we hope you check out our podcast. As always, sharing and comments are welcome.

Newsletter Time Again - April Issue - Podcast Too

The April edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review went out yesterday, along with our latest Watch This Space podcast. I always shoot for first week of the month for these launches, so if you ever wanted to know about what I’m up to, this is the best time to find out. The thumb below will give you a sense for what our latest podcast is about, and I hope you give it a listen.

If you want to become a regular, you can subscribe here for the newsletter - just takes a moment - it’s email-based, so it comes to you directly.

The podcast can be picked up across most of the major platforms - iTunes, Amazon Music/Audible, Google Podcasts, Stitcher - and others are coming soon. You can also track our recent episodes here, which is my dedicated website for the podcast.

Impressions from Microsoft Ignite - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Been pretty busy lately with BCStrategies, where I’ve been a BC Expert for a long time. This is my third post this week regarding new content that I’ve been part of there, and if you haven’t visited the site lately, there’s lots of great content to explore.

This time around, it’s our latest podcast, where Kevin Kieller led a discussion to take in our thoughts about the recent Microsoft Ignite event. If you attended or read about it, you’ll know that Mesh was the big story, and in my mind this is a strong signal from Microsoft that the post-PC world is coming, and they’re going to be setting the pace.

Aside from contributing to the conversation here, I wrote up my own review with photos about Microsoft Ignite in an earlier BCStrategies post, and you can read that here. First, though, you should check out our podcast - here’s the link - and if you want to weigh in with your own takeaways, we’d love to hear from you.

What Was Supposed to be Here by Now? Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

Interesting topic for interesting times. Led by Joseph Williams, our team of BC Experts weighed in on technologies and changes we thought would have happened by now in the collaboration space. Pretty wide range of perspectives, and several that I think you’ll find surprising.

So, like the guy in the Farmers Insurance ad says, “we’ve seen a few things” - that’s us at BCStrategies, folks. Our group has seen lots of tech waves come and go, so we’ve got perspectives that Millennials will have to wait their turn for. That time will come, but instead of waiting 25 years, why not just listen to us talk about a few things for about 30 minutes?Bump, bu-bump bump bump!

Newsletter Time Again - March Issue - Podcast Too

2021 continues to be busy, and my monthly newsletter is the best way to keep tabs on what I’m up to, writing about and speaking about. The March edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review went out yesterday, and our latest Watch This Space podcast episode went live as well.

Subscribers would know all that by now, and otherwise, if you want to be in that group, it’s easy. For the newsletter, you can sign up here on my website, and you can get the podcast in two different ways. First, to hear the latest episode or earlier ones, just go to the Podcast section of my site, where you can also view transcripts created by Otter.ai. There’s also a standalone website for the podcast where you can listen to the most recent episodes via an embedded player, so there’s nothing the download.

The second way is to subscribe to Watch This Space, much like you can do as per above for my newsletter. At present, the podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Stitcher. Other platforms are coming soon, so stay tuned.

A Conversation About Conversational AI - Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

Conversational AI is a phrase you’re going to come across regularly as you start looking at the bigger picture for voice in 2021. It’s central to my research, but I’m hardly alone in trying to understand where voice fits into a world that is becoming shaped around AI.

Wherever you are on the spectrum of the intersection of voice and AI, I would encourage you to give our latest BCStrategies podcast a listen. This edition was moderated by Blair Pleasant, with 7 BC Experts weighing in, so there’s a lot of ground to cover. Here’s the link, and you can be sure this won’t be the last time we explore this topic during 2021.

Guest Spot on Rob Barlow's Unleash The Potential Video Podcast

Toronto-based Rob Barlow produces a video podcast, and last week he had me on as a guest. Rob is a long-time telecom/tech veteran, and we’ve been recently exploring ways to work together locally. Even though I’m based in Toronto, I’m less well-known in Canada than the US, so Rob asked me to explain a bit about my practice. Otherwise, we talked about how the varoius technologies I follow are shaping not just the world of work, but our daily lives.

We kinda gravitated to the “future is friendly” theme, a well-known tag line TELUS has been using in their marketing for years. The episode has been posted now to Rob’s YouTube channel, and it can also be picked up on Spotify. Hope you like it!

Newsletter Time Again - February Issue - Podcast Too

It’s time for the next edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, along with the latest episode of Season 4 for our Watch This Space podcast.

If you’re new to my newsletter, I should mention that I’ve recently added an archive section here on my website for earlier issues. At the moment, the 2020 newsletters are there, and soon the 2019 issues will be added as well.

Subscribers got the February newsletter earlier today, and if you want to keep tabs on what I’m seeing and doing in this space, it just takes a moment to subscribe here. The visual below will give you a good idea of what our latest podcast is about, and you can check it out here. Feel free to explore our earlier podcasts, and I’m in the process of adding Watch This Space to the major commercial platforms where podcast fans can subscribe directly.

Best Practices for Video Meetings - Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

We’re on a roll lately at BCStrategies, this being our third podcast over the past few weeks. I hope you caught the last two - 2020 highlights, and our look-ahead for 2021. They’re easy to find on our portal, as is our current podcast - best practices for video meetings.

Every vendor has a video story now, but that doesn’t mean it has to be all video, all the time. In my view, video has its place, and should only be used if it’s additive to the meeting. Of course, video helps home-based workers feel more connected to their teams, so it’s not just about having another communications channel at our disposal.

Best practices can mean many things, and if you’re looking for ways to make your video meetings more productive, I think you’ll get a lot from our collective take on the topic. Here’s the link to the replay, and kudos to Blair Pleasant for moderating. As always, comments and sharing are welcome.

2021 Predictions for the Collaboration Space - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Our last BCStrategies podcast reviewed our parting thoughts on 2020, and now it’s time to look ahead to the year in front of us. The collaboration space sure was a moving target last year, and we expect more of the same in 2021.

The pandemic is still shaping the world of work, and both vendors and buyers are trying to make the right bets - can workers still be productive from home, will they want to come back to the office, how can businesses adapt to these changes? Lots of quesitons, and no shortage of answers from our group, so we hope you give our latest podcast a listen.

Newsletter Time Again - January Edition, and Podcast too

It’s a new month, and a new year, so that means it’s time for the next edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, along with the first episode of Season 4 for our Watch This Space podcast.

Subscribers got the January newsletter yesterday, and if you want to keep tabs on what I’m seeing and doing in this space, it just takes a moment to subscribe here. The visual below will give you a good idea of what our latest podcast is about, and you can check it out here. Feel free to explore our earlier podcasts, and I’m in the process of adding Watch This Space to the major commercial platforms where podcast fans can subscribe directly.

2020 Year in Review - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Got a two-parter podcast update to share. Around this time, we do our BCStrategies looking back/looking ahead podcasts. Our 2020 review of the collaboration space is out, and you can access the podcast here on our portal. Not surprsingly, we had a strong turnout, so 12 of us had perspectives to share. Hope you give it a listen, and we’d love to get your feedback.

We’re recording the 2021 look-ahead podcast this week so that should be ready on the site sometime next week, and I’ll post about it here when it’s ready.

Cisco WebexOne - Our Take - Latest BCStrategies Podcast

Last week was another busy week in the collaboration space, as the stream of large-scale developments continues. The big players keep making big moves, as dominance in this space seems to be coming down to a handful of majors. We’re still digesting Saleforce taking out Slack, and just before that RingCentral announced yet another Tier 1 strategic partnership - Vodafone - to further spread their global footprint. Not long before that, Zoom raised the bar at Zoomtopia to emerge as a full-fledged collaboration platform.

Not to be outdone, Cisco has made its latest move with the “all new” WebexOne. The collaboration business unit has undergone a major transformation since sharing their vision and new team at the last analyst gathering back in February. The stakes are just too high now, and Cisco simply has to keep pace with Zoom, Microsoft and RingCentral, not to mention other key players like Avaya, Google, and yes, Amazon - all of whom are doing well, and are all-in with cloud.

At last week’s much-hyped WebOne launch event, Cisco did not disappoint. If you’re a fan of bigger=better, they had your number, announcing 50 new features, and claming a 10X improvement for the collaboration experience. I have no idea how you measure that, but rest assured, it’s at least as good - and in many ways - better than Zoom. Cisco has long been accustomed to being a market leader, but things have slipped recently, and that’s not in their DNA.

So, here we are, and the result is WebOne, and it’s hard not to be impressed - not just for collaboration, but contact center as well. Lots to talk about, and that’s what we did on our latest BCStrategies podcast, this one hosted by Blair Pleasant. The podcast has been posted now on our portal, and if you give us 36 minutes, we’ll tell you pretty much all you need to know about WebexOne. And if we missed anything, drop us a line, and we’ll find a way to cover that.

December Newsletter and Podcast are Out

My December newsletter went out on Friday, and it recaps another busy month. It really hasn’t not been busy for all of 2020, and even for the past few days, I’m way behind on providing updates on new things I‘ve been up to. I’ll get caught up sharing all that shortly, and until then, for my subscribers, I hope you’re getting something good from the newsletter. For everyone else, it just takes a moment to subscribe to JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, and soon I’ll be adding an archive of earlier issues on my website.

Along with the newsletter, the latest edition of my Watch This Space podcast is now out, and the thumb below will give you a good idea of what we talked about. You can give it a listen here, and any day now, recent episodes - including transcripts - will be updated on the Podcasts section of my website.

Watch This Space Podcast - Now Featured on BCStrategies

Being an indie analyst, I wear many hats, and one is being a BC Expert with BCStrategies. I’ve been part of this virtual collective for many years, and contribute regularly, mainly in the form of articles. Each BC Expert has a strong body of work, making this portal a great resource for anyone in the collaboration space, and for reference, here’s mine.

Coming back to my main hat - J Arnold & Associates, most of you know I produce a monthly newsletter - JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review - along with a monthly podcast, Watch This Space. The podcast branding was updated in September, and I’m slowly getting it listed with the commercial podcasting platforms, and hopefully that will be done by year-end.

For those who don’t subscribe to my podcast from one of these platforms, you can now check it out on BCStrategies, so that’s my news for today. And while you’re there, please check out all the other content from fellow BC Experts. I’ll actually have another post running there any day now, and I’ll have a separate blog post about that.