JAA'S Analyst Blog - Current Posts

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A short note for navigating this section - scroll below for the most recent posts, and then for more, click on the Blog Archive box, where you can view all of my posts, going back to the beginning in March 2005.

October 24, 2023

Next Speaking Opp - UCaaS/CCaaS and AI with Rosenblatt Securities

October 24, 2023/ Jon Arnold

This Friday, I’ll be in conversation with long-time colleague Catharine Trebnick about AI-related trends in the UCaaS and CCaaS spaces. Cat is the cloud comms and cybersec analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, so we’ll bridge the worlds of financial and technology analysts.

I don’t control who can register for our session, but all the details are below, and am sure you’ll find out soon enough if you can join us. Our session will be live, this Friday, Oct. 27 at noon ET.

Global Tech Research - Cloud Comm/Cybersecurity | Expert Access

Friday, October 27th | 12pm ET

Join us for a conversation on UCaaS/CCaaS and Voice AI with Jon Arnold, Principal of J Arnold & Associates

Hosted by Rosenblatt Cloud Communications & Cybersecurity Analyst Catharine Trebnick

Request Attendance

Reasons to Join

Explore the communication, collaboration, and contact center areas that are experiencing sustained demand in the current landscape.
Get a comprehensive overview of the macroeconomic conditions affecting spending and changes in priorities for communication and collaboration technologies.
Delve into the world of CAI and discuss chatbot's reliability for basic communication and collaboration tasks, such as dictating emails, calendar updates, and meeting invites. Additionally, learn about emerging enterprise use cases for CAI.
Receive company read-throughs for RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad, Five9, NICE, Twilio, Cisco, Genesys, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and others.

October 19, 2023

Next Stops - SCTC in Raleigh, WebexOne in Anaheim

October 19, 2023/ Jon Arnold

My run of travel for fall events continues, and I’ve got a back-to-back coming for next week.

First stop is SCTC, for our annual conference, which this year is in Raleigh. For the most part, it’s a member-based event, but certainly open to consultants and members who might consider joining. For those who know me, one of my SCTC hats is being in the SIPtones band, and we’re playing a set or two on Sunday night - that should be reason enough to come! On Monday, I’ll be speaking as well as moderating a panel session, so I’ll be earning my keep there.

My time at SCTC will be abbreviated, though, as I’m flying out on Tuesday to LA for Cisco’s WebexOne event. They’ve got an impressive list of celebrity speakers to draw a crowd, and an analyst-only program for our tribe. I’ll also be speaking on a panel session on Wednesday, so this will make for a busy week. I’ll share quick pix on LinkedIn for both events as time allows, and soon after a recap post here.

October 18, 2023

Jeff Pulver is Back - VON Evolution, New York City

October 18, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Jeff Pulver’s VON event has gone through many iterations, and if you really want to know where voice is heading, you might want to mark this on your calendar. Having tracked telephony and voice for 20+ years, I’ve seen a lot, and Jeff has a knack for being on the leading edge for what’s next.

This edition takes place at City Winery - Hudson River Park location - running Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, and all the details are here on the event site. If I’m not reason enough to come - check out the eclectic list of speakers - it’s pretty rich. :-) Would be great to see you there, and no doubt Jeff will feel the same way too.

October 15, 2023

Next Stop - Dubai for GITEX and Avaya

October 15, 2023/ Jon Arnold

From London to Lima to Dubai - not my normal routine, but this will be my third straight week of international travel - yeow. If I sound confused about what time it is or where the hell I am, now you’ll know why.

This is my first trip to Dubai, and yes, I’m a little anxious about going to the Middle East right now. Nothing is certain these days, but Dubai is pretty far-removed from the realities of everyday life just about everywhere, and am hoping that extends to the next few days.

Many thanks to Avaya for hosting me, and this is the first time the stars have lined up for me to attend GITEX. There’s a lot of buildup for GITEX, and given how large this event is, I know I’ll only see bits and pieces, and am sure all of it will be great, if not over-the-top.

I’ll do my best to share on LinkedIn and here as time allows, and will definitely follow on with a review article soon after. More details here about Avaya’s presence at the show, and if you’re there, please drop me a note and maybe we can meet!

October 09, 2023

UC Expo London - Quick Take and Photos

October 09, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Am totally on the go these next few weeks, so blogging kinda has to be on the fly.

Last week was London and the UC Expo, and all told, it was a worthwhile event. Crowds were sizeable, the exhibit hall was pretty full, and the vibe seemed good. It’s always hard to gauge these things, as it all passes pretty quickly, and I didn’t have many quiet moments.

In terms of sessions, there were three for me - moderated one, was a speaker for one, and I facilitated a private roundtable with customers for a sponsor, but I can’t do any sharing for that one. Also did two on-the-floor video interviews - with EM360 - see below (click to view), and UC Today - coming soon.

Otherwise, plenty of good networking, and making more in-person connections with EU companies, both clients and prospects.

Not much else I can say for now, but maybe you’ll find some other takeaways from the interview below. Following that are some photos from the trip.

Rob Kurver leading the CPaaS panel, group selfie from Dave Michels for the analyst panel, and a full room for the session I moderated with RingCentral about AI and the contact center.

Very fun - had VIP front-row seating for this special session with math whiz Hannah Fry and famed Irish comic/tech guy Dara O Briain, Storm Troopers taking over the 8x8 booth, and a race car that really can’t go all that fast here.

With Chris Bain, in front of signage for my panel session, with Jeff Pulver, being interviewed by EM360

Kinda cool hardware of a different kind, start planning now for 2024, and my parting shot leaving the venue after the show.

London town - endlessly spectacular views from the Shard, very familiar touristy spot that’s just about everywhere, and a typical alley entrance to a courtyard where it’s nice and quiet.

October 07, 2023

London Called, Lima Calling - NICE Analyst Summit Next

October 07, 2023/ Jon Arnold

This crazy - but really fun - Fall 2023 World Tour continues, and there are several more stops ahead yet.

Am just back from London and the UC Expo - blog post/pix about that is coming next. Home barely long enough to pack and prep for alpaca country - Peru! This could be the most complicated trip I’ve ever done, but it’s all an adventure, and I know it’s going to be memorable.

This is for the NICE Analyst Summit, and if you thought Marrakesh, Morocco last year was exotic - and it was - it’s not a stretch to say Machu Picchu is even more exotic. I think we’re really splitting hairs here, but more importantly, NICE has set the bar impossibly high for analyst events, and am more than happy to be in the mix.

Most people don’t believe me when I tell them about this run of travel I’m on, so if not just to bear witness, I’d damn well better share pix. I always do that, but this time around, there will be video coming too, and I’ll explain more about that next week.

For now, I need to figure out what to wear, and double check all the travel logistics. I fly from Toronto early Monday to Newark, connect there to Lima, stay the night, then fly out Tuesday morning to Cuzco, and from there I will get taken to the hotel, and then the adventure really begins!

I have a lot to learn about Inca culture, but I do know that Cuzco is central to the origin myth for sun god worship - Inti - and it’s probably best to stay on his good side. NICE sent this guy along, and he’s coming with me as my good luck talisman.

October 06, 2023

Tianjin, China Smart Port Visit – Quick Post, Video and Pix

October 06, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Last month, I was back in China on another media tour, where the main focus was a site visit to a smart port facility. This is very much the world of Industry 4.0, and while quite different from my everyday analyst work in enterprise communications, the underlying technologies are pretty similar. In particular, that would be cloud, 5G, AI and even IoT.

Data is the common denominator across all of these, and the more data you can capture, the more effective these technologies can be. That’s certainly the case for enterprise communications, customer experience and future of work in general, and equally so for the myriad of use cases related to Industry 4.0.

The latter was on full display in Tianjin, China, where I was part of a private group tour of the Tianjin Port Groups’ (TPG) site. This is the sixth largest port operation in China, but is arguably the world’s most advanced in terms of deploying smart technologies. Using 5G networks and cloud-based AI applications, the level of automation has to be seen to be believed.

These technologies power a fleet of 76 autonomous cargo vehicles that seamlessly move shipping containers to and from the docks, where gantry cranes load and offload cargo with incredible precision. In the parlance of transportation logistics, these vehicles – known as Intelligent Guided Vehicles (IGVs) – are a use case for horizontal transport, where all the movement is on the ground.

To go a step further here, another use case would be vertical transport, such with elevators or escalators, but that’s not the focus here. The logistics world takes many forms, and there is no shortage of great use cases for cloud, 5G and AI. Given the scale of operations like TPG, however, the complexity is mind-boggling, and if these technologies can win the day here, there really isn’t much that they cannot handle.

Taking all that into account, this is an IoT use case of the highest order. TPG is a world-class showcase for what’s possible with the right technology, along with a sense of purpose to automate a critical linchpin for today’s global supply chains. This isn’t to diminish the value of these technologies to power UCaaS and CCaaS platforms, but Industry 4.0 applications like smart ports really do take things to another level.

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to experience TPG first-hand, and I think my readers will find this of great interest. Now that I’ve told you a bit, I’m now going to show you a bit. Below is a short video clip I took during the tour, and the ballet-like flow of movement speaks for itself. Everything you see is fully automated, and the only sound you’ll hear is the hum of engines and the wheels of commerce turning.

Following that are a few of my many photos, and I hope you enjoy them. If you want to learn more about my TPG visit, I’m working up a full-length article that will soon run in a leading tech publication, so stay tuned.

October 03, 2023

Early October - Time for Newsletter and Podcast

October 03, 2023/ Jon Arnold

It’s a new month, so it’s time for new editions of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review newsletter, and the Watch This Space podcast. If you’re enamored with every/anything to do with New York City, you’ll want to check out our podcast. Same if you’re following the worlds of cloud communications and the office of the future.

If you’re not a subscriber, signing up to my newsletter is easy - the signup page is here. For my podcast, you can subscribe on all the major platforms, or click to listen to the current episode here. Hoping you’ll check both out, and would love your feedback any time.

October 02, 2023

USA Today - Am Profiled in an Article There

October 02, 2023/ Jon Arnold

It’s not everyday I’m in the newspapers - yes I still get it delivered to my door - especially mainstream media like USA Today, but that’s the story here - no pun intended. I had an opportunity to be interviewed for an article about how hybrid work and digital transformation are driving the future of work, and it ran on Friday.

We don’t get USA Today in Canada, so I didn’t run out to buy a copy - does that ever happen any more? To read it, you’ll have to make do online - here’s the link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/special/contributor-content/2023/09/29/distributed-workforce-is-the-future-of-work-and-the-future-is-now-says-jon-arnold/71002261007/.

Another bonus for getting into mainstream media - when friends and family ask what I do for a living, this is exactly the thing I need to show them! Hope you like, and feel free to share.

September 28, 2023

Cloud Communications Alliance Event - Quick Take and Pix

September 28, 2023/ Jon Arnold

This is week 2 of my travel run that will have me going to at least one event somewhere each week pretty much til mid-November. Busy is good, but much tougher to get the work done - that’s just how it goes as an indie analyst.

Was in New York the past two days, attending the Cloud Communications Alliance Financial Summit. Being a half-day event, it was more of an update than a summit, but top-caliber attendees nonetheless. Was very happy to be there, and in the end, I wound up being on the closing panel session with just analysts, led by Clark Peterson. Needless to say, with 5 of us, we easily went over time, but nobody seemed to mind.

There were two other panel sessions focused on the financial side of the cloud business, and it was good to hear what they’re talking about, especially for companies looking for exits. With the shift from growth to profitability, valuations are down, so the space is less lucrative now, and the players have to work harder to create sustainable businesses. There was a lot of talk about how to compete with - or align with - Teams, along with the dominance of other majors like Cisco and Zoom.

Most of the focus was on UCaaS - understandable - and less so on CCaaS, CPaaS and AI - but if a longer program, no doubt we’d hear more about these as well. Bigger picture - it was noted that 50% of the market is still legacy-based, so lots of upside ahead - fair - but UCaaS space is so crowded, and it’s getting harder to compete against the majors, esp if only selling UC and/or telephony.

Overall, I think CCA can play a central role in helping cloud providers navigate all this, particularly under the broader tent of cloud services. UCaaS is too saturated now, and providers need a wider portfolio to compete longer-term. Lots of important themes here, and it’s all central to what I do, so this was a good spot for me to be in. I’ll leave you with some photos for a sense of the vibe there, and thanks again to Joe Manion and Clark Peterson for inviting me!

Clark Peterson with opening remarks; one of the finance panels; closing panel with the analysts.

Joe Manion kicking things off; familiar faces - Jeff Pulver with Ari Rabban, and me!

Event was held at the Yale Club - very Ivy League, but worked quite well. Reception the night before at City Winery inside Grand Central Terminal. Band was great - acoustics, not so much, but very good setting for being social and networking.

September 26, 2023

UC Expo, London - Another Panel Session

September 26, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Next week, it’s UC Expo at the ExCeL London. I recently posted about a session I’m moderating, and here’s another one I’ll be on. This is the ask-the-analyst panel, on Thursday at 2:10 pm, where I’ll be joined by colleagues Dave Michels, Oru Mohiuddin and Prachi Nema, and moderated by Gill Rowbotham. Should be fun, and hope you can make it!

I’ll be on two other sessions, including an invite-only roundtable, so I won’t be hard to find - maybe I’ll see you there. Details are here about the event, the agenda and registration.

September 15, 2023

New Video with Evolve IP - The Role of Independent Analysts

September 15, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Well, this was fun. Zak Anderson from Evolve IP sought me out recently, and we recorded a lengthy video interview about a variety of topics and trends. This is part of their Channel Champions video podcast series, and our chat was Episode 17. The main focus was about the role that independent analysts play, especially in helping channel partners better educate their customers about new technologies.

Zak and his team have done a great job to make our discussion more consumable by breaking it up into shorter segments, and you check all that out here on their website. To help get you there, here’s a short teaser clip. Have a look, and I hope you check out the rest!

September 11, 2023

CCTC Event in Toronto - Quick Post and Pix

September 11, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Haven’t been able to post til now, and wanted to share a bit from last Thursday’s CCTC networking event here in Toronto. Telecom events are very rare in Canada, and given the community involved, it was great to attend and support this one. In case you’re wondering, CCTC is the Canadian Communications and Technology Consultants group, and colleague Cheryl Helm is the driving force. Happy to tell you more!

We had a solid turnout, and the content was consistently good all day long. I’m not going to recap the sessions here, but the feedback I’ve seen has been overwhelmingly positive - both the experience and the education from the sessions was worthwhile.

Kudos to Cheryl and the organizing team for putting this together, and the event bodes well for doing it again next year. Will leave you with a few photos that tell the story pretty well - all are mine, except the photo of me - thanks Nancy Gates.

Below - Cheryl Helm kicking things off - and yes, red was the color theme. Photo of the attendees, showing a pretty full room.

Scott Murphy leading the vendor panel on the future of comms tech - with Genesys, Mitel, Twilio, RingCentral and Avaya. Next - Roberta Fox on the state of 911 - nobody does it better. Roberta is retiring now, so this was her final conference session, and we gave her a nice sendoff - definitely the emotional highlight of the event.

As always, Martha Buyer giving us a rich legal perspective on AI, especially ethics - lots to think about. Next was David Dame - very inspiring locknote talk about his work at Microsoft, and his broader perspective on how input from those with disabilities can drive innovation, both in general, and for making technology more accessible. Finally, I was both a presenter and a moderator during the event.

September 06, 2023

New Month - Time for Newsletter and New Podcast

September 06, 2023/ Jon Arnold

Still feels like summer, but it’s a new month, so it’s time for new editions of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review newsletter, and the Watch This Space podcast.