Preview for Enterprise Connect - Our BCStrategies Podcast

The week is flying by, and the biggest conference in our space is next week, so time is short. I've already done shout-outs about my session there - and more to come - but we're going bigger picture here. Since many of us at BCStrategies (nee UCStrategies) are speaking at Enterprise Connect, we put this podcast together so you can hear all about that in one place. 

Our fearless leader, Jim Burton, did a great job moderating, and he's pulled it all together nicely, with both our podcast, and a summary table for all our speaking spots at the show. It's a lot to follow, posted now on our portal.

Sidebar - I rarely post two images, but it fits this time. Below is our BCStrategies logo, and a shout-out for my speaking spot. Also, fyi, if you register before March 9 with this link, you'll get $500 off your registration.

Monage, San Jose - Quick Thoughts and Pix

Just sharing some quick thoughts and photos from the first two days of Monage, here in San Jose. Time is running short, and my session is in an hour. Got LOTS to say, but it will have to wait til after the event, although I've been tweeting a fair bit - #Monage.

In short, Jeff has delivered a great program as usual, with a wonderful diversity of speakers and perspectives on where things are going with chatbots, AI and messaging. It's mostly a consumer story, and in our session, we'll be giving the enterprise version of things. Check back with me in a day or so, and I'll have something more coherent to say - ears still ringing from the Herding Cats party last night.  :-)

Jeff Pulver and his welcome comments

Oisin Lunny of OpenMarket, talking about mobile engagement trends

Amir Shevat from Slack, talking about how bots are used in the enterprise

Regulatory panel - so, why is Jeff smiling? What's Jeff thinking? Guess I caught the moment, here, huh? Perfect for a meme!

chris fine leading the millennials panel - very interesting, wish my kids were up there too! Photo courtesy of Mike Jablon.

NFV and hosted comms panel, moderated by Mike Jablon, including RingCentral, 8x8 and the Infield Group

Expo Hall - it's small, but engaging. Well, VON started small too.

Johnny Digzz holding court - just press go and away he goes - great stories and tech perspectives

jon and jeff! Photo courtesy of Uncle Jerry.  :-)

Night time is the right to get out and have some fun - that what happens when the herding cats play - still sounding great!

  As good as it looks, and a local landmark for sure. ok, time to take a walk...

A few blocks south - not everyone can afford to eat at Joe's,  and they'll go to Trine's instead. Not everyone in San Jose is a tech millionaire. or will be part of the bot economy. be thankful for what you have!

If Trine's is too busy, go a little further south to the Burger Bar - the price sure is right!

Think I walked a bit too far - better keep going - not quite feeling it for this spot.

Nextiva - Kawasaki and the Woz - My Conference Takeaways on UCStrategies

Last week's Nextcon16 was Nextiva's coming-out party for analysts, and they did a great job. They have ambitious plans with their NextOS platform, and we'll be watching that closely as it comes to market.

Aside from getting to know the company a lot better, there were great keynotes, most notably from Guy Kawasaki and Steve Wozniak. Both had strong messages that speak well to where Nextiva is going, and wearing my UC Expert hat, I pulled all that together in my latest UCStrategies post. It's running now, and I hope you like it. Sharing is encouraged, and your comments are welcome as always.

Next Stop - Palm Springs and the BC Summit

This is my high season for travel, and on Monday, it's off to Palm Springs and the BC Summit. As a long-time UC Expert with UCStrategies, this has become a regular event where we share three days of thought leadership with a fairly select group of vendors/providers, channels and end customers. 

Each year I seem to get a bit more involved with the program, and this time around I'll be speaking on four panel sessions. They all occur on Thursday, during the Concurrent Sessions, which begin at 10:20 am. For the details, scroll down the Agenda page here. 

Never been to Palm Springs, so in addition to being part of the summit, am definitely looking forward to going somewhere new - and warm, yeah!

Getting the Message About Messaging

Just a heads-up on my current writeup for UCStrategies. As a UC Expert, I provide ongoing analysis of the UC&C space, and along with  the other UC Experts, our overall contributions make this a great resource for staying up to date.

This post is based on research recently produced by Twilio about messaging, and why it's becoming so popular. I've extracted some key findings and provided my take on what this means for enterprises. My writeup is now running on the portal, and would love to hear your thoughts.

If you like what you see, there's more coming next week, as we gather for the BC Summit in Palm Springs, CA. I'll have more details in another post later this week, but I'll be speaking on four sessions, so I've got some work to do still to get ready for those.

Our UCStrategies Podcast - Gartner's UC Magic Quadrant

That's the subject of our latest UCStrategies Industry Buzz podcast, and needless to say there were lots of perspectives from the group. If you want to know the latest state of enterprise UC, the Gartner MQ is required reading, and for the most part, there were no surprises.

Needless to say, this is really just one slice of the UC pie - it may be the biggest, but it doesn't really reflect all the disruption that keeps our community busy and gainfully employed. To me, that's where the podcast gets more interesting, and I really hope you give it a listen. It's certainly one of our most popular podcast topics, and you can access it here from the portal.

Aside from my comments on the podcast - at the 11:56 mark - much of this was amplified in my latest UCStrategies post, titled "Tomorrow's UC - Nobody's Talking About Voice", and you might enjoy that as well. And if you do, feel free to share!

My New Article - Tomorrow's UC - Nobody's Talking About Voice

As a long-standing UC Expert with UCStrategies, I contribute a monthly article to help keep our overall pool of content fresh. If you follow the UC/collaboration space, and you're not a regular on our portal, I strongly urge you to spend time with us. I'm just one of many analysts and consultants working in this market, and you won't find a better one-stop-shop for what's happening and what buyers out there need to make good decisions.

Along that path, my latest analysis is about where things are going, and if you're only thinking about replacing an aging phone system, you better read this now. The content on our portal is very much on the pulse of change, and in my article I've connected the dots for three separate ideas to clarify what I think is important right now. Things change quickly in this space, and next month, it might be something else, but for today, I hope you give this a read, and would love to hear your thoughts.

NEC's Advantage 2016 Conference - UCS Podcast

There was a small contingent of analysts and consultants at last week's NEC conference, and there was enough presence from the UCStrategies group to bear collective witness, so that's what we did for our latest podcast.

Being so big and diversified, NEC brings a different twist to the UC space, and it takes some effort to get to know them. However, it's worthwhile, and if they play their cards right, they have a solid portfolio that competes well with anybody.

I was part of that contingent, and along with us, we had a few other UC Experts who weren't there weigh in with their thoughts. So, lots of perspectives, and if you're looking to get up to speed on NEC, our podcast will be 40 minutes well spent.

If you want the two minute version, along with some photos, I did a short blog post about the event, but the podcast provides a much deeper dive.

CPaaS - New Acronym for UC - Our UCS Podcast

This week's podcast topic was the growing role of APIs and emergence of CPaaS as the latest acronym - that's Communications Platform as a Service.

All of us at UCStrategies try to keep up with the changing landscape, and what we've long been calling Unified Communications seems to be morphing into the equally amorphous term Business Communications. Your guess is as good as mine as to what's next, but for now, the buzz is about CPaaS, spurred by the recent news of Vonage acquiring Nexmo.

It's becoming clear now that UC providers need to have some form of messaging in their offering, and that's what we covered during our podcast. The session was moderated by Blair Pleasant, and you  can check it out here on the UCStrategies portal.

UCS Podcast - Role of Customer Engagement in the Contact Center

Well, the role is definitely changing, and we don't talk about this enough, but that was the focus for our latest UCStrategies podcast. Blair Pleasant as usual, did a great job moderating, and we had a wide range of perspectives, covering both how technology is impacting the customer experience, along with how the relationship between buyers and sellers has evolved in today's digital world.

The podcast can be accessed here on the UCS site, and my comments start at the 7:33 mark.

Atos Acquisition of Unify - UCStrategies Podcast

This move last week came out of the blue for most of us, and with so little detail being made public, it's hard to know what's really going on. Atos is not well known in North America, and while Unify isn't a household word so much here either, they also bet heavily on Circuit. I've had my own reservations about Circuit, and one could view this deal as a sign that after a year, they've run out of time/patience/resources to realize its potential.

I'm just one voice among many, and if you're wondering what to make of the Atos/Unify deal, our latest UCStrategies podcast should be your next stop. The podcast was moderated by Dave Michels, and he engaged several of us in a lively discussion. It's been posted now, and I hope you give it a listen. We'd love to hear your thoughts as well!

CTCA Golf Tourney - Last Hurrah

On Wednesday, I came to the dinner following a full day of golf with the CTCA. They do this annually, and while this marks their 30th anniversary, it will be their last. Back in June, I attended their annual conference, at which time a vote was taken - and passed - to fold CTCA into the SCTC.

I'm an outlier in this world of communications consultants, and am the only analyst among the CTCA ranks, but I get a lot out of it, and I know they want to see more of my kind in their ranks. As the transition to SCTC unfolds, I think more of this will happen, as I know SCTC wants to broaden its reach.

J.R. Simmons is the common thread for me in all this, as he's an SCTC Executive, a fellow UCStrategies Expert, and he came up here to speak at the dinner about why the SCTC will be good for CTCA members.

For independents like me with U.S.-based clientele, I'm looking forward to the change, and you can expect to see/hear/read things from my end under the SCTC banner in due time. I just booked my travel for their conference next month in Atlanta, and that will be a first for me. If you're attending, I hope to see you there, and if you're free on the last night of the conference - October 8 - I'll be playing again with the SIPtones. What could be better?

J.R. Simmons during dinner

Back to Work - Gartner UC Magic Quadrant Podcast

No complaints about being away the past few days, and the world is still intact, so it's ok to shut down and recharge every so often.

Since being away, I wanted to share this post from last week's UCStrategies podcast about the current Gartner Magic Quadrant report on the UC market. Many nuances to discuss, so it was a lively session. It's worth noting that the vendors in the UC MQ are unchanged from last year, and that's a sign that the space is maturing somewhat.

Maybe so, but the waters are far from still and we all had something to say about that. If you haven't caught it yet, here's where you can access the podcast, and you can pick up my comments at the 20:42 mark. Don't stop there, though - lots of interesting perspectives from the group from start to finish.

UCS Podcast: What Is/Should be Kaput or End-of-Life?

We had some fun on this week's UCStrategies podcast, talking about things we think should be goners or are walking dead, but just don't know it yet.

Of course, everyone has their pet peeves, and the one that resonated for me was Kevin Kieller's comment about privacy. Yeah, that's a big one, and we're giving it up, one tweet at a time - as long as we can have fun in the moment, really, what else is more important in life? Party on....

I'm even bleaker, but you'll have to get to the 28:19 mark for my thoughts. Lots of good ideas otherwise - some very technical and some just everyday practical. Unless I missed something, I don't think anyone said that UC itself is kaput, and there are certainly times when I think that's the case.

Let's stay upbeat and get you over to our portal. The podcast was moderated by the always-you're-wrong-unless-I-tell-you-otherwise Dave Michels, and it's now posted there for downloading.

Sneak peek - I'll be moderating next weeks's podcast - that will be a first for me as a UC Expert. I recently posted about some new research that had some noteworthy findings about how SMBs view UC. It's not a topic we hear enough about, so we'll all get to explore things further then. Watch for it here and on the UCStrategies site towards the end of next week.

How is Microsoft Doing in UC These Days?

In the UC space - UC&C as well for that matter - the world largely revolves around two vendors - Microsoft and Cisco. They're hardly the only games in town, but nobody can match their footprint and market power. Despite Microsoft's size, the jury is constantly out for being leaders or laggards, and I don't think we'll ever have a clear answer.

Whether you think Skype for Business is the right name, they're sticking with it, and the latest development is their plan to add PSTN connectivity to Office 365. You might say it's too little too late for that, but you might also say that it doesn't matter as much now with so many other options for voice.

These are the state-of-flux scenarios that keep us busy at UCStrategies, and that was the focus of our latest podcast. Lots of commentary from all over the spectrum, and this is a great way to get up to speed on where Microsoft is sitting in the eyes of analysts and consultants. The podcast was hosted by Marty Parker, and my comments turn up at the 34:31 mark - here's the link.

Also, a warm welcome to Simon Dudley as part of our UC Expert ranks. We worked well together when he was at Lifesize, and we look forward to his UCStrategies contributions, which actually begin with this podcast.

What SMBs Think About UC - New Research

Hopefully you know that as a UC Expert with UCStrategies, I contribute a monthly post to their best-in-the-biz portal. I'm working on a project with Metaswitch Networks, where I'm producing a report that pulls together the findings from their current 2015 SMB Market Report - and you'll be hearing about that soon. This study is quite extensive, and my job is to distill a ton of slides and a mountain of backup data into concise guidance for decision makers about VoIP and UC. I've been a market research practitioner for 30+ years, so I'm definitely up to the task.

For UCStrategies (with blessings from Metaswitch), I've zeroed in on the handful of questions asked specifically about UC, and the findings are definitely worth sharing. Even these few data points tell a good story, so if you want to quickly digest how SMBs are seeing UC, you'll want to give my analysis a read. It was just posted to the portal, so here you go. Would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you're an SMB.

UCStrategies Podcast - Is UCaaS a Blip or a Trend?

That's the question we tackled on this week's UCStrategies podcast. Lots of opinions on this one, and I'm not going to give it away here. Let's just say UCaaS is for real, but we're not there yet.

Dave Michels moderated this one, and my comments start at the 25:41 mark. Everyone has something to say on the topic, and if you can't listen to the whole thing, feel free to cherry pick for the UC Experts you want to hear from. It's posted now on our portal, and we'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Two UC Messages from Cisco's Customer Collaboration Summit

Got back late last night from Austin, and took away some strong messages from Cisco's collab event the past couple of days. I addressed two of these in my current contribution to the UCStrategies portal, and it's just been posted, so I hope you run over to read it now.

Basically, I see UC facing similar challenges to the contact center, and for the latter, Cisco has lot on the ball now, especially with their focus on omnichannel. They are definitely being strategic in this space, and while UC is part of the story there, UC has its own issues finding a niche as a standalone solution. My post talks about two things Cisco is doing with contact centers that all UC vendors could stand to apply to their plans. That's my teaser, and for the rest of the story, head over to the UCS portal.

March Writing Roundup

Maybe my busiest month ever in terms of the amount and variety of writing that's out there for public consumption. More of the same coming in April, so plenty of research and writing work to keep me busy. So, here's a digest of the best examples I think you'll enjoy if you didn't catch them first time around.

Collaboration Insights - Getting Work Done, my blog, March 2 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog

Will UC Become a Loss Leader?, UCStrategies, March 3

BYOE and the Rise of End-User Driven UC, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4

Three Ways SIP Phones Add Value Value to Hosted VoIP, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4

BYOD Expectations - Will Employees be Happier?, Toolbox.com, March 6

More BYOD Expectations - Personal Privacy, Toolbox.com, March 12

Complexity Versus Simplicity in Making Collaboration Work, my blog, March 16 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog

BYOD Challenges and Risks - Shadow IT, Toolbox.com, March 17

Verizon's Virtual Communications Express - Bigger can be Beautiful too, my blog, March 18

Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Recap of my Posts, my blog, March 20

TIA's Network of the Future Conference, my blog, March 27

ETS15 Takeaway: Finding Tomorrow's Leaders in the Energy Economy, ETS Insights, March 30

UC Trends and Smart Grid Opportunities - Parallels to Learn From, UCStrategies, March 30

Will UC Become a Loss Leader?

Good question, huh?I think it will, and in light of this week's surprise move from Mitel to acquire Mavenir, this may not seem so far-fetched. If their move pays off, it might also indicate that UC vendors aren't necessarily selling to the right customers.

It's always good to question the status quo, especially with UC, where nothing is really on firm ground. I hope that's enough to steer you now to my current posting on UCStrategies. As a UC Expert, I contribute regualrly there, and I encourage you to spend more time on the portal - I'm just one of many analysts and consultants following UC, and this is where we speak our minds.