Smart Grid Summit Updates - Taking My Talents to South Beach

I had some fun with this writeup for our portal, but the main idea is to update you on the Smart Grid Summit. Miami is only a few weeks out, and with winter weather ramping up today, yeah, I'm looking forward to being there! You can read the latest program update here, with more coming next week.

Smart Grid Product of the Year Awards

Our Smart Grid Summit program is coming together nicely now, and the event is just a few short weeks away. I just wanted to note that our second POTY Awards program has just launched. If you're a smart grid innovator and want a shot at industry recognition, you can read more about the program here, along with how to submit an application. Good luck!

Happy 2011 - Back to Work

Welcome to 2011, and I hope your year is off to a great start!

I know I'm not the only one who dialed things down over the holiday, and it's been over two weeks since my last blog post. Been doing a lot of thinking over the break and will be narrowing my focus in 2011. I'll update you as things unfold, but for now I just wanted to recap my writings/musings/2011 outlook during the past while that haven't been cited here in my posts. In case you didn't see these, here they are...

- Focus Brief: 2011 – Two Key Telecom Trends for SMBs

- Focus Brief: Virtual Queuing – the End of Music on Hold?

- UCStrategies podcast: UCStrategies Experts Make UC Predictions for 2011

- Service Provider Views column: My Cisco Collaboration Summit Takeaways - Five Business Opportunities for Service Providers

Now you're up to date. Back to work...

Virtual Queuing - Adding Value to Contact Centers

I meant to post this earlier today. My latest Focus Brief is about virtual queuing, a concept that's gaining credence in the contact center community. There are some Canadian angles to the story, and maybe that's what got me going on this topic!

How about you go read it for yourself on Focus.com and let me know!

Acme Packet - Analyst Day Takeaways on UCStrategies

Regular readers will know that I attended Acme Packet's first-ever analyst day last week at their new Boston-area HQ. Whether you were new to Acme or a long-time follower like myself, they did a great job covering all the bases and explaining why SBCs matter, and of course why they're so well positioned.

No argument there, and I shared some of my thoughts about this in my current contribution to the UCStrategies portal. Titled "Acme Packet's Analyst Day - Clarifying the SBC Opportunity and the Death of Telecom", it's posted there now, and you can read it here. Hope you like it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Podcast with Rad - 2001 Outlook - Security - Watch Out!

I do occasional podcasts with Peter Radizeski about what we're seeing in telecom, especially following industry events we attend. Yesterday we chatted about what we expect to see in 2011, and across the many themes we touched on - the cloud, mobility, social media, contact centers - security kept popping up. It's all interesting stuff, but that seems to be the watchword for 2011.

Also, since I was at Acme Packet's analyst day last week, I shared my thoughts about them at the top of the call. This actually turned out to be a nice segue to security, since this often comes up in discussions around session border controllers.

Enough said - here's the link if you'd like to give the podcast a listen, and if you want to add your own thoughts, just drop me a line.

Acme Packet Visit - From Bedford to Boston

Had a pretty full day yesterday here in Boston. I'm here mainly for Acme Packet's first analyst day, which also serves as a nice welcome event for their new HQ in Bedford, MA. I've been on a good run lately attending vendor events, and while most of these companies are doing very well, it's hard to argue that nobody is hotter than Acme right now.

As many of you may know, I've followed Acme from the beginning, so it's a familiar story for me, but much less so for others, including several of the analysts in attendance with me. In my mind, it's all good, and in short, it's Acme's time. Going forward, it will be hard not to come across them, especially when talking about how service providers are going to scale up their networks for IP.

I'm not going to give you chapter and verse here, but Acme is a good story and if session border controllers aren't in your lexicon yet, then you're missing out on an important piece of the IP landscape.

You'll be seeing more of this logo as SBCs become better understood.


Don't let the simple sign fool you. SBCs are complex, and you don't get far around here if you're not an engineer.


Steve Collins and his opening preso


Andy Ory - just talking and engaging us about the big picture challenges that all service providers face. He's got great vision, and I could listen to - and talk with - him all day. With this kind of leadership, it's not hard to see why Acme is so successful.


Seamus Hourihan - deeper dive on what's new


From Bedford to Boston. Lucky me, I got to go the Celtics game last night. I've never been to the "new Gahden", and it was better than expected. Had a great time, the seats were primo, and until you see NBA players up this close, it's hard to understand just how big these guys are compared to everyone else - esp little people like me! :-) I'm a pretty good jump shooter, but that won't take me very far with this crowd.

KG doing his pre-game ritual






Hey look, a Canadian flag - cool! Hey look, championship banners - even cooler!! The mantra around is "it's all about 18". I'm pretty confident they have the right mix this year win #18, unless they get derailed by injuries like the Red Sox did last year.


Shaq at the line - always an adventure...

ADTRAN Connect 2010 - UCStrategies Podcast Recap

Wearing my UCStrategies hat, our podcast this week was a recap of last week's ADTRAN 2010 Connect event. Some of us were repeat vistors from last year's event, and others were visiting ADTRAN for the first time. The end result was the same for everyone - we all came away with a strong impression of the company, along with some ideas about how they build on this to improve mind-share beyond their core customer base.

I've long felt that ADTRAN is a great story flying below many people's radar, and if you want to know why, check out our podcast. You can pick it up from the UCStrategies portal here, as well as read the transcript if that's easier.

Next Stop - Boston and Acme Packet

One more trip left for the year! It's a short one, but it should be good. Acme Packet is welcoming analysts to their new global HQ in Bedford, just outside of Boston.

If you follow my work, you'll know that I've been close to Acme and the whole session border controller space since the beginning. Sure wish I was an investor! I can't think of a better performing stock in our space this year, and the investor community is finally getting it with SBCs.

Since going public a little over 4 years ago, the stock trended down from around $17 to just under $4, then worked back up to the $10 range by January of this year. Since then, though, it's been on an incredible run, trading now around $54, and it's been up $10 just the last week alone. Phew! Something tells me they'll be taking good care of us this week. :-)

ADTRAN Connect Highlights - Day 2 Photos

Promised I'd post more photos, so here they are. Technically, the first few are from the first day - an evening tour offsite. Anyhow, never a dull moment, and as you'll see, we did a lot more than just sit through presentations.

Wednesday night was a tour and presentation from the Hudson Alpha Institute. This was all new to me - and probably all of us - but very impressive. Tons of leading edge biotech research happening here (funded in part by ADTRAN), and it's another example of how diverse the Huntsville economy is. Boy, did we learn a lot about genome research - very fascinating, with huge implications for IT. Their needs for computer power, bandwidth and storage are massive - way, way, way beyond what our kids are clamoring for to watch YouTube videos. :-)





These vertical beams really caught my eye. Very cool - and as we learned, they come from Alabama woodlands.


Very colorful lab coats!



Day 2 - Networking Management session



My favorite part of the event - the plant tour. While not as extensive as last year's, it was great, including some new things.



I understand how nobody wants to see data centers overheat, but is this really how they do it? :-)



Ahh - the fun stuff. This is the testing lab where they put products through extreme conditions to see how well they hold up. Here's a cold box where you can see how a cup of water behaves at 40 below (F or C - it's the same either way). Can you imagine the fun they must have on late shift during a long weekend? I'll bet they watch Mythbusters for inspiration!

ADTRAN Connect 2010 - Day 1 Photos

Had a great time at ADTRAN's press/analyst event in Huntsville. Between having very sporadic broadband (why does this happen so often at telecom events?) and getting in very late last night, there hasn't been much time to blog. I only have time right now to post some photos from Day 1 - Day 2 will follow, as will some narrative.


Gary Bolton - opening presentation


Gary leading the executive leadership panel with CEO/Chairman Tom Stanton and the GMs of each division - Jay Wilson for Carrier Networks, and Rick Schansman for Enterprise Networks


Darrell Brown - future of broadband presentation


Joy Eldred from Frontier Communications - great review of how they've grown with ADTRAN, after absorbing a lot of Verizon subscribers


Kevin Morgan leading the broadband stimulus panel - very interesting topic!

WikiLeaks and Stuxnet - Smart Grid Wakeup Call

I don't often blog about the writing I do for our Smart Grid portal, but with all the buzz and sobering implications around Stuxnet and WikiLeaks, I thought my blog readers would find this of interest. In case you haven't seen this on the portal, here's the link. This topic can take many side routes, and I just might take one of those in another posting. Until then, I hope you enjoy this, and would welcome your comments!

Cisco Takeaways - Five Business Opps for Carriers

I promise - this will be my last reference to Cisco's Collaboration Summit! Can't help it - there were a lot of good ideas there - not just about what Cisco is doing, but also the bigger picture as to where communications is going.

I've written about these things in various places recently, and I also see a specific angle that's relevant for carriers. That's the focus of my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet. I've identified five specific business opportunities for service providers based on what I saw at Cisco's event.

Some of this will not be news, but for me, what Cisco is doing in these areas really underscores the need for service providers to be more proactive - not just to leverage new technologies, but also to adapt to changing end user behaviors and expectations. These things go hand-in-hand, and addressing these opportunities is easier said than done.

Enough preamble - the article is posted now, and you can read it here.

Next Stop - ADTRAN

Heading into the final month of 2010, I have two short trips coming up - back to back. Tomorrow I'm going south, to Huntsville, Alabama. It's my second analyst event for ADTRAN, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Last year's event was quite impressive, and I had no idea how much of tech hub this town is - not to mention being the birthplace of the U.S. space program, and a not-too-far bus ride to the Jack Daniels distillery. :-)

Stay tuned for hightlights, and now that I'm on Twitter, I'll have even more timely updates.

Cisco Takeaways: Five Ways to Rethink Communications

I've been writing a fair bit about last week's Cisco Collaboration Summit, but that's because there's a lot to talk about. This time, I've channeled some new thoughts into my latest Focus Brief. The idea here is to summarize five themes that I believe business decision-makers need think more critically about, and for you to mull over during the Thanksgiving break.

Cisco is looking to play an even bigger role than most of you can imagine for our workplace needs, and if their plans come to fruition, these themes will become core drivers for communications planning at all levels. To follow my thinking, you can read my brief on Focus.com now, and then let me know if I'm on target or not.

UCStrategies Podcast - Cisco, Microsoft and HP

Last week sure was busy in the IP comms space, and while a few of us were busy at Cisco's Collaboration Summit, others were busy following news from Microsoft and HP. I've shared a few things about Cisco's event already, with one more coming today.

I can now add this podcast to the list of analysis and commentary. This was our weekly group call with UCStrategies analysts, and we reviewed our thoughts about the summit along with these other major news events. The podcast can be downloaded here, and there's a transcript if you'd rather just read along.

Cisco Collaboration Summit - Takeaways and Photos

I managed to post some photos and brief comments during Cisco's 2010 Collaboration Summit last week, and promised I'd share some thoughts. On the flight back, I wrote up my takeaways and bigger picture thoughts on where I see Cisco going. This was written specifically for the UCStrategies portal, and as such, most of my analysis focused on how Cisco's plans impact the Unified Communications space.

My article was submitted for posting on Friday morning, but it didn't end up getting published until last night. So, please keep in mind, this was written just hours after the event, with every intention of posting it fresh the next day. Anyhow, not much has really changed since Friday, but if you're still interested in Cisco's grand plans, I think you'll find this a good read. It's running now on the UCStrategies portal, and you can read it here, along with UCS colleague Blair Pleasant's take on the summit.

This is actually the first of two analyses about Cisco's summit. I'll have another one coming this week with a slightly different focus.

While I have you, I mentioned photos earlier, and just wanted to share a few shots from the final day of the summit...

Marthin De Beers - great wrapup presentation


Preview of umi, their home-based collaboration suite - very impressive

Podcast with Peter Radizeski on BroadSoft and Metaswitch

Peter and I often travel in the same circles, and he's well known in the channel space, especially for training and go to market strategies. We do podcasts from time to time, and last week we did one about our shared impressions of two recent telecom events. I attended the Metaswitch Forum and saw some of BroadSoft Connections via video, and Peter attended the latter.

These companies are increasingly coming up against each other, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that both are doing quite well. I go back a long way with both, and it's great to see how they've grown and evolved to become leaders for integrated communications platforms, especially for hosted services. I've been posting about both for some time on my blog, so feel free to review those for more.

Anyhow, if these companies are on your radar, you should enjoy our chat. You can download the podcast here, and if you'd like to follow up, just drop me a line.

Cisco Collaboration Summit - Day 2

Just have time to post some quick pix. Ironically, broadband access has been close to impossible, at least for me. You'd think at this event we'd have super service. Seems that some people are getting access and some are not - might depend on where we're sitting in the room. Anyhow, I'll tweet when time allows, and I'll have my overall thoughts in a day or so.

Day 2 was mostly roundtables with analysts and consultants, and these were under NDA - that's why you won't hear much about that. Aside from that, there were some good panels yesterday with customers, and for companies who buy into Cisco's collaboration vision, the results have been pretty good - it's really about transformative experiences rather than being more efficient with the status quo.

Phil Sherburne talking about VXI and desktop virtualization


Cisco Cius


I love this place - wouldn't you?

Cisco Collaboration Summit, Day 1 Photos

Day 1 at Cisco's 2010 Collaboration Summit was short - just some late afternoon keynotes, but everything has been great so far. Nobody puts on a better event than Cisco, and the venue is as good as it gets. I've written about the Biltmore before, and what I like is how this place is on a very human scale, and reflects the sensibilities from an earlier time before the balance between man and machine tipped too far to the right. Of course, you have this quirky contrast of small scale leisure against the vastness of the harsh Arizona desert - love it.

Anyhow, time to get going on Day 2, and I just wanted to share some quick photos here. More to come on the blog, Twitter and elsewhere.



Kara Wilson with her welcome message - happy to share her excitement and passion about what's coming - and it's pretty good!


John Chambers doing a video greeting. Even with my crappy 2 MP Bold camera you can see how crisp this image is. It really is impressive and it's another example of how well Cisco is living the dream of all this technology.


Padmasree Warrior, CTO - her messaging gets better every time I see her. She did a great job tying in all the big themes of mobility, video, virtualization and the new big driver, social networks.


Barry O'Sullivan - also did a great job connecting all the big ideas to real world applications, especially during the demos with Jim Grubb.



This hotel is full of history, and the Frank Lloyd Wright touches are everywhere, but none more so than this spectacular stained glass panel in the front lobby.