What Trends Will Fizzle in 2014 - UCStrategies Podcast

We can't all be winners, and UC is really no different from other tech waves that come and go. In the early going, everyone is a winner until the novelty wears off and vendors have to start making money. We try lots of new things - some just streamline things we've been doing all along or make them more accessible, like desktop video. Others are more radical - like WebRTC - that threaten to reinvent the whole space.

I'd say we're past the novelty stage with UC, and there's already been a fair bit of consolidation, but there's more to come. This just means the stakes get higher for everybody - vendors, operators, channels and even IT decision-makers - and it already looks like the top end of the market is a two-horse race between Cisco and Microsoft.

There's lots of life left to UC, though, and the future is still be written, but not everything we've been trying over the past year or two will survive through 2014. Depending on who you speak to, the casualties will vary, and that's what we talked about during last week's UCStrategies podcast.

A fundamental challenge with UC is its fluid nature - it can be almost anything you want it to be, and that makes it really hard to know when you're done - or able to add something new. So, we covered a lot of ground, including social media, BYOD, video and WebRTC. All of these things have been trying to find a home within the UC envelope, but vendors can only keep trying for so long, and then you reach a point where something has to change. Either you drop it and move on, somehow keep it going as a loss leader, or go back to the drawing board and keep tweaking until it hits a nerve.

Nobody ever said innovation was easy, and to hear what we think are prime examples of this, you'll want to give this a listen. This week's podcast was moderated by Michael Finneran, and you can download the audio file here. If you think we're off the mark or missing something big, we'd love to hear about it - thanks!

Upcoming Webinar - The Evolution of VoIP

Just a quick shout-out for my next Ziff Davis webinar. VoIP has come a long way, and these days there aren't many reasons to not be using it. There are  lots of SMBs out there still on legacy service, and that's who this webinar is catering to.

If that's YOU, then you'll want to join us on March 4, at 2pm ET. Registration is free, and all the details are here. We've already got a lot of sign-ups, so I  know this will be well attended. I'll have a couple more posts to keep this on your radar as the date approaches.

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!

2014 UC Outlook - Our Latest UCStrategies Podcast

Building on our previous podcast look at 2013, the next step is looking ahead, and that's what we've addressed in our latest UCStrategies podcast.

Crystal balling can be fun, but there sure are a lot of unknowns with UC going into the new year. I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news, but based on what came out from the podcast, there's certainly lots of opportunity for vendors with the right approach.

By that I mean betting on the right trends that make UC a must-have capability. Nobody has really cracked that code yet, but with so much disruption coming from the likes of the cloud, WebRTC, video everywhere and social media, I think the value proposition is going to change.

Aside from this being my view of things, I hope it piques your interest enough to hear what the UCS Experts have to say about 2014. The podcast is available for listening now, and here's the link on our portal.

ITExpo Session #3 - Big Data and the Customer Experience

Whether you believe Big Data will be a Big Nothing or a Big Deal, you'll want to join us as we talk about what this means for the "customer experience". I'm not sure which of these is the bigger buzzword right now, but the question of the day is "what's the connection?" I don't think anyone quite has the answer yet, but that's where the conversation is headed next Thursday at 12:30pm.

TMCnet's ITExpo East, 2014 edition is less than a week away, and if the cold weather has finally gotten to you, it's not too late to make plans for Miami Beach.

Once you're there, I hope you make time for our session, and joining me will be Brian Sadowski from Apriva, and Brian Spraetz from Interactive Intelligence. We're working on adding another speaker, and will pass that on once in place. For more details on the panel, scroll down the Program tab on the show site - we're part of the Customer Interaction track.

ITExpo Session #2 - Transitioning Your Enterprise to UC

As we go from freezing to deep freeze here in Toronto, Miami Beach is looking better by the minute, and it's not too late for you to join us at next week's ITExpo!

If you've been following my posts, you'll know I'll be busy there wearing a few different hats. This post is about the second session I'm moderating, and it should be a must-see for anyone thinking about deploying UC. I write about this topic constantly, and have a pretty good sense of the challenges, so I'll be keen to hear what other have to say.

Joining me will be Dean Manzoori from Masergy, Frederic Dickey from Sangoma, and Khris Kendrick from CounterPath. The 45 minute panel format means the time will fly by, and we'll have no problem sharing real world examples of what works, what doesn't work, and best practices to make your path easier.

Our panel is at 1:30 on Wednesday, and it's part of the Enterprise Solutions Track. For more details, scroll down the Program tab on the show site, and if there's anything in particular you want us to to talk about, drop me a line.

ITExpo Session - Next Generation Contact Centers

This is the next update in a series of posts I'm running about what I'll be up to at next week's ITExpo in Miami Beach. My prior post covered what I'll be doing with the Government of Ontario and their economic trade mission showcasing some leading tech startups.

Now I'll focus on the sessions I'm moderating. My first panel is on Wednesday, from 9:00 - 9:45 am. The title is pretty self-explanatory: "From Call to Contact: Next Generation Customer Service Centers", and it's part of the Customer Interaction Track.

Joining me will be Max Ball from 8x8, and Rick McFarland from Voice4Net. We expect to add another speaker soon, and I'll pass that update along. This is a big topic, so we won't have time to fully re-invent the contact center, but I'm sure you'll come away with a few new ideas about what you could be doing.

For more detail, just go to the Program tab on the show's site, and scroll down to our time.

Also, an FYI, I'll be participating in Editor's Day on Tuesday, so if you're planning to be at the show, I won't be hard to find. If you can't attend, the next best thing is to follow TMC's show blog, as well as their tweets - @TMCnet and @ITEXPO - and even mine - @arnoldjon.

ITExpo Preview #1 - Ontario Pavilion Briefing

TMC's ITExpo East is now less than two weeks away, and it's time to start talking things up. Am sure you're getting regular updates on the keynotes and sub-events, and it looks like they've settled into a good thing with the Miami Beach venue. The size is about right - although it might feel crowded if the event gets much bigger - and nobody is complaining about going to South Beach in late January. We survived the Ice Storm here in Toronto, so the change in scene will be very welcome!

I'll be moderating some sessions and participating in Editor's Day, and posts are coming with more details. Thought I'd start this series off talking up what the government of Ontario is doing with their trade mission to the Expo. They're returning to the show with their Ontario Pavilion, located in booth #815. I've been involved with this initiative at previous Expos, and the idea is to showcase Ontario companies in our space. Like any trade mission, it's an economical way for these companies to get direct exposure to new markets, and a chance for attendees to see what Ontario has to offer.

At present, the delegation consists of eight companies: Advance Software Concepts, Cloud Dynamics, Excelocity, In-Touch Insight Systems, Myplanet Digital, Phybridge, SVK Software, and Telax. They're all doing interesting things, and will be on hand there throughout the show.

Aside from that, the pavilion is hosting a market briefing and meet-and-greet at the booth on Friday, from 10-11am. I'll be providing an informal briefing about market trends and opportunities that these companies are addressing, and a delegate from the Canadian Consulate in Miami will be on hand. So, if you want to see the latest and greatest coming from Ontario, please join us.

I'll also be particpating in a VIP breakfast being hosted by the Ontario government, plus there's a general reception from 2-4pm on Thursday at the booth, which has been well attended in the past. See you there - go Canada!

2013 in Review for UC - UCStrategies Podcast

Last week, we focused on 2013 highlights for our weekly UCStrategies podcast, and we really had to cut things down, as there was so much to talk about. The podcast was moderated by Blair Pleasant, and I added to her thoughts about the focus on the user experience.

There's lots more worth listening to, and the replay has now been posted to the portal. I hope you give it a listen, and next podcast, we'll be looking ahead to what we think UC holds in store for 2014.

Amazon Mayday and Your Contact Center

Amazon Mayday created a lot of buzz recently, and along with many others, I wrote extensively about it. Just because things have died down doesn't mean it's gone away. I think it's fair to say that contact center decision-makers are still assessing what it means to them, so this article should still be timely.

As you may know, I write a monthly column - Rethinking Communications -  for TMCnet, and the posts usually run in their flagship pub, Internet Telephony Magazine. Given the subject matter, this month's writeup is running instead in Customer Magazine. Unlike the near-instant world of online portals, the logistics around print-based publishing mean long lead times. This post was written a while back, and is just hitting the market now.

I think Amazon's Mayday button can impact the contact center on many levels, and if you can get past the novelty of a 15 second response time, and focus on what's really important for customers, the rest really shouldn't be that hard to do.

That's my teaser, and for the rest of the story, here's the link. I hope you find a few new ideas in my article,  and as always, comments and suggestions for new themes are welcome.

New UC Column for me on InformationWeek - First Post Running Now

If you follow me, you know I do a lot of writing, and I've got a new forum for sharing my views on the UC space. I've just started a monthly column with InformationWeek, which is part of the UBM Tech conglomerate. Independent analysts don't get this kind of exposure every day, and it's a manageable commitment given my overall workload.

InformationWeek recently re-launched their online presence, with all the tools you'd expect to create two-way dialog between contributors and readers, so it's pretty dynamic. Their main portal contains many sub-portals with vertical focus, and my column falls under the Infrastructure bucket. Within that, they have a Unified Communications section, and that's where you can find me, along with many other contributors.

My first post just ran this morning, and I wanted to share this with my readers. It's titled "Becoming a Unified Communications Salesman", and you'll just have to read it to get the message. I hope you like it, and comments are most welcome - not just by me, but the folks at InfoWeek as well.

IT Expo 2014, Miami - Be There?

Happy 2014!

It's about 100 below today in Toronto, and even more than usual, I'm looking forward to the next ITExpo in sunny Miami Beach, starting January 28.

Aside from the frigid weather we're getting now, Toronto just came through an unprecedented ice storm that left over 300,000 people without power. Our house was without power for 9 days, and my business had no connectivity for 8 days. We're back to normal now, but it was pretty disruptive, and it's time to get back to work.

To get the year started - and resume blogging - I'm doing a quick shout-out for the ITExpo, an event I've been actively supporting for many years. The show continues to evolve and is doing a great job keeping up with the latest trends, including WebRTC, cloud, SDN and UC. They've also added some new tracks (co-located events, actually), such as visual collaboration and "SmartVoice". In short, it's great see some cutting edge focus on voice and video - really, the core building blocks for UC - and for the latter, you won't want to miss comms guru Martin Geddes, who's keynoting Tuesday morning. That should be a real treat.

I'll have more updates on the show, as well as details about the four sessions I'm moderating. If you're feeling the weather the way I am, you shouldn't need much prodding to make plans to join us!

Our Next Contact Center Webinar - the Holy Grail for Increasing Personalization and Engagement

If you follow me, you'll know I've been writing a lot lately about Amazon's Mayday button, and that has been a springboard for thinking about how to elevate you contact center to connect better with customers.

Last month, I spoke on a webinar about Mayday, and the turnout was tremendous. That particular event was sponsored by software giant SAP, and hosted by our good friends at TMCnet. Well, we're reprising that combination again with another webinar on January 21, at 2pm ET.

Clearly, there's an appetite to learn more about what all this means and what contact centers should be doing, and that's what we'll be talking about. The title tells the story pretty well - Search for the Holy Grail - Increasing Customer Engagement with Personalization in your Contact Center.

Joining me will be colleague Neal Shact, CEO of CommuniTech Services, and the discussion will be ably moderated by Rich Tehrani, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of TMCnet.This should be another strong event, and we hope you can join us. I'll be socializing the webinar off and on, and if you're ready to register now, here's the landing page.

My New White Paper - "VoIP Security - More Than Just IT Risk"

My blogging frequency is not a good barometer of what I'm up to, as some projects take months to complete, while other work is done on a daily basis. As you may know, I write a lot of white papers, some of which you can access from my website - along with other work samples.

VoIP security is a hot topic, and while the urgency to address it seems to come and go, the fundamental risks haven't changed. In fact, they're beoming more numerous and serious, and in my books, it's just a matter of time until some form of NSA-scale breach happens. These things do happen, but we just don't hear about it, as businesses don't generally like to acknowledge them. In the main, the thinking is typically "this won't happen to me", "we have adequate security in place", or "I don't believe those threats are real".

You can take your pick, but this misguided thinking is going to backfire sooner or later. As VoIP - and UC - gains mainstream traction, they will become attractive targets for the bad guys, who will always be at least one step ahead of most good guys.

Without oversimplifying things, that's the thesis I addressed in my latest white paper. The project was sponsored by Ottawa-based VoIPshield Systems, and if you don't know them, they've been at this game a long time, and believe the time is right to educate the market and help IT take more responsible measures.

To support that, they needed third party validation on the state of VoIP security, and that's what I was brought in to do. My research was broad-based across the value chain, and let's just say that the deeper you dig, the more there is to be concerned about. Of course, there's lots of technology out there that can mitigate the risks, and VoIPshield falls squarely into that category.

The white paper was recently posted to their website for download, and the press release to support the launch went live yesterday. VoIP security touches more bases than you may realize, and even if you have a mild curiosity, I think you'll find the paper a good read. To learn more, as well as download the paper, here's the link to press release. Comments are most welcome, and if you have war stories to share, I'm all ears.

What Millennials can teach us about collaboration

Just back from a 9 day trip to Florida, and let's just say it's a little cooler up here in Toronto. Now I remember why I like Florida so much. Anyhow, back to work and lots to catch up on.

My latest Rethinking Communications column is running now on the digial edition of Internet Telephony, which is TMCnet's flagship publication. As the title of this post implies, I think those of us looking at VoIP and UC can learn a lot from Millennials, especially when trying to work in teams.

Collaboration is easier said than done, and you simply have to start from the foundational idea that the younger generation works differently that my peer group. I'm not here to judge, so you're best off saying it's different - not better or worse.

Once you accept that, tools like UC can be used very effectively if they support the way Millennials like to work. This generation is pretty independent, not to mention tech-savvy, so their expectations may not match yours. You might even learn a thing or two if you're willing to listen, but I'll stop there and hope you read my article - here's the link.

I think this is a fascinating topic, and once you digest that, feel free to share your thoughts - after, isn't that what collaboration is all about? Finally, if you like my thinking, you might want to read my other columns and thought leadership pieces, which you can find links to here.

UCS Podcast - Mitel/Aastra and Industry Consolidation Trends

Well, the recent Mitel/Aastra deal got everyone's attention, and Mitel seems to be making a habit of acquiring like-sized competitors. Ususally, M&A activity is between big fish and smaller fish, but these days, whatever works is just fine.

This has given rise to thinking about broader consolidation trends, and usually becomes a hot topic after a shakeup deal like Mitel/Aastra. That's what we covered on this week's UCStrategies podcast, and I'd urge you to give a play if you want the state of the nation on UC consolidation.

I'm in there - around the 23 minute mark - along with several other UCS regulars. Dave Michels did a great job moderating, and the link was posted earlier this morning.

JFK's Assassination at 50 Revisited - the Day the Music Died

Many of us - myself included - remembered where we were 50 years ago today, but perhaps none of us witnessed JFK's assassination at Dealey Plaza. I sure don't know anyone who was there.

For modern music fans, you know what "the day the music died" means. If you don't, it refers to Buddy Holly, who was lost along with others in a fatal plane crash a few years earlier in 1959. Interestingly, his birthplace of Lubbock is due West from Dallas - not that far away.

What he represented to the nascent world of rock and roll, along with what was to become youth culture, was exactly what JFK meant to the idealism of post-war America and all the promise that the 1960s was showing. After November 22, 1963, nothing was ever the same again, and my feeling is that this was historical high point for America and we may never get back there.

If any of this resonates with you, then today is pretty special, and that's why I'm re-sharing one of my older blog posts here.

I wasn't at Dealey Plaza in 1963, but I WAS there in 2008, and given what made that day special, I'd say this is the next best thing, and a pretty good proxy for getting a first-hand flavor for what happened then.

So what was so special in November 2008? Well, Obama got elected, and I happened to be in Dallas the day the results were announced. If you care about these things, the stars really couldn't have lined up any better, and I took full advantage of the moment in both time and place.

I don't often cite old posts, but just after that trip, I put a photo-essay together based on my experience, and if you're even just a bit reflective of what today means, I think you'll enjoy seeing it. There was hardly any social media then, so if you don't follow my blog, you probably never saw it.

As a taste, here's one of my photos. What's this?

Well, it's the USA Today headline announcing Obama's win and "dream fulfilled" at the base of the JFK cenotaph in Dallas, where another big dream died 50 years ago today. How's that for linking one American dream to another?

If you don't remember my photo essay - or have never seen it - I hope you take a look. I'm pretty sure you'll find it time well spent and maybe learn a few things you never knew or saw. If you like that, you may also enjoy my Americana posts, which I do from time to time. Whatever you do, I'd love to hear what all this means to you too!

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.

Creative Destruction - is RIM's Loss Apple's Gain?

Am just testing something on my blog, and you may have seen this post already. If not, I think you may find this a good read!

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

My latest UCStrategies contribution has taken a few turns along the way, but I think it's addressing some timely issues. You may not agree with my point of view, and that's fine. I may very well be dead wrong, but that's not really the issue.

On a few levels, I could see Apple making a UC play via RIM, but what I'm more interested in is the creative destruction that's going around this space, with RIM's woes being a textbook example. My main takeaway is that anything is possible these days, and if it's not Apple, I'm pretty sure it will be someone else from outside this space who will be making big moves in 2014. The incumbent vendors could manage to defend their territory against all comers, but given how weak many of them are, there is definitely opportunity to be exploited by outsiders with more money, vision, will, chutzpah - whatever you want to call it.

I hope you give my post a read, and would love to get your take - here's the link.

Housekeeping update - new RSS feed for my subscribers

It was recently brought to my attention that the RSS feed link for my blog is broken, and after doing some digging, I now know why. The link has now been updated and is working just fine.

So, if you have an RSS feed set up and want to subscribe to my blog, just scroll down to the "Subscribe" section on the right side of the blog page, and you'll see the "RSS Feed" link there.

Apologies for the inconvenience, and I definitely appreciate your comments, especially about things that need fixing!