My Current Newsletter is Out - Signed Up Yet?

JUst a quick shout-out about my newsletter, which I finally got going in December. Some of you follow my blog on your own, and many track it via RSS. That's fine, but what I really want is for you to sign up for my newsletter, which I'm trying to make into a monthly thing.

That's easier said than done given all the hats I wear, but the February edition has now been sent to subscribers, and the feedback has been positive. If you don't know, it includes exclusive content that I don't post here on the blog. So, if you want "more JAA" in your life, just sign up to subscribe, and you'll soon get the current newsletter. It's real easy - there are forms in the margins and footers of my website, and it just takes a few seconds. What are you waiting for?

Updated Outlook on Avaya - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Got my hands full here at ITExpo this week, and am behind on writing and blogging. Got a few posts to get out today, starting with this one.

Having emerged from Chapter 11 and going IPO last month, Avaya has the makings of the Great American Comeback story. The elements are certainly there, but many big questions still remain, and this isn't really a clean slate fresh start.

That's the focus of our latest BCStrategies (nee UCStrategies) podcast, and it's posted now on our portal. Many of my BCS colleagues were at Avaya's recent Engage event, so they got first-hand updates on the road ahead. Lots to talk about, and I added some thoughts as well - you can listen to the podcast here, and we'd love to get your feedback.

My Latest Cisco White Paper: AI in the Contact Center

If you follow me, you'll know I've been way busy lately. Included in that mix is a white paper I've been doing for Cisco. Everyone is trying to assess what AI can really bring to the contact center, and to help educate the market, they engaged me to produce this vendor-neutral white paper. My job is provide objective, balanced insights, and hopefully you'll reach that conclusion after giving it a read.

The white paper is publicly-available now on Cisco's website, and you can access it here, under the Cisco Finesse tab. Your comments and inquiries are welcome, and any sharing would be greatly appreciated.

ITExpo Preview #3 - The Rise of Messaging in the Enterprise

Here's the final preview post for the sessions I'll be moderating next week at ITExpo in Fort Lauderdale. We're getting our share of snow here in Toronto, so let's just say the change of scene will be nice!

This session will be on the Friday at 11am in Room 210, and joining me will be David Frankel of ZipDX, Brad Blanken of Bandwidth.com, and David Walsh of VoIP Innovations. More detail about the session and the expo in general can be found in the Event Calendar section of my website.

Also, for detail about the other two sessions I'm moderating, here are the blog posts from earlier this week. Otherwise, I hope to see you there, and to follow the event, the twitter hashtag is #ITEXPO2018.

ITExpo Preview #2 - How AI is Changing the Customer Experience

This is the second of three sessions I'll be moderating at next week's ITExpo in Fort Lauderdale. Yesterday, I posted about the first one, also on the same day, and general details about the expo and my overall schedule can be found on the Event Calendar of my website.

The AI session will be next Wednesday at 1pm, and we'll be in Room 209. We've got a full slate, and joining me will be Muthusamy Selvaraj from Carenection, Eric Bauer from AudioCodes, Brett Lancaster from Ricoh USA, and Bachir Halimi from Speech Mobility. This link will get you to the full details for our session, and while you're there, you can see what else is going on at the show.

Otherwise, I have plenty of meetings booked, but if you want to connect, I won't be hard to find.

ITExpo Preview #1 - Making Chatbots Your Most Valuable Asset

That's the title of the first panel I'll be moderating a week from now at TMC's ITExpo in Fort Lauderdale. All told, I'm moderating three sessions, and there's more detail here in a recent post on my blog.

Joining me on the chatbot session will be David Lee of RingCentral, and Akshay Sharma from neXt Curve, and we're hoping to add another speaker shortly. There's a lot of ground to cover, but basically, we'll talk about how to get beyond the science experiment stage to make chatbots a new driver of business value and deeper engagement with customers.

For those attending, we'll be in Room 209, starting at 10 - see you there!

January Writing Roundup

I was so busy through all of January, am just realizing now that I didn't do a writing roundup for December. That's getting a bit long at this point, but I'll include just a couple of items from December in this writeup. Many of my posts aren't that time sensitive, so the analysis often has a longer shelf life than the news-based posts that drive most of social media. That's not what I do, and to show the difference, here are some writing highlights from January and a bit beyond.

New Research from BroadSoft - Cloud UC is Growing, Toolbox.com, Jan. 30

Can you Collaborate without Voice?, Toolbox.com, Jan. 22

How to Navigate the Enterprise Collaboration Market, TechTarget, Jan. 16

What to Look for in a Hosted UC Partner - Who are they Selling to?, Toolbox.com, Jan. 15

2018 Outlook - The Shape of Collaboration, No Jitter, Jan. 9

Collaboration in 2018 - AI is Coming, Toolbox.com, Jan. 10

Hackonomy - How BroadSoft Helps Service Providers Succeed with the Cloud, my blog, Jan. 3

CCaaS - Another Slice of the Collaboration Spectrum, Call Center Scheduling Magzine, and  Internet Telephony Magazine, Q4 2017, Dec. 15

Shakeups and Shakeouts in Collaboration - Setting the Stage for 2018, UCStrategies, Dec. 13

Next Up - ITExpo, Ft. Lauderdale - Moderating 3 Sessions

There's something about Fort Lauderdale and February - sure works for me. That's the story for my next conference - TMC's ITExpo, and I'll be there from February 14-16. It's been a while since my last conference, but am not complaining as I've been full-out busy fulfilling client work the past few months.

Things ease up on that front after January, and starting with ITExpo, I have at least one conference happening each month through June, and others will certainly pop up along the way.

Speaking of TMC, you may not be aware that I've been writing a regular column for years for their flagship publication, Internet Telephony Magazine. It's one of several places I'm regularly published, and my latest Rethinking Communications column is running in their Q1 2018 issue.

This is my first shout-out for ITExpo, and I'll have specific posts coming about each session I'm moderating over the next week or so. For a snapshot of what I'll be up to there, details can be found on my Event Calendar page. I won't be hard to find  at the show, and if you want to connect, please drop me a line.

My Next Ziff Davis Webinar - 3 Collaboration Trends for 2018

Told you it was a busy month.  I've got two webinars coming up this month, and this one is with my mainstay, Ziff Davis. Being January, I've got another 2018 outlook theme, namely how three trends are now driving collaboration - chatbots/AI, messaging and the changing role of voice.

They're all connected, but each is having its own impact, and I'll be breaking that down, along with a review of the major consolidation moves from last year that are setting the table for 2018. Here's the registration page, and I'll do a couple more shout-outs to keep it on your radar.

My Next Webinar - 2018 Channel Outlook for UC

Got a lot going on this month, so no complaints for the new year so far. Am doing a shout-out here for my next webinar - it's Friday, Jan. 26 at 2pm ET, and it's my first one with Informa, best known for their Channel Partners portal and conference. They have 8x8 lined up as a sponsor, with their speaker TBD.

I'll be the featured presenter, looking at the state of the UC space for 2018, and the challenges facing the channels. Here's the registration page with all the details, and I hope you can join us.

My 2018 Outlook for No Jitter - The Shape of Collaboration

Got to see a bunch of really good films during the break, and I'll bet you can tell which one inspired this post. My latest No Jitter column is running now, and it explains why I see some telling parallels between the shape of water and the shape of collaboration, and how this should provide points of caution for IT decision-makers going into 2018. I hope you enjoy it, and your comments are welcome. 

Looking a bit further ahead, Enterprise Connect is coming, and I'll be giving a talk there about trends in speech technologies. That will likely be the focus of my next No Jitter post, so watch for that.

Hackonomy - How BroadSoft Helps Service Providers Succeed with the Cloud

I wanted to start off 2018 with my extended thoughts about BroadSoft, a company that has continuously stayed on the forefront of innovation in our space from my earliest days as an analyst in 2001. Among independents, I can't think of many others that fit the bill, and as the industry continues to consolidate, this is a good time to reflect on what they have done right to be successful.

Not only is the technology changing so quickly, but the barriers to entry are getting higher. In today's market, it's not enough to have great technology, and slick marketing will only take you so far. Competing on price is a race to the bottom, and what really makes the difference is having a customer-centric vision, and a culture that allows the business to innovate around these levers. Very few companies do it well over time, and there are lessons to be learned from BroadSoft.

That's what I've tried to capture in my latest analysis, and you can read it here. The format is a bit different, but with all the writing I do, I'm always looking to try new things to connect with my followers. Feel free to share, and as always, your comments are welcome.

2018 Business Comms Forecast - our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

Eventually, I'll transition fully from UCStrategies to BCStrategies, and hopefully this doesn't cause confusion. Two names, two websites, but the content is the same, and so are the people. Am hoping it will just be BCStrategies at some point in 2018, and I'm getting on the bandwagon now.

I stand corrected on my earlier blog post, saying that our podcast about Net Neutrality was the last one for 2017. Forgot about that one, and this one is our lookout for what 2018 holds for the always expanding/ever-confusing world of communications/collaboration/customer care.

Whatever you choose to call it, this podcast is a good roundup of analysts and consultants - myself included - who are all close to the trends shaping this space. I think you'll find it time well-spent, and here's the link to hear what we had to say. Feel free to add your take, and I'll be back to blogging early next week. Happy New Year!

Contact Center as a Service - my Latest TMC Article

My Rethinking Communications column for TMC's Internet Telephony magazine has been running for a few years now, but since recently cutting back to quarterly publishing, there's a longer gap now between my posts.

For some reason, their digital publishing schedule has been out of whack, and the Q3 edition was only recently posted, and that includes my most recent post. The focus is on CCaaS, and how it's emerging as another option on what I call the spectrum of collaboration. Here's the link to the article, and as always, comments and sharing are welcome.

As a sidebar, I should add that I'll be attending the next IT Expo in February down in Fort Lauderdale. I'll be moderating three sessions, and details will be posted soon.

Impact of Net Neutrality on the Enterprise - Our UCStrategies Podcast

Pretty timely topic here given the recent FCC rollback of Net Neutrality. It's a true cornerstone of the Internet as we know it, but that's about to change, and as consumers, we all have cause for concern. The same applies for the workplace, and these changes are going to have implications for the nature of Internet services used by enterprises as well as the providers we get them from.

It's pretty early to tell how this will unfold, but our view at UCStrategies is that it's a key trend to watch for 2018, and that's what we talked about on our final podcast of 2017. Whether you're on the IT/networking side or just a user of collaboration applications, I think you'll find our insights worthwhile. Here's the link to give it a listen, and it's a topic we will no doubt revisit again in 2018.

JAA Subscriber Newsletter Launch

I've lost count tracking the time for getting this done, but it's finally launched. Many of you have signed up to get my JAA update newsletter, and the first one was sent moments ago via Mailchimp. Thank you all for subscribing, and many of you have been signed up for a long, long time.

Now that I've got this in place, you can look forward to regular updates, hopefully monthly, and things will definitely evolve as we go. I'll soon be adding a short podcast where I'll review current trends in tandem with a guest, and if you have ideas for topics, please let me know.

If you aren't a subscriber, I hope you sign up, and it's not hard to find a reg form here on my site to do so. Many of you follow my blog via RSS - nothing wrong with that, but I don't know who you are, and by subscribing, you'll get exclusive content that I won't be sharing on the blog. Your call!

For my subscribers, I hope you find the content interesting, and would love to hear your feedback, as well as any business challenges I could help you address.

Shakeups and Shakeouts in Collaboration - Outlook for 2018

That's the title of my latest, year-end post as a BCS Expert for BCStrategies. We just did a podcast about the year that almost was, and this is my extended take on what I think 2017 tells us about what to expect in the coming year. Our podcast should be posted in a few days, and I'll provide an update here so you don't miss it.

As you may know, BCStrategies is still transitioning from UCStrategies, and both websites are still running. I'm doing my part here, and providing the link for my article on BCStrategies. Unfortunately, the new site doesn't allow readers to make comments, so if you have any feedback, please let me know here, thanks!

New UCStrategies Podcast - 2017 Year in Review

It's that time of year again, and there sure is lots to talk about for what transpired in 2017 in the collaboration space. This universe keeps expanding, but also morphing in directions that are hard for everyone to understand.

If you're nodding in agreement, then you'll find our collective reflections time well spent. Here's the link to listen, and there's more coming soon from me and others at UCStrategies in written form.

My New White Paper - Modeling CX to Create Tomorrow's Business Value

I've been working recently with Upstream Works, an emerging player in the contact center space with a strong focus on improving the customer experience. We just completed a white paper based on secondary source industry data and my analysis of the role of CX to create new business value.

The paper was just published today, and details are here on their website to get it. There will be more messaging around this on social media, and if you get a chance to read it, I'd welcome your thoughts, and I'm sure Upstream would too.

November Writing Roundup

Another busy month, and while my public writing output was on the light side, other things are helping keep my plate full. Here's a digest of my November posts that may still be of interest if you didn't see them before.

Will AI Become Like Organic Food?, UCStrategies, Nov. 30

Can AI Really Improve Collaboration?, Toolbox.com, Nov. 29

How do you Measure Collaboration ROI?, TechTarget, Nov. 29

Learning from Oreos and Hackonomy to Improve Collaboration, Toolbox.com, Nov. 17

Three Reasons to Focus on Outcomes with Collaboration, Toolbox.com, Nov. 14

Using Hackonomy to Create Relevance for Customers, No Jitter, Nov. 7

3 Things Businesses Need to Know About Amazon Connect, Toolbox.com, Nov. 2