Microsoft and Cisco - Two Approaches to Room-Based Collaboration

That's the title of my latest writeup for UCStrategies. As a UCExpert, I contribute regular posts and participate in our podcasts, and all told, we produce a lot of timely content. Other UCExperts have also written about last week's Cisco Spark announcement, and the twist I've added is comparing this launch against Microsoft, who have also come to market with a new solution at the very same time.

It's not easy to make choices here, and I've written this analysis to help decision makers understand the merits of each offering, as they're quite different. My post is running now on the portal, and to learn more after reading this, I'd encourage you to read the related posts from my fellow UCStrategies colleagues.

My Next Webinar - Is Slack UC?

I recently wrote a well-received series for Ziff Davis about whether Slack is UC. My intention was to explore not just Slack, but the broader collaboration landscape. It's changing so fast that analysts can't even keep up, and my series is one way to help address that.

Now I'm doing it another way, with a deeper dive on my next ZD webinar. Am doing an early shout-out now, and will blog again as the date approaches. If you're good to go now, the date is Tuesday, February 21 at 2pm ET - just hop over to the registration page for more details and signing up.

Expert Interview: Cloud Computing and Collaboration

I recently completed a written Q&A interview on my outlook for cloud and collaboration, and it's been posted now on the Blog section of cloud provider TOSSC3. I hope you like it, and feel free to share and/or comment. Here's the link, and while you're there, you might want to check out the other posts.

UCStrategies Podcast - Thoughts on Recent News

It's not often I get to blog twice in a week about our regular UCStrategies podcasts. Our latest segment was a catch-all highlighting recent industry news. We usually have a specific topic, but this time around, we touched on a few current items, namely Sequoia Capital's $100M investment in Zoom - wow - Unify's one year update since being acquired by Atos, and some promising Avaya updates.

The current state of Avaya is something else altogether, and knowing there would be imminent news, we put that on hold. With the news now being public, we'll be addressing that on a special podcast recording later today, so look for that early next week.

Until then, here's our podcast about everything else that's going on.

Just When You Thought UC Was the Answer...

That's the title of my current Rethinking Communications column, which I've been writing for a few years now. The column runs in TMC's flagship publication, Internet Telephony Magazine, which has just switched from 10x/year publishing to a quarterly issue.

My roots are in the trade publishing business, so I totally understand the switch in today's market. That also explains why you haven't seen anything recently from my column, as the last article ran back in early September.

 A lot has happened since then, and my current column speaks to the down side of UC being a moving target. While it's great that UC is so adaptable, its shape-shifting nature makes it more of a Swiss army knife than a precision instrument that does one thing really, really well. As such, while it's easy to think that UC will solve all your collaboration challenges, it has some blind spots, and to some extent, messaging has exposed one of them. 

That's the focus of my current column, and I'll have more to say about this in future posts. Until then, I hope you give my article a read, and as always, sharing and comments are welcome.

UCStrategies Podcast - Predictions, Expectations and Hopes for 2017

Following up from our previous podcast - 2016 Year in Review - it was time to look ahead to what we see coming in the current year. There's disruption and consolidation around every corner, and with a group as diverse as ours, we had plenty of perspectives to share.

This podcast was moderated by Blair Pleasant, and I  was one of several UC Experts contributing thoughts to the conversation. It's posted now on the portal, and after you give it a listen, we'd love to hear what you think 2017 holds in store for the UCC space.

2016 in Review - Our UCStrategies Podcast

2016 was so exhausting in terms of change, disruption and innovation, I had to take 10 days off at the break to regroup. Not quite recharged yet, but should be back up to speed next week.

Until then, if you're still wondering what to make of 2016 in the UCC space, our latest UCStrategies podcast will be time well spent. Sure, the cloud was a big deal, and so was CPaaS, and Slack, and the latest rounds of consolidation, both real and imagined. If that's not enough, get ready to hear a lot about IoT, AI, bots, and yes, mobile UC.

Sounds like a trailer for a tech blockbuster movie, and maybe that's what we'll see in 2017. Enough said - our podcast is posted now on the portal, with this one ably moderated by Marty Parker.  So, please listen, learn and share!

My 2016 - By The Numbers

Happy 2017 all! I meant to get this done before the break, but it just didn't happen. Am back from a 10 day hiatus from work, and now there's a lot to do. Before getting to the new stuff, I wanted to  tally a quick recap of my output during 2016. 

I don't think - or expect - that most of my followers would have a broad sense of all the things I do, and that you probably only follow me selectively. That's fine, but I do cover a lot of ground, and a good way to show that is with a simple tally of what kept me busy last year. Being an indie analyst, I have to tout my horn every once in a while, so here goes.

185:    

Original, published articles and thought leadership pieces - primarily with Ziff Davis, TechTarget, UCStrategies, Internet Telephony Magazine and EM 360 Magazine

11:  

Guest blog posts/articles - primarily with UCStrategies and GetVoIP

20:   

Ghost-written articles and case studies

114:  

Posts written on my own blog

3:   

White papers/e-books

3:   

Video interviews

17:   

Podcasts participated in - primarily with UCStrategies and EM 360

8:   

Webinar presentations - primarily with Ziff Davis

18:   

Conferences/industry events attended, and/or moderated/presented at - Cisco Canada, Cisco US, Unify, ITExpo, Vertical Communications, Channel Partners, Dell, NEC, Energy Thought Summit, Interactive Intelligence, Metaswitch Canada, Monage, Genesys, SCTC, BC Summit, Nextiva, ShoreTel, Schulich Tech Talk Leaders

2:   

SIPtone music gigs  :-)

Also, in the smart grid space:

11:   

Original thought leadership pieces and executive interviews

2017 is shaping up to be just as busy, so it's time to get back to work. Feel free to inquire about specific examples from the above list - I can provide links or soft copies for anything except the ghost writing.

UCStrategies Recap of BroadSoft and Nextiva Conferences

Better late than never on this one, but a few weeks back, these two companies had conferences at the same time. Too bad, since many of us at UCStrategies were invited to both, and being indies,  we can only be at one place at a time.

To make amends, we pooled attendees from each event into one podcast, so if you're still wondering about where each of these companies are heading, this will be a handy one-stop-shop. The podcast has been posted to our portal now, and if you attended either, we'd love to hear your thoughts after giving ours a listen.

My Next Webinar - 2017 VoIP Opportunities

VoIP may be old hat for some, but it's still new for a lot of businesses, and there's a bigger picture to consider.  Technology is moving quickly, and as we see more from UCaaS, CPaaS, IoT, AI and the like, VoIP will become more than just cheap telephony.

That's the ground I'll be covering on my next Ziff Davis B2B webinar, and I've piqued your interest, I hope you can join me. The webinar is next Thursday, December 15 at 2pm ET, and all the details for registering are here.

ShoreTelOne Conference - Quick Take

Day 1 of ShoreTel's Global Partner Conference was quite good, and I'll be doing more writing about it over the next few days. We heard a lot about their vision for the cloud and platform-based solutions, and it's a familiar theme given the many conferences I've attended over the past few months. All the vendors are under the same pressures to adapt, and these changes really have become table stakes for staying in the game.

As with other vendors, this is a big shift from what ShoreTel has been really good at, and the big challenge lies in how well the channel community embraces these changes. I've been to several ShoreTel events, and a common thread has been a passion from the partners for working with ShoreTel. There's a lot of social capital and goodwill here, and that's a strong foundation to build on.

Over the rest of the conference, I'll have a better sense about how willing and able they'll be to follow ShoreTel's lead. There's certainly been an "adapt or die" theme here, but a lot of unknowns in terms of what end customers will ultimately end up deploying. Stay tuned. Until then, here are few pix from the event.

Held at the Gaylord in Orlando - very inviting walkup to the conference.

This is the core theme of the conference - interact with customers, with partners, with co-workers, team members, etc. That's definitely what ShoreTel Connect is built to do.

CEO Don Joos talking about the foundation they've built and how they're going to execute now.

CMO Mark Roberts talking about the importance of helping partners generate leads to drive new business.

Yes, we really are special.

Yup, it's a tough gig being an indie analyst, and to make ends meet, Dave Michels is moonlighting at the bar - works for me.

November Writing Roundup

Year-end will be  here in no time, and am almost through a long run of travel for industry events. Still doing my share of writing, but with all the travel, it's a bit lighter than normal. So, here are the high points to share, and I hope you find something here of interest.

Is IT Collaborating on Collaboration?, Dec. 1, UCStrategies (better share this now while it's really fresh!)

3 Things You Need to Know About CCaaS, Nov. 29 Toolbox.com

Schulich Tech Leader Talk - Musing on AI and Machine Learning, Nov. 24, my blog

3 Expectations You Need to Know About UCaaS, Nov. 22, Toolbox.com

Nextiva - Kawasaki and The Woz - My Conference Takeaways, Nov. 21, UC Strategies

3 Things You Need to Know About UC, Nov. 15, Toolbox.com

How Does Skype for Business Telephony Stack up for Enterprises, Nov. 10, TechTarget

Why Ease of Provisioning Helps Drive VoIP Collaboration, Nov. 4, Toolbox.com

UC, Contact Center Integration Rife with Obstacles, Nov. 2, TechTarget

Next Stop - ShoreTel in Orlando

Been to a lot of conferences the past few months, and the last one for 2016 is just about here. I'll be at ShoreTel's Global Partner Conference - ShoreTelOne in Orlando - next Tuesday through Thursday. More details are here, and of note, on Wednesday, I'll be speaking on an analyst roundtable about industry trends. Am not sure yet which time slot that session will be, but if you're there, I won't be hard to find.

BroadSoft and Nextiva Conferences - UCStrategies Recap

Two weeks ago, BroadSoft and Nextiva held their customer/partner events at the same time, and that resulted in a split for which conference to attend. Among us at UCStrategies, we had participants at each event, so collectively, we had things covered.

Some of us have already written our personal reviews of these events - mine here for Nextiva - and this week we finally got a chance to jointly share our thoughts on our latest podcast. If you missed either or both, this serves as a good recap for what two innovators are doing in the UC&C space, and you can give it a listen here.

Is IT Collaborating on Collaboration?

That's the title of my latest analysis for UCStrategies. It's a busy week on the portal - yesterday I posted our last podcast, and tomorrow I'll be blogging here about our current podcast. Each topic is quite different, and this post is about the challenges faced by IT when it comes to taking a strategic approach to collaboration.

When considering a UC platform, IT must also make the right decisions for a service provider partner, but on top of that, there needs to be a deployment plan beyond the network that engages with end users. 

There's a lot at stake here, and my post offers some ways forward that may not be in IT's current thought process. For sake of transparency, I must explain that the post is sponsored by AT&T as part of an ongoing series they've been doing with UCStrategies. That said, once you give it a read, I hope you'll agree it's pretty objective. Here's the link, and as always, comments and sharing are welcome.

Digital Disruption and Transformation - Our Latest Podcast

This sure is a big topic, and several of us with UCStrategies had a go of it on our most recent podcast. With all the busy-ness around Thanksgiving, you may have missed it, and it's certainly not stale-dated a week later.  

Nothing stands still in the UC&C space, and our collective thoughts will give you a pretty good update on what disruption looks like right now, and what you need to be thinking about. You can check out the podcast here on our site, and my commentary starts at the 10:32 mark.

New Podcast - BC Summit Takeaways

This is a busy time for conferences, and earlier this month, I was pretty busy at the BC Summit, the annual event put on by UCStrategies, of which I'm a UC Expert. It's always one of my favorite events, and this year I spoke on five different sessions, so never a dull moment. 

As always, lots of great learning and networking, plus we had a change of scene, moving to the La Quinta resort in Palm Springs. No complaints about the venue or the weather, so if this becomes our new home, I'm good with that.

There was lots to think about from the conference, and I'd say we captured that pretty well in our latest podcast, which has been posted now to our portal. Even if you weren't there, I'm sure you'll learn a few things about the state of UC&C from our commentary, and if you do, we'd love to hear you thoughts after giving this a listen.

NextCon16 - Nextiva and Jumping Curves

I'll have more to say about jumping curves later, but wanted to share some quick highlights from NextCon16 so far. Gotta get back to sessions now, but there's more to come.

Now, THIS is how to kick off a big event like this. Yes, you might say Nextiva marches to the beat of a different drummer, and that's my take on this.

Always a treat - Guy Kawasaki. Great messaging about how to be innovative, why jumping curves is so important, and a bit about why Nextiva embodies the qualities he looks for in great companies. More on that to come.

Not a great photo,  but best I could get -  Founder and CEO, Tomas Gorny - truly a serial entrepreneur, here sharing his vision for Nextiva and announcing their new NextOS platform. More on that to come as well.

Ok, let's just get this out of the way now. Yes, it's damn nice out here, and I have no reason to complain about how chilly it gets once the sun goes down. I accept it - just comes with the territory being an analyst!

early morning hike before day 2 with the analysts and consultants - before the sun gets too hot!

Next Stop - Nextiva, Scottsdale, AZ

Just a quick update. Pretty steady travel schedule lately, and it seems for every event I go to, there's at least one I'm turning down or conflicts with another event. The former happened this week, and the latter is the case for next week. What I can tell you is that next week, I'll be in Scottsdale, AZ for Nextiva's event, NextCon 16. It's the first time they're doing an event with analysts, so definitely looking forward to it. If you're attending, I won't be hard to find.

New JAA Blog Award - Broadview Networks

Broadview Networks has been running a "top tech blog" award for a few years, and my blog has made their list now for the third year running. My blog is one of several that made the grade for 2016, so I'm not the top blog, but am in good company. As the update here explains, over 300 blogs were considered, so a fair bit of work went into the process.  As a winner, I get to post a shiny badge, and that's on my blog page now.