Slack Frontiers 2018 - My 3 Takeaways on BCStrategies

I really wanted to get this posted before the week is out and while the conference is still fresh. My followers will know that I posted some photos and thoughts earlier about Slack’s event, but more needed to be said, and that’s what I’ve done here.

As my followers will also know, I’ve long been a BC Expert with BCStrategies, and that’s a good place to share my high level takeaways about Slack and their Frontiers 2018 event.

There’s more to come, but I hope this post gives you a good flavor for what’s coming with Slack, and how they’re pushing the frontiers of collaboration. As always, your comments are welcome, and any sharing would be greatly appreciated.

Next Webinar - Making IT Strategic as Collaboration Moves to the Cloud

I’ve been doing several webinars lately, including this one in late July for Ziff Davis. That webinar was sponsored by Jive Software (now part of Aurea) as a two-part series around the impact of digital transformation collaboration.

Next week’s webinar will be the second part of my analysis, this time focused on IT’s changing role. With so much moving to the cloud - including collaboration - this presents new challenges for IT to remain strategic, and layering digital transformation into this, there will be some re-invention needed.

That’s the gist of what’s coming, and more details are here on the registration page. If that sounds like you, then save the date - Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 2ET - and I hope you can join me then.

Slack Frontiers 2018 - Quick Take and Pix

This is just Slack's second industry event, and while they've come a long way in a little time, they're not quite a household name. That's probably a good thing, as they've been quietly and intelligently building what looks to be a great organization with the kind of vibe, culture and passion that makes for very successful companies.

Over the last two days, I've gotten to see that first hand, and it looks pretty real to me. Make no mistake - the established collaboration players are watching Slack closely, and not surprisingly, some of those people have now joined their ranks.

I was lucky enough to be one of a handful of analysts in attendance - and I don't think the media was there - so, unless you've been following my tweets, what I'm sharing here will be new for you. For now, I'll let these photos do most of the talking, as I wanted to quickly get a post up before flying home. I've got lots to say, and that will be coming in a few different forms shortly, so check back soon - and even better, you might want to sign up for my newsletter.

For now, I'm just going to leave you with a couple of comments from the sessions that reflect the big-picture takeaways.

First, from April Underwood, their Chief Product Officer: "this really is a movement". Yup - she's referring to how the workplace is changing, and there's a need for tools and solutions that align with this fundamental shift. I've been following Slack for a while, and have long felt that if UC - or something along those lines - was being invented today from scratch, it would look like Slack.

Second, a very telling quote cited by Neil Shah, their Sr. Director of Strategy and Analytics. This was from one of their customers: "People told us they would quit if we took away their Slack."  Sure sounds like "I want my MTV", huh? Maybe a tad dramatic, but have you heard anyone talk like that about Spark or Skype for Business?

People have similar attachments to their iPhones, but workplace tools? That's what I call sticky, and when you can build that kind of organic, bottom-up emotional attachment, your odds of converting free users to paid are way better - and that's the key to making Slack a true force, not just for disruption, but for innovation.

Much more to talk about, but I need to get to the airport! I hope this gives you a taste of what I saw at Frontiers 2018, and I'd love to get your comments, either here or on Slack.

Above - Places - mis en scene - an uber-industrial setting, but perfect for showing what the future holds.

Below - People and Things.

People - speakers from the various sessions, including Ed Catmull, Founder of Pixar, in conversation with Slack CEO, Stewart Butterfield.

Things - SO Cali, SO San Francisco - can't wait to come back!

Next Stop - Slack Frontiers, San Francisco

Not wasting any time kicking off a busy fall, both on the work front and with conferences. Tomorrow, I'm flying way out west to San Francisco for Slack's Frontiers event. They've been both disruptive and innovative, and Slack has become a household name in very little time.

This will be my first time attending their industry event, as it will be for most, so there will be lots to learn and many people to meet. More details are here on my Event Calendar page, and I'll be posting updates as time allows.

August Writing Roundup

Overall, a pretty varied month on the writing front. Newsletter subscribers will also know that in August, I was busy on other thought leadership fronts, namely podcasts, webinars, event planning and go-to-market strategy. Here are the writing highlights, and to get the newsletter, please sign up here.

What is Communications? The Rest of the Story, Toolbox.com, Aug.  27

Voice - New and Improved, Thanks to AI, Unified Communications Magazine, Aug.22

How Blockchain Could Improve Collaboration, No Jitter, Aug. 20

Blockchain Futurist Conference, Toronto - Pix, Thoughts and Larry King, my blog, Aug. 16

What is the Difference Between UC Platforms and Apps?, TechTarget, Aug. 13

Google Duplex - What Businesses Really Need to Know, Toolbox.com, Aug. 7

Which Way is Up with UC and Collaboration?, BCStrategies, Aug. 3

Voice - New and Improved, Thanks to AI - and Future of Work Expo Shout-Out, Part 2

Well, this worked out well. I've been writing a column for TMCnet - Rethinking Communications - for a few years, but after shifting recently to a quarterly publishing cycle, there have been longer gaps for my articles.

My latest article was just published the other day, and as the title suggests - Voice - New and Improved, Thanks to AI - the topic fits quite well with the Future of Work Expo coming up next January. To connect the dots, my earlier post today talks about the conference, and after reading that, the connection with this article should be clear.

This time around, the article is running in TMCnet's publication Unifed Communications, and that seems like a good fit to me. I hope you enjoy it, and even better if it gets you closer to deciding to join us at Future of Work Expo.

Future of Work Expo - Early Shout-Out and Call for Speakers

This conference isn't for a while - end of January - but it's a good time for an early shout-out.

I've been regularly attending and moderating sessions at TMCnet's ITExpo for many years, with the next edition marking the show's 20th anniversary, so it's a big one. That's many lifetimes in Millennial years, and it may be hard for digital natives to fathom that anything in tech can last 20 years, but Rich Tehrani and company have found the formula, and they're still going strong.

As any attendee knows, the main event - ITExpo - is flanked my many sub-events and co-located events, and I'll be the go-to guy for one of them. A new event for 2019 is The New Intelligence, and it consists of three distinct tracks. One is called Future of Work, and it's focused on AI and Machine Learning, topics I've been following since early this year.

I'm writing about this now, as the Agenda and Speaker Roster were both posted just the other day. It's really just the first round, but will give you a good idea of what the event will be addressing and who'll be doing the talking. I'm the common thread, and will be moderating several sessions, and introducing speakers for the others.

As the program fills out, I'll share updates here, so stay tuned. We're also still looking to fill some speaking spots, so if these topics are in your zone, please get in touch and we'll see if there's a place for you.

More Thoughts on Blockchain and Collaboration - My No Jitter Post

As mentioned in last week's quick take blog post about the Blockchain Futurist Conference, I'd have more to say about it. Got quite a bit more to say, actually, and I channeled two particular themes into my latest No Jitter post; namely the potential tie-in between blockchain and collaboration, and how uber-host Larry King sagely brought Steve Jobs into the conversation.

Hopefully that will be enough to get you wanting more, and if so, here's the link to my post. Would love to hear your thoughts, and I'm certainly not done with this topic, so stay tuned.

Is the Gartner UC Magic Quadrant Dead? Our BCStrategies Podcast

Pretty much - but everything has it's time, right?

Nothing really surprising here, at least for us at BCStrategies, but it's easy to forget that the world doesn't move in lockstep. Technology changes faster than humans or enterprises can adapt, and there's a wide spectrum for UC and the broader collaboration umbrella. 

Conventional UC is still very much a thing, and that's the market this particular MQ report serves. For a while, it was a bellwether for the state of UC, but not so much now. If you're wondering why, then this podcast is for you. Even if you've already reached that conclusion, I think you'll enjoy our perspectives, this time moderated by Marty Parker - here's the link.

July Writing Roundup

Things were on the light side in July for my writing, but summer is short, and I'd say it's par for the course. As noted in my current newsletter, I've had plenty of new activity, and some of that will turn up over the next few updates. If you don't follow me that closely - or don't subscribe to my newsletter - here's a digest of my notable posts and activity from July.

Google Duplex - What Businesses Need to Know, Toolbox.com, July 27

How do you Keep your Employees from Deploying UC End-user Applications?, TechTarget, July 19

My July Newsletter is Out!, my blog, July 13

Microsoft's Meeting Room of the Future - Part 2, Toolbox.com, July 11

Contact Center 2.0 - More Than Just Going to the Cloud, No Jitter, July 10

Internet Trends 2018 - How Digital Technologies are Driving Digital Behaviors, Toolbox.com, July 5

Newsletter Time - August Edition

It's been fairly quiet lately on the blog front, as well as my broader activities, and I think summer just might have something to do with that. Read what you may into that, and while the content is light, my August newsletter is now out.

The main highlight - especially if you're new to the newsletter - is a set of links to the podcasts I've produced so far, and I hope you find those of interest. There's certainly more to come in future newsletters, along with other features I'm planning to add.

If you're not a subscriber, it just takes a moment. There are signup forms on my website, and if you can't be bothered to look, here's a direct link.

Feedback is always welcome, especially for new things you'd like to see covered in our podcasts, and I would consider guest posts if there's a good fit. Summer is short, and I've never been busier, so come September, I should have more to report in the newsletter. Until then, I hope you enjoy the current edition.

July 31 Webinar with Jive - Digital Transformation and Collaboration

My last blog post was for an upcoming webinar with Ziff Davis/Toolbox.com, but I'm doing another one with them before that. 

This one has come together on a shorter timetable, but it's another topic I think you'll find of interest. It's also a Ziff Davis/Toolbox.com event, but this time with a sponsor - Jive Software. That name should still register for collaboration followers, but about a year ago, the company was acquired by Aurea.

I'll be the sole presenter, with topic being digital transformation and how it can help collaboration solutions/technologies bring new value to enterprises. I should add that this engagement entails two webinars, and details will be coming soon about Part 2, scheduled for September.

Until then, I hope you can join us, next Tuesday, July 31. All the details are here, and registration just takes a moment.

My Next Webinar: Workplace Implications for Digital Technologies

It's time for another Ziff Davis/Toolbox.com webinar, scheduled now for Tuesday, August 14. The topic is based on select findings drawn from Internet Trends 2018, an annual, public report on the state of the web, produced by Kleiner Perkins.

Regular followers will know that I've written about some aspects of the report, and my subscribers also have access to a podcast I did about it, along with colleague Chris Fine. If that's of interest to non-subscribers, you can sign up here, and the podcast is featured in the my current newsletter.

There's a great deal to explore in Mary Meeker's slide set, and for my webinar, I'll be focusing on some specific takeaways and data points around how digital technologies are impacting the workplace. I hope you can join me, and all it takes is providing a few contact details here on the registration page.

Contact Center 2.0 - More Than Just Going to the Cloud - No Jitter

That's the title of my latest post for No Jitter. Am a bit behind posting about it, as I'm on vacation this week. 

This time around, I'm drawing from a current study commissioned by RingCentral about how contact centers are trying to embrace new technology to meet changing customer needs. Digital transformation is a big theme, as is the cloud and CX, and addressing them all isn't easy.

I've taken select data sets from the study to connect those dots, with the intent being to show just how hard this really is, along with steps that I think will make that journey easier.

The article is posted here on No Jitter's site, and as always, your comments are welcome, along with any sharing you care to do.

AI - is it Really Artificial? Our Latest BCStrategies Podcast

Big topic, and lots to discuss. That's what we covered in our current BCStrategies podcast. It's on the long side - about 50 minutes - but AI is kind of like that. There's so much to learn and so many perspectives, and hopefully you'll find this a good listen.

This time around, fellow Torontonian/US-expat Kevin Kieller led the group, and the download can now be accessed here on our portal. As always, both comments and sharing are welcome.

June Writing Roundup

Sure has been a while since my last blog post. I was on the road three weeks out of four last month, so blogging has been light, and same for my writing output overall.

The time, however, has been well spent, and I now have a number of new projects starting up. No conferences til late September, and I'll be plenty busy close to home fulfilling client work. Since we're in a new month, it's time for my June roundup, but also a heads-up for my next newsletter. It should be in subscriber's hands - or inboxes more accurately - by this Friday, so if you get it, the wait won't be long.

If you don't subscribe yet, this would be a good time to sign up, and here's the form. As a sneak peak, I've got another podcast coming with my colleague, Chris Fine - and if you're a fan of Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report, you'll want to hear our discussion about some highlights.

Ok, back to the writing - it's a short set, but here's what I was up to in June.

How do you train an AI service for collaboration?, TechTarget, June 28

Internet Trends 2018 - How Digital Technologies are Driving Digital Behaviors, Toolbox.com, June 25

AI, Chatbots and Business Success, my blog, June 20

Is Ribbon Communications the New BroadSoft?, BC Strategies, June 19

Collaboration - Think About Outcomes, not Technology, Part 2, Toolbox.com, June 18

NEC Advantage - Quick Thoughts and Photos, my blog, June 15

Cybercrime - are you Paying Attention?, Toolbox.com, Jun 12

Is Ribbon Communications the New BroadSoft?

Short question - and long answer. That thought has been with me since their Perspectives18 event earlier this month, and I finally got a chance to explore it in my latest contribution to BCStrategies. Earlier, I posted some quick takeaways and photos here, but for a longer analysis about Ribbon Communications, BCStrategies was the right place to land.

My analysis has now been posted to our portal, and I hope you like it. After you're done, feel free to comment and share, and then spend more time checking out all the other content on the site - our views are diverse and the insights are very good!

NEC Advantage - Quick Thoughts

I've been to this event a few times, and there's a lot to like about how they run it, along with what NEC is doing in the collaboration marketplace. Will have more thoughts to share later, but the main takeaway is that NEC continues to build quality products, continues to innovate on all fronts, and continues to compete successfully. On the other hand, being more sale-driven than marketing-driven, their story is not so well known in North America. Of course, I could help them fix that, but the call hasn't come  yet.

I'll continue to patiently wait for that moment, and for now will just say that it's refreshing to hear about a company building around a different value proposition than everyone else. Cloud seems to be the only message coming from vendors now, but that's not the story here. They're very much on that path, but clearly, there's still a big chunk of the enterprise market that is premises-first, telephony-centric and still using a lot of hardware. This may not be the long-term scenario, but it's going strong, and NEC has a good handle on what makes these businesses buy.

UNIVERGE Blue is very much about UCaaS, but their view of collaboration is closer to the voice-centric legacy model. Yes, they have contact center - including CCaaS via partnership with Enghouse Interactive - but video and team messaging aren't that much in the equation. Same story with AI - their contact center offerings are definitely voice-centric, and it doesn't sound like AI is much on the roadmap.

Funny, you wouldn't know it based on Tiffani Bova's opening keynote about becoming "customer-led". She's with Salesforce, and we're very much on the same page about the need for culture change and how data and analytics are the new currency for creating customer value. However, I'm not so sure this is the highest priority for this audience, but am glad NEC is getting the message out. Now, they just need to fast track their contact center offerings, and all will be right.

Aside from what's overly familiar, the clear standout from a solid product portfolio is NeoFace Watch. They have long been leaders in biometrics, and NFW takes things to another level. Real time identification and authentication can definitely streamline workflows, so it has some tangential value for collaboration. However, it has much greater enterprise value for safety and security, both of physical assets and employees. There's definitely a Big Brother element to all this, but being able to pick faces out of a moving crowd and instantly matching them against a watch list to keep the bad actors out has its place as surveillance becomes ever-more the norm. Am not a fan, but there sure are tons of valid use cases.

That's the update for now, and here are a few photos from the event. 

This is my third different gaylord stay since march - they're all good, but there's little doubt that you're in the lone star state here.

there's lots to like about the gaylord, but this time around, not so much for the view from my room. i did a double-take when seeing this, and for a moment thought i was in san antonio visiting the alamo. :-)

Next Stop - NEC Advantage, Grapevine, Texas

Can't say I've ever been to Grapevine, but Google tells me it's near Dallas, and being in Texas, it's probably much bigger than I'm inclined to think. That's the locale for this year's NEC Advantage event, and while it's geared more to consultants than analysts, I'm going and am very much looking forward to it. More details are on the Event Calendar page of my website, and I'll be sharing on social as time allows.

Ribbon Communications, Perspectives18 - Photos and Quick Take

Am back now from the Ribbon Communications conference in Los Angeles, and definitely glad I went. For me, there were both good answers and new questions, and I'm going to explore those in a separate post that will run next week on the BCStrategies portal. For now, I'll just share a few high-level impressions, along with some photos to give you a feel for what was on tap there.

First is the changing of the guard, with Fritz Hobbs taking on the CEO role, and David Walsh taking on a more focused role as Founder of Kandy. Fritz Hobbs is unknown to pretty much everyone I spoke with, and clearly he's a finance guy, not a tech guy. He said very little on stage, so it's hard to tell how he's going run things, but it's safe to say he'll be focused on keeping shareholders and investors happy. David's entrepreneurial and visionary style seems likely to be applied to Kandy rather than the entire organization, so it's also hard to tell what his overall impact is going to be now.

Speaking of Kandy, that was clearly the focus of the conference, and we didn't hear much about the core products that drive revenues and get the attention of analyst houses that track market share and build forecasts. This was also the case at last year's conference, but with the newly-formed Ribbon being a public company, I was surprised about that. We heard even less about how Kandy is actually doing - lots of use cases, customer success stories and touting of CPaaS and UCaaS capabilities, but no metrics. David Walsh made it clear that it's too early for that so let's just move on.

I really liked the clear focus on how Kandy is a great way to leverage the cloud so service providers can be more competitive, not just against other carriers, but the disruptors like Amazon and Twilio. It's debateable how much of a threat those players really are, but they're definitely in the mix, and service providers really do need an innovation engine to bring new services to market, and that's exactly Kandy's MO. Sound like another platform provider serving the carrier market? I'll have more to say about that in my BCStrategies post. And with that, let's shift from text to images with a few photos from the event - and to follow further, check out the twitter feed, #RBBNP18.

New CEO, Fritz Hobbs

David Walsh, no longer CEO, but now Founder, Kandy, and I love those cons - my kind of sneaker.

Patrick Joggerst and Bita Milanian

Innovation Panel

Service Provider Panel

10-piece band AMFM, who played throughout the show - great energy and very fun!

The LA sunset - a hotel specialty - did I pick the right cocktail for this conference  or what?