Unified Communications Market Update

Yesterday, the UC Strategies group had their weekly podcast. I try to make these when I can, and while I was able to listen in, some unexpected disruptions kept me from adding my take.

The basic theme was market deployment successes, and there were some good accounts of how UC is being used. Most of the UCS consultants have first-hand experience with how businesses are using UC, and it was interesting to hear the various scenarios. The common thread to me is that businesses don't generally come to these consultants asking for Unified Communications. They talk about specific business problems, which the consultants are then able to frame in the context of UC. So, in many cases, they're getting UC but may not really know it. That works for me. I think trying to sell UC as UC is more of a solution looking for a market rather than the other way around.

Also of note is the fact that most UC deployments have a vertical focus. Health care came up quite a bit, and again, I think this is a big part of the UC value proposition. By understanding the processes and bottlenecks that drive a business, it's much easier to show where, how and why UC solutions can really add value.

Even though I didn't add to the conversation, I wanted to share this with my readers here. UC is still a work in progress, but when it's thought through correctly, there's a lot of value for businesses. An MP3 file of the call has been posted to the UCS portal, along with a full transcript if you just want to read the commentary.