Last week I posted about Skype's keynote VON, given by their CSO, Christopher Dean. It was a pretty interesting talk, and it's clear that Skype is taking some big steps forward to serve the business market - not just by themselves, but in partnership with carriers.
It's an intriguing proposition, and I mentioned I'd write further about it in my Service Provider Views column. There's a fair bit to explore, and while putting this together, I decided to make it a 2 part writeup. So, Part 1 is running now on TMCnet, and you can read it here.
If you want to follow this to completion, I'll have Part 2 ready in early October, so watch for it then.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
BroadSoft's Move Into Consumer Communications
Some noteworthy news from BroadSoft last week that I haven't seen much coverage of. Being at VON kept me too busy to post about this, but it may still be news to many of you. I was pre-briefed by BroadSoft prior to the announcement, but couldn't talk about it until the news, which came out on Wednesday.
Branded the "Consumer Experience", BroadSoft is building on their strong foundation of business end users to move into the residential market. With over 450 carrier customers in 71 countries, they have the critical mass and footprint to serve new markets, and for many of their customers this will open up new opportunities.
BroadSoft has had residential capabilities for some time, but they've never gone to this extent to position BroadWorks as a total solution for this market. Early on, the focus was on providing telephony, and enabling carriers to offer Vonage-style subscription services. Needless to say, the market has evolved considerably, and VoIP is just one element for today's residential offerings. BroadSoft is talking about enabling "the new consumer carrier", which translates into a ubiquitous communications experience, much like what we often hear for the emerging world of Telco 2.0 - multiple services over multiple devices and screens, anywhere, any time.
What I find most interesting about BroadSoft is their focus on the devices and multimedia communications. By shifting from telephony to communications, they enable carriers to sell a more comprehensive service. So, in addition to the telephone, BroadSoft now touches a wide variety of devices - TVs, PCs, set top boxes, video cameras (surveillance), Internet appliances (this is going to be a growth market), touchscreen devices, etc.
With BroadSoft's Xtended Web 2.0 capabilities, they're also reaching out to support social networking, which may be the stickiest mode of communication with consumers these days. And yes, we're talking both fixed and mobile devices, so pretty much any type of carrier can get in the game with BroadSoft.
By connecting all these pieces with a single platform, BroadSoft's carrier customers can now brand their services on pretty much every communications device used in the home, and if you walk around and count them all up room by room, that's a lot of exposure. I can't say for sure that BroadSoft is the only platform out there that can do all these things, but it's a much broader vision for residential services than what carriers typically have to choose from.
If Microsoft hasn't come to mind yet for a parallel here, it will soon. I've seen a very similar storyline from them - especially around the digital lifestyle - but they're coming at it from a software angle. I'd say this will not be as intuitive for consumers to understand compared to hearing it from their service provider. Like Microsoft, BroadSoft is positioning their solution in terms of the overall consumer experience, and this is the type of messaging that a carrier wants to hear that tells them BroadSoft understands their needs. There's a nice example of this on their website - it's an online slideshow titled "A Day in the Life of a Connected Consumer".
All told, it's about more choice for consumers, more devices to communicate with, and more ways to add value with personaliztion and integration with Web-based services. It's long way from VoIP, and another step forward for BroadSoft. I should add that it's in the market today, and the press release cites some success stories, so you might want to look at those for specific examples of how it's being deployed.
Branded the "Consumer Experience", BroadSoft is building on their strong foundation of business end users to move into the residential market. With over 450 carrier customers in 71 countries, they have the critical mass and footprint to serve new markets, and for many of their customers this will open up new opportunities.
BroadSoft has had residential capabilities for some time, but they've never gone to this extent to position BroadWorks as a total solution for this market. Early on, the focus was on providing telephony, and enabling carriers to offer Vonage-style subscription services. Needless to say, the market has evolved considerably, and VoIP is just one element for today's residential offerings. BroadSoft is talking about enabling "the new consumer carrier", which translates into a ubiquitous communications experience, much like what we often hear for the emerging world of Telco 2.0 - multiple services over multiple devices and screens, anywhere, any time.
What I find most interesting about BroadSoft is their focus on the devices and multimedia communications. By shifting from telephony to communications, they enable carriers to sell a more comprehensive service. So, in addition to the telephone, BroadSoft now touches a wide variety of devices - TVs, PCs, set top boxes, video cameras (surveillance), Internet appliances (this is going to be a growth market), touchscreen devices, etc.
With BroadSoft's Xtended Web 2.0 capabilities, they're also reaching out to support social networking, which may be the stickiest mode of communication with consumers these days. And yes, we're talking both fixed and mobile devices, so pretty much any type of carrier can get in the game with BroadSoft.
By connecting all these pieces with a single platform, BroadSoft's carrier customers can now brand their services on pretty much every communications device used in the home, and if you walk around and count them all up room by room, that's a lot of exposure. I can't say for sure that BroadSoft is the only platform out there that can do all these things, but it's a much broader vision for residential services than what carriers typically have to choose from.
If Microsoft hasn't come to mind yet for a parallel here, it will soon. I've seen a very similar storyline from them - especially around the digital lifestyle - but they're coming at it from a software angle. I'd say this will not be as intuitive for consumers to understand compared to hearing it from their service provider. Like Microsoft, BroadSoft is positioning their solution in terms of the overall consumer experience, and this is the type of messaging that a carrier wants to hear that tells them BroadSoft understands their needs. There's a nice example of this on their website - it's an online slideshow titled "A Day in the Life of a Connected Consumer".
All told, it's about more choice for consumers, more devices to communicate with, and more ways to add value with personaliztion and integration with Web-based services. It's long way from VoIP, and another step forward for BroadSoft. I should add that it's in the market today, and the press release cites some success stories, so you might want to look at those for specific examples of how it's being deployed.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
VON - Final Day/Skype Keynote - Seeking Channel Partners
Yesterday was a transition day here, with VON running til early afternoon, and then the focus shifted to the Channel Partners event. It was a bit strange seeing all the signage, etc. for VON in the morning, then disappearing and being replaced by Channel Partners. Am sure some people came for both events, but it was hard to tell.
I moderated one of the morning sessions - it was on mobile applications for the enterprise. We had Nancy Colwell from Divitas, Thomas Monopoli from MetaSwitch, and Tom Howe from - well you know Tom, right? I thought it was a very balanced panel, and Tom did a great job filling in for Voxeo who was a last minute scratch. The biggest surprise of the session was discovering that most of the people in the audience were Engineers, so it didn't take much for the conversations to get technical, and that was a good thing. It's pretty clear that mobile apps are new to this crowd, but I think we did a good job showing them what is possible, especially with the success stories that Nancy cited.
The highlight of the day, though - and the event in my view - was the Skype keynote to close out the event - which was very well attended. Christopher Dean is Skype's CSO - Chief Strategy Officer - and the fact that someone from Skype actually has a title like this says a lot about how much the company has matured.
Most of Christopher's presentation reviewed major trends in communications and as they align, how well things line up for Skype. He did a nice job citing data points to show the rapid growth of things like smartphones, 4G, mobile VoIP, broadband adoption, UC, cloud computing, FMC, etc. Nothing new there, but he then outlined how Skype is addressing these opportunities, especially for the business market.
Most of us know this is a top priority for Skype, and the most newsworthy item from the keynote was their new focus on channels, which of course ties in nicely with both events here - VON and Channel Partners. The main idea here is that Skype will be launching a service provider VAR program later this year. Christopher provided a URL about the program for reference, but as you'll see, there's not much there yet.
So, in the course of a few minutes, the audience heard about how Skype is looking to cross the chasm and partner with service providers. That creates all kinds of interesting scenarios, and Christopher pointed out how this is part of their bigger vision to be more open and partner-friendly in the post-eBay world. On that note, he didn't have much to say about the Extras program other than they understand how important it is, and are overhauling it now. So, it's not quite dead yet....
Lots more to talk about, and I'm saving that for my next Service Provider Views article, which should be out early next week. I hope you give that a read.
Virgo's Richard Martin introducing the keynote. Kudos to Rick, btw, for pulling this event together and giving VON a second life, so to speak...
VON's over - time to wander a bit. A few shots here from Lincoln Road. Going back to Toronto today, and this was pretty much my last shot at enjoying the weather - wouldn't you have done the same?
I moderated one of the morning sessions - it was on mobile applications for the enterprise. We had Nancy Colwell from Divitas, Thomas Monopoli from MetaSwitch, and Tom Howe from - well you know Tom, right? I thought it was a very balanced panel, and Tom did a great job filling in for Voxeo who was a last minute scratch. The biggest surprise of the session was discovering that most of the people in the audience were Engineers, so it didn't take much for the conversations to get technical, and that was a good thing. It's pretty clear that mobile apps are new to this crowd, but I think we did a good job showing them what is possible, especially with the success stories that Nancy cited.
The highlight of the day, though - and the event in my view - was the Skype keynote to close out the event - which was very well attended. Christopher Dean is Skype's CSO - Chief Strategy Officer - and the fact that someone from Skype actually has a title like this says a lot about how much the company has matured.
Most of Christopher's presentation reviewed major trends in communications and as they align, how well things line up for Skype. He did a nice job citing data points to show the rapid growth of things like smartphones, 4G, mobile VoIP, broadband adoption, UC, cloud computing, FMC, etc. Nothing new there, but he then outlined how Skype is addressing these opportunities, especially for the business market.
Most of us know this is a top priority for Skype, and the most newsworthy item from the keynote was their new focus on channels, which of course ties in nicely with both events here - VON and Channel Partners. The main idea here is that Skype will be launching a service provider VAR program later this year. Christopher provided a URL about the program for reference, but as you'll see, there's not much there yet.
So, in the course of a few minutes, the audience heard about how Skype is looking to cross the chasm and partner with service providers. That creates all kinds of interesting scenarios, and Christopher pointed out how this is part of their bigger vision to be more open and partner-friendly in the post-eBay world. On that note, he didn't have much to say about the Extras program other than they understand how important it is, and are overhauling it now. So, it's not quite dead yet....
Lots more to talk about, and I'm saving that for my next Service Provider Views article, which should be out early next week. I hope you give that a read.
Virgo's Richard Martin introducing the keynote. Kudos to Rick, btw, for pulling this event together and giving VON a second life, so to speak...
VON's over - time to wander a bit. A few shots here from Lincoln Road. Going back to Toronto today, and this was pretty much my last shot at enjoying the weather - wouldn't you have done the same?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday Afternoon in Miami
Had a full morning at VON yesterday, and saw a bit of the Latin America Summit. That's probably the most distinctive twist for the show - it may not be for everybody, but if you have an eye on this market, this looked like a good reality check. I didn't see enough to draw strong conclusions, but it's a huge market opportunity, which anyone here in South Florida knows all too well. I'll steer you to a wrapup post off the VON Daily by Tara Seals for more detail.
The rest of my day was spent in onsite and offsite meetings. Can't complain about the latter, and it's not everyday you get a view like this - what's not to like?
The rest of my day was spent in onsite and offsite meetings. Can't complain about the latter, and it's not everyday you get a view like this - what's not to like?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
VON - So Far
Well, I got to see a handful of sessions yesterday, and have walked the floor a few times. Otherwise, I've been living in the Press Room, and doing my share of briefings and biz dev meetings.
So far, I'd say VON is turning out pretty much as expected. Not too big and not too small. It's a different VON, that's for sure. No Hawaiian shirts (but it sure is hot and humid here), no purple minutes, no rock and roll blowout parties, etc. But, the caliber of speakers and sessions has been very good so far. I really liked what I saw, and the sessions were well attended. The Latin America Summit is running today, and tomorrow, the venue transitions from VON to the Channel Partners show. This really makes VON and a 2+ day show, and it's probably the right amount of time.
Not sure how much of the LatAm summit I'll see, but I have my own session to moderate tomorrow on mobile enterprise apps. Tom Howe is a last minute stand-in for Voxeo - am sure things will turn out just fine. I'm quite looking forward to seeing Skype's Christopher Dean close things out tomorrow. It sure has been a busy week for Skype, and I talked to the press a couple of times yesterday about the latest developments, which could potentially derail the deal altogether. Let's leave it at that and see what comes tomorrow.
Different VON, but many familiar faces - which is not a bad thing!
So far, I'd say VON is turning out pretty much as expected. Not too big and not too small. It's a different VON, that's for sure. No Hawaiian shirts (but it sure is hot and humid here), no purple minutes, no rock and roll blowout parties, etc. But, the caliber of speakers and sessions has been very good so far. I really liked what I saw, and the sessions were well attended. The Latin America Summit is running today, and tomorrow, the venue transitions from VON to the Channel Partners show. This really makes VON and a 2+ day show, and it's probably the right amount of time.
Not sure how much of the LatAm summit I'll see, but I have my own session to moderate tomorrow on mobile enterprise apps. Tom Howe is a last minute stand-in for Voxeo - am sure things will turn out just fine. I'm quite looking forward to seeing Skype's Christopher Dean close things out tomorrow. It sure has been a busy week for Skype, and I talked to the press a couple of times yesterday about the latest developments, which could potentially derail the deal altogether. Let's leave it at that and see what comes tomorrow.
Different VON, but many familiar faces - which is not a bad thing!
Friday, September 18, 2009
VON - Last Call
Just a final shout-out for next week's VON event in Miami. I'll be there through Wednesday and let me know if you're coming - I won't be hard to find.
I gave kudos to Rick Martin the other day, and wanted to share his thinking on why VON is going to be a strong event. He posted a piece today to the VON eDaily titled "5 Reasons VON Will Be Successful". I like 'em all, esp #5 - the Dolphins hosting the Colts Monday night. Haven't thought about going - am more focused on the Patriots/Jets matchup on Sunday - but a lot can happen between now and then. :-)
I gave kudos to Rick Martin the other day, and wanted to share his thinking on why VON is going to be a strong event. He posted a piece today to the VON eDaily titled "5 Reasons VON Will Be Successful". I like 'em all, esp #5 - the Dolphins hosting the Colts Monday night. Haven't thought about going - am more focused on the Patriots/Jets matchup on Sunday - but a lot can happen between now and then. :-)
What Service Providers Can Learn From Utilities
My latest Service Provider Views article is posted now on TMCnet. With the above title, it's no surprise that they've featured the article on our Smart Grid portal, and you can read it here.
In short, my article talks about ways that service providers could apply Demand Response principles to their business. The ideas may not be that obvious, as the dynamics of the energy business are very different, but not entirely off the table.
I'm also doing this to show that utilities aren't the only ones who could stand to learn from others in the Smart Grid space - telcos have far greater competitive pressures, and should be willing to take good ideas from wherever they come.
In short, my article talks about ways that service providers could apply Demand Response principles to their business. The ideas may not be that obvious, as the dynamics of the energy business are very different, but not entirely off the table.
I'm also doing this to show that utilities aren't the only ones who could stand to learn from others in the Smart Grid space - telcos have far greater competitive pressures, and should be willing to take good ideas from wherever they come.
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