eComm Updates

Yesterday, the IT Expo; today, eComm.

These two events have been keeping me busy lately, and I've got two items to share about eComm 2009. As I've been posting recently, the program is coming together nicely and the sponsor support has been healthy. That's great news considering how difficult the economy is. The next step is getting the word out and ultimately getting attendees to register so we know who's coming!

Before getting to the eComm news, I wanted to share a great post from Andy Abramson, who's just back from MacWorld and CES last week. He goes to way more events than me, and his post is a great read for anyone worried about the health of the conference space. Of course they're all hurting financially and are scaling back accordingly. However, as Andy can attest first-hand, there is still tremendous value in attending.

Even if the shows are smaller, the key players are usually there, and there's no better opportunity to learn from and network among your peers over a few days. How's that for a nice segue into eComm? And of course, it applies equally well to the IT Expo, and any other show you have some history with. We all have to be more selective these days, but events like these matter, and are still the best way to stay involved.

On that note, the press release for eComm 2009 went out this morning, and you should give it a read for the latest list of topics and sponsors. Not to mention the early bird discount! I posted about getting this discount last month, and if you didn't take advantage of that, here's your second chance!

There's also a more interactive news item to pass along. Alec Saunders is going to resume his widely-followed Squawk Box interviews, and next Tuesday - January 20 - he'll be interviewing eComm founder Lee Dryburgh. It will be a great opportunity to hear from Lee directly about what eComm 2009 is focusing on, and of course to join the conversation yourself. The interview will be hosted on Alec's Calliflower platform, and you can read the details on his post.

TMC IT Expo Updates

TMC's ITExpo East 2009 event is quickly approaching, and I wanted to provide some updates.

First, I wanted to mention a nice gesture TMC is doing to help out those who been recently impacted by our weak economy. Rich Tehrani posted about this last week, and it's worth repeating here. TMC is offering free conference passes to industry people who are recently out of work. If this speaks to you or someone you know, please have a look at Rich's post for the details. Nicely done, TMC!

On my front, I'll be quite busy at the Expo. First off, I'll be moderating two sessions:

- Service Provider IP Telephony: Considerations

- Driving Benefits Through Analytics


I'm also going to be wearing my TMC hat as part of TMC Editor Week. I've been invited to join their Editorial team to participate in briefings with IT Expo participants. It's a great idea - sort of a "meet the press" thing, where TMC avails its roster of Editors and contributors like me to participants looking for our views on the market, their company, etc. These briefings are being organized by TMC, so it's not an open invitation. However, if you come by the Press Room, and see me at a table in the area dedicated to TMC Editor Week, at least you'll know why.


Switching hats now, I'll also be presenting two segments during Ingate's "back by popular demand" SIP Trunking Sessions:

- Technology Survival Roadmap - SIP Trunking and Beyond

- Just for Carriers: SIP Trunk Intensive Workshop

The sesssions are free, and you can register to attend here. Ingate and TMC have worked hard to build this up into a very popular draw at the IT Expo, and I'm really looking forward to being part of it. You can also read more about it in the press release that just went out this morning.

Finally, on Tuesday morning, I'll be hosting a business breakfast sponsored by the Canada/Ontario delegation that is showcasing Ontario tech companies at the IT Expo. Attendees will get to meet representatives from the following companies: SVKSoftware, Pronexus, Industry Dynamics, Macadamian, Ingenius, OmniWare, ObjectWorld, Jazinga, Phybridge, Callture, Vision Max and Sigma Systems.

Attendance is limited and is on an RSVP basis. The breakfast is primarily targeted at South Florida companies looking to do business with Ontario tech companies, especially those in the delegation. For more information, drop me a line, and I can send you an invitation. You can reach me at: jon@jarnoldassociates.com

Nortel's Web.Alive Debut with Lenovo at CES

I'm not a big CES follower, but you can't miss all the noise and news coming from the big players, especially Cisco's push into the home. It's all to be expected, and it sure will be interesting to see just how much uptake all this cool technology will have as the economy continues to decline. I had a long chat about this yesterday with a close friend in the U.S. financial sector, and it's pretty clear that we're shifting from an economy based on wants to one based on needs. It's painful, but I'm sort of glad it's happening. I'm not a fan of globalization, and in times like these we become more grounded out of necessity. I digress...

This is an awkward lead-in to my post, but that's how my mind is working right now. So, back to CES.

My post is about Nortel's announcement today for Web.Alive and how Lenovo is using it to help sell laptops. Web.Alive is a product of Nortel's Project Chainsaw initiative, which I was very privy to back in May. If using virtual worlds to facilitate commerce and collaboration is of interest, you may want to read my post about this, as well as their subsequent acquisition of DiamondWare in August - a move that I think really positions Nortel at the front of this exciting market opportunity.

These initiatives are ahead of what the market is ready for, but it's not hard to see the possibilities, especially as the quality of these virtual experiences gets to be so good and intuitive. Not being at CES, I'm not able to experience this first hand in the Lenovo "e-Lounge", but I will get my chance when the Nortel folks are back from CES. Look for a follow up post from me about this then.

Truphone - Helping Keep VoIP Alive and Well

In my most recent Service Provider Views column, I identified a number of companies that typify the innovation taking place now in VoIP that I think will make this an exciting space in 2009. One of them is Truphone, and readers of my blog will know that I’ve followed them for some time.

Yesterday I had a chance to speak with their new CEO, Geraldine Wilson, and it was great way to get a first hand update on what they’re announcing this week and next. Between Macworld and CES, they are playing on some big and important stages, and this alone should tell you that VoIP is far from dead.

Even casual followers of Truphone understand what they’ve done to advance mobile VoIP, and how they were the first VoIP application available to iPhone users from the App Store. That alone makes them worth watching. We all know that mobile VoIP will become mainstream sooner or later, so there’s nothing really groundbreaking there.

The more interesting news that will be announced during these two events has to do with broadening the scope of how we communicate with smartphones, and making them even more relevant to our everyday lives. While the focus is on the iPhone and iTouch, it's just a matter of time until these capabilities become true value-adds for smartphones as a category. I've always viewed smartphones as pocket-sized PCs rather than telephones, and Truphone is making some big strides now for extending the desktop experience to your mobile world.

First, is the introduction of IM on the Apple devices. This capability will be launched now for Skype and Google, and in time, they will add MSN and Yahoo. Using a touchscreen to tap out an IM is not my idea of time well spent, but my son Max would just love it. The IM feature is important for a couple of reasons. Aside from being a quick, convenient way to communicate, it's habit-forming, and cheaper than SMS. This is something that many Apple fans I'm sure will pick up on right away. This leads to my second point, which is presence. Wow. With IM, Truphone adds presence to the iPhone and iTouch. That's a cornerstone Web/Voice 2.0 feature, and with presence, communication becomes a much more powerful aspect of using these devices. This opens the door to all types of presence-enabled applications that I'm sure will turn up in the App Store very soon.

Second, is the ability now to move between an IM session and a voice call on these devices. This is where I think Truphone makes things very interesting, and more importantly, this is where they can make some money. It doesn't take much to see how appealing this combination can be - start out doing IM with your friend, and then deciding on the fly you want to talk instead. All in the same session - that's great.

With these two capabilities, Truphone has made some huge communities - Skype and Google - much more relevant to iPhone and iTouch users. Those buddy lists and address books will become much more valuable, not just for Apple users but the service providers carrying these sessions. It's a big deal for Truphone, but to me, it's an even bigger deal for Apple, as it validates the power of the smartphone, not just for communicating, but for community building. Neither Skype nor Google have yet to effectively extend their respective communities to the mobile world, but Truphone now makes that possible for them. I'm sure both are thrilled!

An interesting sidebar to watch will be how this impacts the behavior of iTouch users. With Truphone, they now have less of a reason to carry a cell phone. Since the iTouch really only works with WiFi for voice, it won't be a total switchout, but I'll bet it will be enough to catch the media's attention. That said, I don't see this cannibalizing iPhone sales, but you never know.

Looking ahead, the next frontier for me would be federating these capabilities across IM communities. Let's say I IM a Skype contact and escalate that to a voice call. Then my presence indicator tells me another contact on Google is available, and I've decided I want to patch that person into my Skype call. Ultimately that defeats the purpose of having distinct communities, but it sure would be a powerful feature to have.

December 2008 Media Roundup

Am a few days late getting this out, but as usual, I'm doing a brief recap of where I turned up in the media last month.

First, some citings in various stories covered by the media...

- BroadSoft's acquisition of Sylantro - Telephony Online

- Nortel's prospects - The Readerboard, and TMCnet

- SMB IP telephony options - Financial Post

- Avaya Canada's 2009 roadmap - ITBusiness.ca

Switching gears to other media, I was also featured in a national TV interview, an in-depth podcast, and a press release:

- Wireless substitution trends in Canada - CBC TV News, Toronto

- Social media in the enterprise - podcast with Socialcast CEO Tim Young, Business Trends Quarterly

- Orasi Software's partnership with HP - press release

I was also busy on the writing front, with my regular Service Provider Views columns for TMCnet, and some Ask the Expert commentaries for TechTarget:

- VoIP in 2008 - 'I'm Not Dead' - TMCnet

- Microsoft and Service Providers Part 2: Progress Interrupted But Not Stopped - TMCnet

For TechTarget, registration is required to read the full text, but it just takes a minute.

- 2009 VoIP Outlook, Unified Communications Ask the Expert

- Green Advantages of VoIP over PBXs, Unified Communications Ask the Expert


Finally, TechTarget recently published its Top 20 Unified Communications/IP Telephony Ask the Expert Answers of 2008. Am happy to report that 5 of the top 20 responses for 2008 were mine:

- Can I keep my PBX while migrating to VoIP?

- Can I configure mobile VoIP on my company smartphone?

- Is the iPhone a good choice for my business?

- Configuring a cost-effective VoIP network for overseas calls

- How will employee desktop video use affect our network?

eComm 2009 Updates

Lee Dryburgh has been busy over the holidays, and I wanted to update you on two items in particular, both of which are posted on the eComm blog.

First is the charity appeal he's just launched for the Shelter Network. In its purest form, this is a noble effort to raise money for homeless people in the San Francisco area. That's the simple part. Lee is an engineer, and nothing is simple for him, so there's more to the story. This initiative is tied into two other concepts - raising awareness/selling tickets to eComm 2009, and testing the effectiveness of social media to support causes like this.

There's a lot to consider here, and that explains why Lee's blog post about this is so long. I'm doing my part by blogging about it now, and hopefully a few of you will keep the thread going, especially if you regularly use social media tools. I do not, so this is as far as it goes for me. Anyhow, it certainly is a worthy cause, and if you want to support our eComm community, this is a very nice way to go.

Second is yet another go-round of the VoIP-dead-or-alive debate that started with my TMC article last Monday. This conversation has taken a life of its own the past few days, and even Jeff Pulver has waded in a couple of times. Well, one of these posts caught Lee's eye and yesterday he countered with a post of his own, essentially inviting Jeff to support and even speak at eComm.

Interesting, huh? Why Lee would use a public forum to do this, and why he - or anyone for that matter - would post about a conference on a Sunday - at the end of the XMas break to boot - is totally beyond me, but it did not go unnoticed.

There has been some dialog around this, and it will be interesting to see if Jeff puts any effort behind Lee's request. As a member of the eComm Advisory Board, I'd love to see Jeff help bring more community around eComm, but we all know it's not so simple. Just like seeing Carl moderate at the ITExpo, this type of outreach really gets your attention, and if you could put a host of issues aside, there could be a lot of upside for everyone. That's a pretty big "if", but hey, it's Day 1 of 2009 in the working world, and hopefully we've all made resolutions to make the world a better place.

VoIP's Prognosis - Depends Who You Ask/What Sources Work For You?

When I published my latest Service Provider Views article on TMCnet on Monday - "I'm Not Dead" - I didn't give it much thought once it went live. My articles get comments here and there, but nothing like this.

Andy Abramson and Alec Saunders picked up on it first, and from there, it sure has hit a nerve. Over the past couple of days, the premise as to whether VoIP is dead or alive has taken a life of its own in the blogosphere, and there are clearly fans on both sides. Alec has done a great job keeping this dialog going, and I'll point you to his post from Wednesday night that has a very helpful roundup of links to the most noteable commentary, including Jeff Pulver (yes!), Om Malik, Ken Camp, Ted Wallingford, Andy Abramson, Garrett Smith, Lee Dryburgh, as well as our posts - his and mine - that ran on Circle ID.

Since then, I'd like to add a few other voices to the mix - Stuart Henshall, Lee's more extensive comments on the eComm blog, Jazinga's Shidan Gouran (on his brand new blog - welcome!), and Israeli colleague Moshe Maeir from Flat Planet Phone Company.

Lots to think about there, and with this post being a day or two removed from most of the recent commentary, I'm not so sure there's much connection any more with my article. I find it really interesting how these conversations evolve in the blogosphere, and that everyone has an opinion, and people take sides very quickly. From what I can tell, I'm the only person in this mix whose views were presented in the form of a published article. Everything else has been blog posts, and it sure is interesting to see how organically and virally conversations evolve in this medium.

Before moving on, I just want to pass a hat tip on to Andy Abramson. He was the first to cite my article, and that's when this whole thing started to pick up momentum. My blog is not as widely followed as others cited above, and more importantly, I don't think bloggers follow the industry media all that much any more. So, if not for Andy, I'm not so sure any of these conversations would be happening.

So, for me, this is an interesting sidebar to whether you think VoIP is dead or alive. Most bloggers I follow are much better informed about our space than the media, and all the threads I've read on this topic have valid points of view. But they're not getting published in the mainstream, and I see two problems stemming from that.

First, the mainstream is missing out on some valuable insights from people who are really in the know. Of course there are tons of journalistic issues around this, but that's another conversation.

Second, the blogosphere can be insular and self-selecting, so we're often just talking amongst ourselves. Am not sure if there's an indifference towards the trade press from bloggers, but I do wonder if there's an unhealthy disconnect out there between these two camps. Yes, there are journalists/editors who blog, but most bloggers are not from this world.

By the way, I'm not taking sides here - am reflecting more on how the process of getting and staying informed is changing in the Internet world, and how it's different for everyone. I don't have the answers at hand for these issues, but I think they're important, and probably warrant a forum for separate conversation. That's another thread I'd like to keep going in 2009.