UC in 2013 - Time to Change the Channel?

That's the title of my current column running in TMC's Internet Telephony magazine. The digital version of  the June issue is out now, and this month's Rethinking Communications column continues the theme from the previous issue where I started looking at the current state of Unified Communications.

I write extensively on UC, and this time around the focus is the channel and asking some fundamental questions about the value they bring for IT decision-makers. If UC was like hardware, the business relationship would be mostly transactional, with not much value-add needed. Today's UC, though is very much a solution that keeps evolving and in the right hands can have a transformative impact on the business. That's what I'm advocating UC buyers to be thinking about, and if they don't see this in their partners, it might be time to change the channel.

Here's the link - I hope you read it and your commments are welcome.

Before signing off, since we're on the TMC channel, it's never too early for an ITExpo shout-out. The 2013 West edition is coming to Las Vegas for the first time, and I'll be plenty busy there. Show runs from August 26-29, and in due time I'll be blogging lots more about it. Going?

Update on Zpryme Webinar on U.S. Smart Grid Market - Free Now!

Quick update for the Zpryme webinar I posted about the other day.

There's been a change in plans, and now it is free for all, not just Premium subscribers. Demand has been ramping up, and so has sponsor interest, and we think this change will be for the better all around. While there's no charge to register, the tradeoff is you don't get the supporting data unless you're a Premium subscriber. Seems fair to me.

So, if you want to learn first-hand about the current state of the U.S. smart grid market, please join us on June 13 - this Thursday at 1pm ET.

I'll be presenting some high level trends, which will set the table for two of the leading smart grid implementers - Duke Energy and Austin Energy, as well as Proximetry, one of of the leading vendors, especially for wireless networks in this space.

Here's the updated registration page along with more detail about the webinar and our sponsors. See you then!

Zpryme Webinar - State of the U.S. Smart Grid Market, June 13

Am wearing my smart grid hat here, and will be doing another webinar with Zpryme on June 13. The topic is large - current state of smart grid in the U.S., and joining me will be some people who really know - Duke Energy, Austin Energy and Proximetry.

This is a pretty high profile set of speakers, and as such this is a paid event unless you're a subscriber to our Premium service. If so, you know who you are, and otherwise, the registration fee is $275. I'll be both moderating and presenting, and hope you can join us. You get get all the details here, and I'll post/tweet again as we get closer to the date.

Cisco Connect 2013, Toronto - IOT and Beyond

Last Thursday, I attended Cisco Canada's annual Connect event here in Toronto. I've been to a few of these, and by Canadian standards it's a pretty large showcase for Cisco and their partners. They have the customer base to support an event on this scale, and Cisco provided a solid day of content and networking to make it worthwhile for everyone.

Analysts and media were a tiny contingent, but we did have our own tailored sessions with their executive team as well as hearing about some interesting customer initiatives. No complaints there, and we were well looked after. As we heard, Cisco Canada is doing some good things to invest in our knowledge economy based on the belief that gains in productivity will drive innovation and ultimately improve our standard of living. Examples cited included funding for some Research Chairs, innovation centers and an LP investment fund.  Kudos for showing good corporate citizenship here, and I hope it gets the desired results.

Overall, the main message for me was their focus on yet another new acronym - IOT. You've heard the term, but maybe not this shortform - the Internet of Things. Just when you thought mobile broadband has over-saturated us with connectivity, Cisco Canada's President, Nitin Kawale tells us that 99% of the world is still not connected. What's wrong with this picture? Well, he's talking about "things", not people. Now this makes sense, and it's really about M2M, and a little bit about P2M.

There's more to consider here, but this certainly is a good way to position vendors like Cisco for the next wave of growth. People are already pretty well connected, at least in the enterprise world, but there are many more machines than people, so there's lots of upside here. Of course, it's more than just connectivity, and Nitin noted that value comes from connecting things and people to processes, which sounds much closer to home for those of us in the UC space.

To amplify this, we also heard from Carlos Dominguez, a Cisco "techknowist". Make of that what you will, but he's a great speaker - very engaging and he touched on the challenges facing IT decision makers, especially around three things - the Internet, mobility and social media. Nothing new there, but his richer message was about how many sectors of the economy are now being "rebooted" around these things. He cited familiar examples like healthcare, government, education, and even cities. This is the stuff I get excited about, and was nodding along regularly.

Carlos brought this to life by citing some cool innovations that embody the IOT concept. Most are based on sensors that create new streams of data from everyday things like sneakers, street lights, home thermostats and even garbage. These things are bringing an explosion of Internet traffic and data that needs to be managed, and if you're thinking about Big Data now, you're right. Of course, this all drives networks, which Cisco happens to be in the middle of, so if you're wondering where the company is planning to get growth from, look no further.

Corporate self-interest aside, Carlos gave everyone a lot to think about, and if you get a chance to see him speak you won't be disappointed. You can put up the white flag and feel overwhelmed by all this new data that will soon be upon us, but there is also an exciting opportunity ahead for those prepared to invest in the right tools to get a handle on this and turn that mess of data into actionable insight.

Mobile demo unit for Cisco's healthcare vertical solutions

Carlos Dominguez

UCS podcast - the future for IT

Great topic for this week's UCStrategies podcast, and one that needs a lot of discussion.  In the wake of the recent UC Summit, we've all had a lot to think about, and it's fair to say that the role of IT has never been more challenging, with more questions than answers.

Our collective expertise is quite broad, and some of us were also at this month's Interactions event with Interactive Intelligence. When you hear what they're hearing as a vendor, the complexity of IT's job becomes even clearer for us as analysts and consultants.

I'm sure you have your own take on how IT is evolving, and it may not be for the better. Our group had a lot to say about that, and the podcast was posted this morning on the UCS portal. The session was moderated by Dave Michels, and from this link you can both listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

Microsoft Lync, UC and CEBP - Connecting the Dots

Busy is busy, and am blogging when I can - but it's never as much as I'd like.

This post will be short and my intention is to direct you to my May thought leadership contribution to the UCStrategies portal. A few weeks ago, I co-presented at the UC Summit with UCStrategies colleague, Kevin Kieller. Our topic was the business opportunity facing channels with Lync and it raised a lot of questions, especially around CEBP. Some was due to lack of clarity on my part, and to address all this, Kevin and I teamed up to share our thoughts and set some things straight. Hopefully this does the job, and we'd love to see more discussion, as CEBP can be a messy topic.

With that said, if any or all of these ideas are on your mind - CEBP, Microsoft Lync and UC - then I hope you'll read our analysis. The posting went live this morning, and here's the link.

Creating Business Value via UC and Collaboration - my Enterprise Management Interview with Sonus

I've been associated with U.K.-based Enterprise Management 360 for a few years, and my most recent engagement was doing an interview with Sonus about this topic. My partner this time around was Todd Abbott of Sonus Networks; he's their EVP of Strategy, and I've known him for some time. As an aside, he gave a solid presentation at the UC Summit a couple of weeks back, and Sonus looks to be well positioned as the SBC space moves into the next frontiers of cloud and mobility.

Back to the interview, which mainly covered the morphing of UC and collaboration into UCC. That term has become quite popular lately, and it speaks to the outcomes UC is trying to enable. On its own, UC is really just a toolset - a collection of applications that work well together as a solution. The business value comes from enabling collaboration to drive processes and do things more efficiently. That's worth investing in, and Todd shares his views on what both vendors and service providers need to do for UCC to live up to its potential.

The interview was recently published in the Q1 2013 print edition of their quarterly magazine, Enterprise Management 360, which is nicely produced and quite dense with in-depth interview and analysis. I have a couple of links to share to get you to the interview. First, to read it right away, you can access the online edition. Here's the link to the Index for the Q1 issue, and our interview runs on pages 52-55.

Next, here's the landing page on their website for the Q1 issue. I'm mentioned in the Editor's letter introducing the issue, but more important are other options to access their content. My roots are in the trade press world, and I like what they're doing here to remain relevant with digital readers. They provide apps links for both iTunes and Google play, as well as their own store where you can buy single copy print editions of the magazine.

Pick your path, and I hope you take some time to scan the Q1 issue and give our interview a read. As always, comments are welcome.