Tag Archives | microsoft

Cisco Makes its Presence Heard

By on April 20, 2012 in Telecom

Yesterday, Cisco joined the ranks of Microsoft, (Skype), Google, Yahoo, Apple, AOL, Facebook, Salesforce.com, and others with free IM and presence. From the Cisco blog:

Today we’re announcing that we are making presence and instant messaging (IM) capabilities and Cisco Jabber clients available to our Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) customers globally at no additional cost. Cisco believes that together presence, IM, voice and video call control provide the foundation for real-time communications. Continue Reading →

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Cisco Calls the Skype Kettle Black

By on February 17, 2012 in Telecom

I didn’t see this one coming – but it makes perfect sense.

Cisco communicates to the EU that Microsoft and Skype together may not be such a good thing for the industry, and thus appealed the approval of the merger to the EU. That isn’t in itself too surprising until you consider that the EU and the US have already approved the deal, and that the EU and US has already heard Cisco’s concerns. There is a very good chance that the decision won’t be changed. But there is also the chance some detail gets revised. There are two issues here: why did Cisco do this and is it a reasonable claim?

Why they did it largely falls into the nothing to lose category. It’s like challenging a referee’s call. There might be a small price, and it might be futile, but the call isn’t likely to come back any worse and there is a chance the outcome gets changed. But even if the EU makes no change in their decision, it slows down the merger. At the current rate of change, delaying things a few months is eternity. A lot can happen.

Consider how much has happened just since Microsoft announced the acquisition: Continue Reading →

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Megatrends 2012

By on January 13, 2012 in Telecom

It is good to reflect on the past year and I’ve been enjoying many of the pieces published in this annual ritual. It truly is impressive how much happens in a year. However, I also feel that the annual analysis misses some of the bigger picture. Fundamental changes in this industry are normal, but sometimes important things are not visible on an annual scale.

Rather than offer an annual review, I’m going to jump back to a December 2009 post called Megatrends in Voice. These trends, mobility, the cloud, and de-materialization, continue and are evolving. I think these shifts (shift happens) are still relevant and transformational, but I’d like to offer a few updates.

Mobility: Mobility remains huge and somehow managed to become even bigger in 2011. It was big enough when it was just smartphones – but tablets are much bigger than smartphones :) . Mobility is just part of the equation – it’s also about simplicity. I think we saw a false start with the advent of netbooks. If you recall, netbooks were surging in popularity in 2009, so much so that they were notably harming the sale of notebook computers (see Notebook Sales Flatten, While Netbooks Surge).

This created a problem for Microsoft as everyone was taking advantage of a lite version of XP at the expense of full version sales. Microsoft put a stop to it with Windows 7 licensing and pushed netbooks into 10.1” or smaller display and that curbed demand. I think this was a huge blunder. In hindsight, it was clear writing on the wall that there was a mass market for simple, inexpensive, low maintenance devices.

The netbook was possible because of the cloud. The web itself, web email, social services, photo services, instant messaging, and other “programs” were transforming traditional software into services. After Windows 7 came out, people were forced back to expensive, high maintenance devices for surfing. Meanwhile, Apple was pushing the limits of notebooks with its AirBook.

The iPad or tablet was inevitable. Apple was able to leverage its experience from iPods, iPhones, and AirBooks into an elegant netbook without a keyboard. Ironically, Microsoft intended to cripple the netbook with a small screen, but it turns out the screen size was fine – it was the keyboard that was the problem. The pièce de résistance was the Appstore. It wasn’t just software that became a service, but the browsing, delivery and installation experience as well. Continue Reading →

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Cisco and Avaya Leaders Again

By on January 5, 2012 in Telecom

Cisco and Avaya were once again identified as industry leaders. This time, by a new IDC worldwide unified communications Marketscape report. The report claims to use a “rigorous scoring methodology that produces a definititive assessment of each vendro’s current market capabilities and stategies.”

IDC placed Cisco and Avaya in the Leaders category for 2011/2012 with several others, including Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Siemens, NEC, IBM, and ShoreTel, recognized as Major Players. The report also evaluated Aastra, Digium, Huawei, and Interactive Intelligence – which evidently are not “major players.” That seems like a slippery slope as all of those four have compelling value propositions of their own.

Additional findings from the report include: Continue Reading →

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Top 2011 Posts from Pin Drop Soup

By on December 24, 2011 in Telecom

Most read stories this year. The blog really saw some traffic increases in 2011. Though moving to a new site – and new name (TalkingPointz) caused a disruption in traffic and messed up my annual stats. Thanks for bearing through the move. The new name is more reflective of my independent research and the new site (WordPress) is more versatile.

  • Cisco’s Laurent: Although the interview was actually posted in 2010, the top PinDropSoup post traffic in 2011 was to my interview with Laurent Philonenko. Cisco’s UC chief.
  • Bitter Lync Story: I reprinted a Lync tantrum on my blog after Networld pulled it. The piece is emotionally charged and shoots from the hip. At the time, the author was an employee of Avaya. (A Bitter-Lync Divorce).
  • Skype: Skype was a popular topic this year, I don’t expect that to be as true in 2012. Two Skype stories popped up high on readership, both obsolete now (Skype and Cisco and Skype and Avaya). Then it was all MS and Skype. I don’t like it emotionally, but I think it was a good move. Before the announcement, I posted Microsoft Should Buy Skype, then after it was official there were several other posts including MS Skype, Dial M for Skype, Skype: Interop is a waste of time) all in the top 10. I also wrote several features on MS and Skype including one at GigaOm Pro.
  • The Sale of ALU. It wasn’t industry consolidation, but a transfer of assets to a new home. Good, I think we need some new blood – it will be interesting to see what Permira does. (ALU’s Silent Auction and More Private Equity)
  • The Virtual Softphone: Virtualization is a big deal. It didn’t exist all in UC/Telecom a few years ago. Then Mitel was the first to announce (with VMware) a virtualized call director. Now virtualizing the call manager has become common – SEN, Microsoft, Aastra, Cisco NEC, all run on VMware. Avaya is on Citrix. Shoretel supports virutalization of its apps. This year, Mitel and VMware announced a virtual softphone. This is the first VMware VDI View softphone, and the first virtual phone solution that scales in the industry.  (Hold the Virtual Phone).
  • Avaya Makes Forbes List: It has been a tough year – recession, revolutions, technology shifts, currency fluctuations. Most vendors are doing a decent job of hiding the pressure they are under. You don’t see headlines about unpaid closures, loss of benefits, etc. Cisco got its share of bad news (and layoffs) as a public company, but UC was one of its bright spots. Most of the industry is not public, but for various reasons they have been reporting financials publicly. Avaya got some bad publicity with its inclusion in the worst performers list in Forbes. The company took on considerable debt with acquiring Nortel which should have an eventual positive ROI, but it will take a few years (as it should).  (Avaya Makes a Top 10 List).

May 2012 be a grand year – cheers to all.

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Gartner 2012 Predictions

By on December 19, 2011 in Telecom

Forbes published an article called The Road Ahead: Gartner’s Outlook for 2012 And Beyond. It offers the reader, in summary/bullet form Gartner’s predictions for the IT sector.  Some of the points are pretty obvious – a clear rise in Cloud and mobility, but there are a few surprises.  Continue Reading →

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Microsoft Killed the Netbook – not the Tablet

By on December 16, 2011 in Telecom

What we have here is a case of the victors writing the history book.

We learned recently that Dell decided to discontinue selling Netbooks because of tablets. Netbooks? You remember them – the small, inexpensive notebook-like computers with a lightweight operating system. They came in a few different flavors of Windows and Linux. They were the rage a few years ago.

I bought one – by Asus. It has a lightweight version of Linux. It worked pretty well, but it was too small for me. I found the screen and keyboard just awkward, the Gmail menu’s and ads took up more room than email content. I had planned to buy a full size netbook with Windows 7 – the upcoming generation.

The reason netbooks took off was a combination of price and cloud. Many people (like me) don’t have much data on their hard drives any more, and particularly when traveling the cloud is enough. This blog, my email, Twitter, FB, etc – are all in the cloud. I have lots of “windows” open, but they are all browser tabs.  This is, by the way, the reason I am a PC and not a Mac. I agree Mac’s offer a superior end user experience, but since the browser is pretty much the same and the price isn’t, I use a PC. Back to the Netbook, it turned out I wasn’t alone – for those that wanted a cheap device to get online – the Netbook won. So much so that netbook’s started eating into the sales of notebooks and Microsoft’s more expensive copies of Windows (cir 2009). See Notebook Sales Flatten, While Netbooks Surge.  Netbooks were the perfect cloud device, small, portable, and cheap.  Continue Reading →

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Industry Update

By on November 18, 2011 in Telecom
The iPhone and iPad have broken more records than the iPod did CDs. Microsoft buying Skype was a game changer, but the new game remains a mystery. Here is the current industry round-up. Read it quickly as things are changing fast. Continue Reading →
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A Bitter Lync Divorce

By on September 22, 2011 in Telecom

Is Microsoft Lync ready for the enterprise? It’s a question that just won’t die. Certainly it seems to be selling well, and it represents a fairly unique solution. But Lync is so different that many just don’t know what to make of it.

On one hand, Lync offers smooth integration with a Microsoft infrastructure – Windows, Active Directory, Office, Exchange, and SharePoint. It has rich APIs and a high profile developer network. On the other hand, its voice features are somewhat limited, it requires partners to complete its solution (endpoints and applications such as contact center), has a very complex architecture, and it is the only enterprise telephony solution that does not support standard SIP endpoints.

Matt Brunk and I took on the debate on NoJitter last January. In that piece I had taken the PRO Lync position. But despite my elegant prose – the debate lingers. Last week, Joe Schurman posted on Network World the case that it is not enterprise ready. His feature Microsoft Lync is NOT “Enterprise Ready” was posted on Network World, but has since disappeared. No real explanation of why Joe has turned so viciously against his former cause or why the article is gone – but fellow Network World columnist Julie Bork noted the existence of the post and confirms his Lync expertise:

Schurman currently works as director of Avaya’s Unified Communications; however, until recently, he was one of the more well-known advocates of Microsoft’s Unified Communications products and it is fair to say that Schurman knows Lync well. He is a six-time Microsoft UC MVP who penned two books on Microsoft’s unified communication technology…However, earlier this year Schurman grew so frustrated with Lync’s telephony technology, as well as Microsoft’s SDK and other developer support, that he bailed on Microsoft altogether…

So what did Joe say? I have the entire post below (it’s long). Certainly he raises some valid points, but the tone is emotional and some of his points are pretty weak. For example, he boldly announces that “Microsoft Lync is actually a hardware-centric solution.” Yes, it is a sad fact that all premise based solutions – even virtual ones – still require hardware. It’s also true that softphones require hardware too. It’s a conspiracy I tell you.

Joe points out correctly that Lync uses multiple servers in separate roles. He lists 14 servers, but mistakenly states each requires its own separate physical server. That is simply untrue. Lync requires a minimum of 4 server roles, but all can be on a single physical server. It is these types of issues that cause his post to lose some credibility, however, many of his facts are correct.

I get his basic point though. I too have been critical of Microsoft in the past because they often imply they are unique in UC as a provider of a “software based” solution. I do consider them a provider of a “software based” solution, but I don’t think that is unique. Avaya often gets stereotyped as a hardware company, but they run on Dell or HP industry standard servers (as does Microsoft), have their phones produced by third parties (as does Microsoft), and seem mostly focused on their software experience and capabilities (as does Microsoft).

So is Joe correct? That’s for you to decide. However, while some of his points are valid, I might offer that those that live in an Avaya house should be cautious about throwing stones.

The original article is posted below courtesy of Google Cache.

Continue Reading →

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A Cloud a Risin’

By on July 21, 2011 in Telecom

Is the Cloud OS going to replace traditional server operating systems? Are the days of server based Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX, UX, etc. over?

Last week:

Citrix acquires Cloud.com
VMware announces vSphere V

In terms of enterprise voice, we are starting to see the trend of centralization – hosting branch offices off a centralized voice solution. That central collection of servers may be on-site data or in a co-lo and may even be virtualized. Virtulalizaton (the “V” word) is becoming common in voice planning conversations. That’s significant as the “V” word was never mentioned in voice circles just a few years ago.

Gartner declared in its Magic Quadrant of the virtualization technology vendors, only three belong in the magical leaders quadrant; VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft. The other three in the chart (Oracle, Parallels, and Red Hat) fell into the niche quadrant (if they weren’t before, they are niche players now). Gartner wrote:

As of mid-2011, at least 40% of x86 architecture workloads have been virtualized on servers; furthermore, the installed base is expected to grow five-fold from 2010 through 2015 (as both the number of workloads in the marketplace grow and as penetration grows to more than 75%).

This correlates to a recent PinDropSoup:  ”VMware is on fire. The company recently reported year-over-year growth at 49%, ending FY2010 at $2.9 billion. Included in that top line is 95% increase in operating income. Q1-11 revenue is 33% higher than Q1-10.”

There is no question that telephony is headed into the clouds (private, public, and hybrid). However, we are on a collision course when it comes to desktop virtualization. In telephony we see a greater acceptance of softphones and in virtual desktops there is no solution that supports virtual softphones.
I see only three options:
  1. A breakthru in desktop virtualizaltion (server virtualization didn’t support real time telephony at first either).
  2. The desktop phone returns and stays. A virtual desktop for computing, and a video phone for conversing.
  3. Improved desktop capabilities – effectively putting local capabilities in thin top desktops or browsers to enable desktop video and voice without a full blown operating system. Maybe Google’s new WebRTC will make the ChromeBook a real-time capable thin client.

Virtualization is on the periphery of telecom right now, but front and center in IT. The main focus is the data center, but the desktop is on deck. I expect both to be a very major topic in enterprise telephony over the next couple of years.

How big is virtualization? Bigger than the Great Wall of China.
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