Forrester predictions 2010: Effects on softphones

Forrester published the report "Predictions 2010: What's In Store For The Telecom Industry?" and some of the predictions are related or will have an effect on desktop softphones:

• Convergence will move from collision to explosion.
• Green will be back on the telco agenda in a big way.
• The boundaries between work and home will continue to blur.
• Broadband will go universal.

Frost & Sullivan: UC with proven ROI

A new study from Frost & Sullivan draws a stronger correlation between collaborative tools and monetary gains. "If we're able to measure the amount of improvement … that UC can provide versus no UC, then we can say definitely there is some measurable return on investment," said Brian Cotton, a vice president at Frost & Sullivan. A company in Italy that has implemented UC including VoIP is closing five times more deals with online conferences than with trade shows, and estimated that they have since realized a $15,000 to $18,000 per month unified communications ROI.

• New product development occurred in 68% of enterprises that used UC tools versus the 39% that developed new products without collaborative tools.
• 76% of enterprises that used UC tools saw sales growth versus the 50% that increased sales without using them.
• Profit growth was also more likely in enterprises that invested in UC -- 71% versus 45%.
• Collaborative environments such as sales and research and development yielded the highest rate of return, while employee retention and turnover seemed to benefit least.
• Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) appeared to see the lowest unified communications ROI, according to the study. Large enterprises with 1,000 or more employees yielded on average six times more value from collaborative tools than SMBs. Despite appearances, Cotton said, the finding doesn't mean SMBs don't benefit from UC. Instead, he said, they probably need to use UC for more than a limited number of employees and include suppliers, investors and key customer groups.

Frost & Sullivan white paper "Meetings Around the World II: Charting the Course of Advanced Collaboration"

Forrester with new telecommute numbers

According to the new Forrester report "Understanding Information Worker Smartphone Usage", 59% of employees' work time is at places in the office other than own desk, at home, at a client site or other places and 41% telecommute. 54% are using their smartphone for more than 1 hour daily - a huge cost reduction potential when moving some of these calls to VoIP and use integrated softphones.

Gartner's UC Magic Quadrant warns against single-vendor approach

Interoperability is the magic word for vendors in Gartner's unified communications (UC) Magic Quadrant this year, as market giants accept they have to let third-party developers play in their sandboxes.

Gartner is advising enterprises to shop around for interoperable communications products across the market.

"... the benefits are worthwhile because you will end up with more choice and more control over your direction, and more control over your costs."

Ross Daniels, director at Cisco: "Certainly, whenever possible, we'd love people to use Cisco, but the clear reality is that there is a significant installed base of other suppliers' applications across unified communications," he said. "As things have moved to an environment where communication means more than just voice, interoperability has become even more of a premium."

Microsoft has also opened the doors of its unified communications portfolio, recognizing "the customer has a choice," said Moz Hussain, the company's director of product management in unified communications.

"Unified communications doesn't have to stop with the products we deliver. A customer can take that and enrich it to their business needs," Hussain said. "If another vendor has a solution they want to plug into our client experience …. we have the APIs [application programming interfaces] to allow them to do that."

Full article on SearchUnifiedCommuniations

Forrester identifies Microsoft & IBM as collaboration leaders

Forrester published, based on its 66-criteria evaluation of collaboration platform vendors, the new report

The Forrester Wave™: Collaboration Platforms, Q3 2009

Forrester found that Microsoft and IBM Lotus led the pack based on the breadth of functionality in their offerings.

• Traditional vendors IBM, Microsoft and Novell lead on breadth of offerings.
• Challengers all demonstrate unique strengths.

New Forrester reports about UC and VoIP

Forrester published new reports based on their surveys across North America and Europe:

The State Of Enterprise Networks And Telecommunications: 2009 - Business Data Services North America And Europe

Executive Summary

Even given the current economic crisis, enterprises recognize the importance of network and telecommunications (N&T) products and services. What are the top investments and interest areas? Mobility, unified communications (UC), and managed services. A new addition to this survey includes questions about how economic conditions are affecting N&T spending, as well as where purchasing power lies within the IT organization for specific technologies such as UC, landline data, voice, and enterprise mobility.

Report highlights in terms of UC and VoIP:
- Cutting costs is biggest priority.
- Contact center IP migration continues.
- Cost savings, faster communication, and decision speed drive UC adoption.
- Desktop VoIP migration continues.


The State Of SMB Networks And Telecommunications: 2009 - Business Data Services North America And Europe

Even given the current global economic crisis, small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) recognize the importance of networks and telecommunications (N&T) products and services — although spend is not as abundant as in earlier years. What are their investment and interest areas? Wireless and mobility and unified communications (UC). A new addition to this survey includes questions about how current economic conditions are affecting SMB N&T spending and where purchasing power lies within the organization for specific technologies.

Report highlights in terms of UC and VoIP:
- SMBs follow enterprise interest in IP contact centers.
- Majority of SMBs are interested in or are already implementing a UC solution.
- Desktop VoIP adoption continues.

Enterprises Need Innovative Telecom Service Options And Flexibility

The Forrester report "Enterprises Need Innovative Telecom Service Options And Flexibility To Address Cost Pressures" explains why Telecom companies need to offer innovation especially in an economic downturn.

Executive Summary
The global economic recession is extracting a heavy toll on enterprise IT budgets. As a result, sourcing and vendor management executives at multinational firms responsible for network and telecommunications (N&T) are looking for improved flexibility and innovation in service pricing and delivery, along with concessions to help them justify their vendor and service choices. To help clients set expectations on how far they can reasonably push their service providers to be more attentive, responsive, and flexible, we interviewed 29 reference customers of nine major international telecom operators about customer satisfaction. We also used data from two recent Forrester surveys to: 1) identify global multinational enterprise (MNC) N&T service buyers' priorities over the next year; and 2) compare enterprise customers' biggest vendor relationship challenges with some of the largest North American and European network operators. Based on our analysis, Forrester recommends vendor consolidation to remove extraneous players and create a strategic N&T environment and the use of specialists and smaller or regional players for innovative, lower-cost service delivery options.