A Cooperative Project of VoiceCon and UC Strategies

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It’s been almost a year and a half since Microsoft and Cisco made their UC announcements at VoiceCon Orlando 2006, and we’re still dealing with the lack of a single, unified definition of Unified Communications. The UCStrategies.com team has a definition: “Communications integrated to optimize business processes.” While it’s been adopted by some in the industry, I still see mixed messages from the vendors, press, analysts and others.

This is due in part to lots of vendors jumping on the UC bandwagon. For example, I recently read a press release announcing that a vendor had rebranded its products under the umbrella of “Empowering Unified Communications.” But when I read the details it soon became clear that this vendor’s products and solutions had very little, if anything, to do with true unified communications. Instead, it was about management and testing applications to optimize IP Communications. Sorry folks, but that’s not Unified Communications.

And it’s not just the vendors causing confusion. An analyst firm recently released a forecast for the UC market encompassing only unified messaging and softphone-based unified clients; there was no consideration of the many other elements, applications and services that make up Unified Communications. And the press isn’t helping much either-last week I read an article about unified communications, and it stated that “UC is synonymous with Unified Messaging.” Sheesh!

This may seem like it’s just semantics, but the dueling definitions are creating havoc in the market. Are communication-enabled business processes part of UC, or a separate entity? Is IP communications the same as unified communications? When vendors and resellers pitch their UC solutions, what is it they’re really selling, and what is it that enterprise customers are buying?

I’ve seen RFPs for UC “systems” that are really RFPs for IP PBXs, and I’ve seen vendors respond to RFPs for UC solutions with IP PBXs, but no other UC components. This does a disservice to the whole industry, especially customers, as it doesn’t promote what UC can really do and how it can and should be used in conjunction with enterprise business processes.

Everyone seems to agree on what unified communications does. According to Microsoft, UC “breaks down today’s silos of communications experiences and provides rich capabilities that allow people, teams, organizations to communicate simply and effectively while integrating seamlessly with business applications and processes.” Cisco claims that UC “integrates communications more closely with business processes, ensuring that information reaches recipients quickly, through the most appropriate medium.” And Nortel agrees, noting that UC “improves business process-streamlines the tasks each of us perform in business today, improves productivity and ultimately takes the human out of the ‘process’ enabling us to work more efficiently.”

The underlying themes are all the same-a communication experience, business process improvements and integration, producing improved business results and enhanced communications productivity.

So if we all agree on what UC does, why can’t we agree on what it is? One reason is that there is no such thing as a UC “product”-I generally call UC “a vision or philosophy that leads to solutions.” Since UC is so much more nebulous than a product such as a PBX or a voice mail system, everyone can put their own spin on it.

I’m not ranting for the sake of ranting, but rather to encourage the industry to come together to position a common definition of UC-what it is and what it does. The goal is simple: Enable enterprise customers to know what to expect when they shop for UC solutions. Consider this a call to action: UCStrategies.com will be soliciting suppliers for concurrence with a definition set, and we’d love to have your input. And join us at VoiceCon San Francisco for a series of UC sessions and discussions.

What are your thoughts? Drop me a line at bpleasant@commfusion.com or post your comments here in the VoiceCon Unified Communications eWeekly forum

Blair Pleasant
COMMfusion LLC & UCStrategies.com

Posted in Blair Pleasant, Management, Market Trends, Standards, Unified Communications |

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