No Jitter Weblog - Irwin Lazar

Time To Virtualize!

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:08:54 -0500

Virtualization is all the rage as IT managers look to reduce capital and operating expenses within their data centers, and/or meet Green initiatives to reduce power consumption. Thirty percent of companies are decreasing the number of servers they support, while 93% of companies we recently interviewed have virtualized all or part of their application server platforms. Indeed many companies are now requiring any application they deploy to run on virtualization platforms from companies such as VMware, Microsoft, or Citrix.

Enterprise IPT Hits An Inflection Point

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:58:22 -0500

In the past few weeks I've had the opportunity to consult with several large multi-national organizations on their IP telephony plans, as well as speak to several others for our ongoing research on unified communications and collaboration adoption. One point has become clear: large companies are resisting the call from their vendors to accelerate replacement of their legacy phone systems with IP.

What to Watch in 2010

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:57:52 -0500

As we wrap up arguably the most tumultuous year in enterprise communications, I thought it would be worth spending a few minutes looking at what I believe will be the big stories of 2010. Here are my top five (in no particular order):

What is Google Up To?

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:19:44 -0500

Starting with Google's purchase of GrandCentral in 2007, industry watchers (and analysts) have kept a close eye on Google�s move into the voice market. Google sat on GrandCentral for over a year before releasing it to a limited number of users in 2009 with expanded features including the ability to initiate phone calls from mobile devices, send free SMS messages, and transcribe voicemail messages into text. Google's attempt to deliver an iPhone version of its voice application caused a spat with Apple and AT&T over Apple's refusal to allow Google's voice application into its iPhone store.

Skype-->Gizmo-->Jabber-->Cisco??

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:42:12 -0500

The Washington Post reports this morning that Skype is in talks to acquire Gizmo, MP3.com founder Michael Robertson's effort to create a similar service to Skype, but one based entirely on open standards such as SIP and XMPP.

Cisco Acquisition of Tandberg Signals Further Consolidation Ahead!

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:37:15 -0500

This morning Cisco announced a $3 billion bid to acquire videoconferencing vendor Tandberg. Cisco will reportedly make an official bid sometime next week, after which Tandberg stockholders have 20 days to accept or reject the offer. Given Cisco's offer is approximately 25% over Tandberg's recent average stock price, it's likely that barring any last minute challenges, Tandberg shareholders will accept the bid. Cisco expects the deal to close in 1H10 and has already announced plans for a new video focused business unit reporting to the current CEO of Tandberg.

Avaya and Nortel: Prelude to Further Consolidation?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:19:11 -0500

Avaya's winning of the auction to acquire Nortel represents a rather remarkable change in an industry that has primarily grown through divestiture and launch of start-ups over the last several years. Is it possible that Avaya's acquisition of Nortel is just a prelude to further VOIP/UC vendor consolidation?

What's an IP Phone?

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:34:50 -0500

Earlier this month Dave Michels posted a piece on the future of IP phones, arguing that the �IP phone has peaked� arguing that a variety of factors are leading to a gradual decline in new desktop IP phone deployments as organizations move to software-based telephony or IP-enabled mobile phones as an alternative to replacing traditional handsets or upgrading existing IP desktop phones.

Unified Messaging Keeps Chugging Along

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:46:32 -0500

Before there was unified communications, there was unified messaging. Is unified messaging finally poised to realize its long awaited promise to improve voice messaging delivery, storage and retrieval?

Three Video Conferencing Trends To Watch

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:29:30 -0500

Despite the recession, or perhaps as a result, interest in video conferencing has never been higher, with vendors reporting growing sales, and growing interest from customers looking to use video conferencing to either replace travel, or improve collaboration for distributed workgroups.

Unified Communications and Recession: What's the Impact?

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:11:03 -0500

Here at Nemertes Research we've spent the better part of the last three months interviewing approximately 100 end-user organizations about their unified communications plans, organizational strategies, and business experiences. While we're still in the process of crunching the numbers and analyzing the data, a few key trends have emerged about the impact of the economy on UC.

Does VOIP Plus Web 2.0 Equal Three?

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:24:34 -0500

At next week's VoiceCon conference I have the opportunity to moderate a session entitled "Web 2.0 and Enterprise Communications--Fad or the Future?" on Wednesday morning. The goal of this session is to explore the crossroads of Web 2.0 and enterprise communications to determine if and when they intersect, run parallel, or go off in different directions.

Is Microsoft Too Late? Take 2

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:46:40 -0500

Back in October of 2007 I authored a column for Business Communications Review that looked at Microsoft's entry into the VOIP market and asked whether Microsoft had entered the market after most enterprise organizations had already moved forward with alternate vendors for their VOIP plans, meaning Microsoft was too late to gain significant VOIP market share.

Is There a Femtocell in Your Future?

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:35:17 -0500

No, femtocells aren't a disease or some advanced form of anti-aging treatments, rather femtocells are mini cell towers that have the ability to radically change the way cellular and network worlds are divided.

VOIP is Dead; Long Live VOIP

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:31:53 -0500

"VOIP is DEAD" rang out from the blogosphere shortly before the clock struck midnight on December 31st, signaling the end of one year and the start of another. The call was led by Alec Saunders and Om Malik arguing that VOIP as a vision of radically transforming communications is dead, that instead we've basically replaced the PSTN with an IP-based clone. (See more reaction on my fellow VoiceCon panelist Dan York's blog here).