The results of the 3rd annual TEQConsult Group consultant survey are in and although surprises were few, some of the isolated results are sure to lift eyebrows. The survey was designed and prepared by this writer and distributed to members of the two North American professional consultant organizations: Society of Telecommunications Consultants (STC) and Canadian Telecommunications Consultants Association (CTCA). Sixty nine consultants responded to the survey: 30% had 15-25 years telecommunications industry experience and 63% had more than a quarter century. Needless to say, the respondents as a group are highly experienced, with strong opinions (based on the optional comments).
The focus of the survey, as in the past two years, was the enterprise communications market. Questions were included to grade the capabilities and effectiveness of Consultant Liaison Programs (CLPs); evaluate system supplier product portfolios and future viability as competitors; gauge product market activity for recent/emerging solutions; and also solicit feedback on the role Microsoft and IBM may play in the voice market a few years down the road.
It must be noted that the consultants did not provide complete responses to questions grading the systems suppliers. One group of system suppliers--consisting of Cisco Systems, Avaya, Nortel, NEC Unified, Siemens Enterprise Communications Group, and Mitel Networks--typically received at least 50 responses per survey question, and for some questions received more than 60 responses. Of this group, Siemens usually received the fewest responses per survey question. A second group--consisting of Alcatel Lucent, 3Com, Aastra, Interactive Intelligence, and Toshiba--typically received between 20 and 40 responses per survey question.
ShoreTel was in a group of its own, typically receiving between 35 and 50 responses per survey question. Based on the three-year survey trend, ShoreTel is likely to join the top tier next year for a majority of the system supplier-specific questions.
The grading procedure for survey questions evaluating the system suppliers was based on a weighted grading system. Response grades were weighted according to the following scale: Weak = 0; Fair = 2; Good = 5; Excellent = 9. Point totals were added and divided by the total number of responses, excluding No Answer (N/A) responses.
I recognize that the weighting factors used were somewhat arbitrary, but I believe that a higher grade deserved a disproportionate weighting than a lower grade. Small overall grade differences between system suppliers can be attributed to a single good or bad consultant response, but the overall rankings are not affected in a significant way.
How should readers interpret the survey grades for the systems suppliers? The highest possible system supplier grade for any question is a 9, but that would require all Excellents. Avaya’s overall contact center grade was the only one above an 8 (signifying how strong they are in this application area). Taking the weighting factors into account, a grade above a 4.5 should be considered good; a grade above a 6 should be considered very good; and a grade above a 7 should be considered excellent for that question based on the overall grading result. On the downside, a grade below a 2 should be considered weak or poor; a grade between a 2 and 4.5 should be considered fair.
SURVEY RESULTS
Cisco Systems recaptured its #1 ranking after falling behind NEC Unified last year. One consultant commented that "Cisco is strongest across the board for disseminating materials, responding to consultant inquiries, providing information in a timely and efficient manner." Another noted that Cisco has set a "pretty high bar for the other CLPs."
I personally agree with Cisco's leading ranking for a variety of reasons, with special praise going to the supplier's Deep Dive webinar presentations. Fran Blackburn has done an exemplary job with the program and her efforts are supported by a strong staff (Denise Britten and Charlotte Woods).
Larry Kollie, the sole member of the NEC CLP, gave Cisco a strong run for the money despite working on his own and having lesser financial resources. The Nortel program again came in third this year and Avaya moved up a notch to fourth. I personally would have flipped the results, placing Avaya closer to the top based on its improved efforts this past year. Mitel barely edged out Siemens Enterprise Communications Group for fifth place.
Among the second tier suppliers, Interactive Intelligence had the strongest grades, mostly owing to the strong efforts of its Manager Marsha Bailey. Interactive Intelligence is known for its webinar schedule that covers a variety of topics involving its solutions. ShoreTel’s grades are probably a reflection of a CLP still in its infancy stage. Aastra established its CLP only a month ago, so its very low grades were not surprising. Toshiba’s relative low grades (for this question and the remaining survey questions) are likely the result of limited consultant interaction compared to the other vendors, because the company is focused in the Small/Medium Enterprise (SME) market space. Both Alcatel Lucent and 3Com need to significantly step up CLP efforts, because a strong majority of their grades were either Weak or Fair. I think Alcatel’s grades were slightly lower than deserved, because they have conducted a good series of webinars focused on vertical market applications.
NEC had the highest grades for this question. According to one consultant, "Larry Kollie at NEC still runs the most responsive CLP program single handed." Another commented that "the attention follow up and service we get from Avaya, Nortel, Interactive Intelligence and NEC puts all others to shame."
Cisco ranked second, barely edging out Nortel. Siemens, Mitel, and Avaya were closely bunched for the next three positions. Interactive Intelligence received the highest grades among the second tier competitors. Aastra had a combined six Good/Excellent grades, not bad considering it lacked a CLP for the evaluation period.
The results of this question closely resembled the results of the preceding two. NEC was a few higher grades ahead of Cisco. NEC has a strong reputation for alerting consultants that new documentation is available at its online Information Portal. As regards Cisco, one consultant wrote "Cisco lives and dies on their ability to email out gigantic PDF documents that somehow describe some portion of information requested. "
Avaya, Nortel, and Mitel were closely bunched, with Siemens rounding out the top tier. ShoreTel’s grades were the highest of the second tier, slightly ahead of Interactive Intelligence who received the following praise: "While Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and Siemens have always had strong programs, Interactive Intelligence is starting to come on strong." The other suppliers’ grades indicate they need to step up their game regarding information distribution.
