Regarding Eric's post, "Will UC Cut Costs?" and the customer disconnect: Should we should not be surprised? Gartner only lends credibility to what many of us have known since the term UC was created.
Regarding Eric's post, "Will UC Cut Costs?" and the customer disconnect: Should we should not be surprised? Gartner only lends credibility to what many of us have known since the term UC was created.The salesman, who does not implement the products, puts a positive spin on the UC products. We saw a contrast like this with a survey that was reported in BCR magazine, comparing issues in VoIP. Those who did implement VoIP thought QoS was more dificult to implement and enforce, and also cited staffing and organizational issues and significant interoperability problems. Those that were planning a move to VoIP were all much more optimistic.
Some of the disconnected non-technical writers write what the vendors tell them. We should ban these articles from airline magazines.
IT people are usually looking for the next big thing and UC is one of them. Part of the IT job is to add functionality that helps the enterprise. Those who have written on this site about UC may not be reaching the right audience with their more practical viewpoints. Are we going to have another round of slow adoption like VoIP, because UC affects the business so much that we will see a lack of imagination by many enterprises?
UC requires creative thinking, not just procurement and installation. Where VoIP can affect everyone in the enterprise, UC will be more selectively implemented and have varying degrees of success. Success will depend on the designers, the products they choose and the enterprise departments they select for rollout. The chosen departments and their training will also have a great effect on the success. UC is a lot more about people, procedures and precesses. IT better learn this before they wave the UC flag.
