Nick Jones of Gartner said, "UC looks to me like an ill-assorted mix of technologies that vendors want to sell in a single bundle because it’s convenient for them, rather than because they’re what your employees actually need."
Nick is correct that UC is a bundle but what it really represents is an assorted mix of technologies that are converged into one software solution. Trying to compare UC from platform to platform or vendor to vendor will prove interesting because it varies from capability to complexity of the offering. How well the vendor presents their UC solution is another metric that will be determined by users; so if solutions become too complex to use and manage, then users will reject them.
But converging various technologies has proven to be beneficial and the old tech offered disparate systems, hardware and software. SMBs are good proving grounds for UC because the SMB doesn’t have the typical resources found in large and global enterprises. These businesses run fast, furious and often understaffed. They aren't comprised of numerous departments, but employees and stakeholders wear many different hats.
I don’t think convenience really benefits the vendors as much as it does the customers. UC isn't used in its entirety, and by that I mean customers purchase UC for meeting needs, improving workflow and solving problems. What is convenient is the capability or menu of capabilities being there and having to deal with one vendor, not many. Challenging for the vendors is being able to provide UC on many assorted devices.
So UC does represent an assorted mix of technology that is bundled under one hood, I agree. Hammering down the same old points of reducing hardware and appliances and software inventories is something that does matter. When you examine what you get today vs. then, you are getting a bundle and it represents more value and I still believe: Phone Prices Don't Drop, They Shift. Twenty years ago, voice mail was always a huge option but I don-t think it will take UC 20 years to stop being an option because it’s simply a natural order of convergence for business communications tools to coexist on the same platform.
