Over 20+ industry analysts convened near London last month to learn more about Aastra and its UC vision. There was a lot to cover. as the company offers a wide portfolio and global footprint. There were probably some 10 native languages among the the presenters (Aastra staff, customers, and business partners) and attendees. Aastra communicated a clear vision and demonstrated how its portfolio is strategically aligning with that vision.
Aastra has not been easy to pigeonhole. Largely due to a series of seemingly disparate acquisitions, its customer base is diverse in size, location, and every other form of categorization. In the US, Aastra serves very large organizations, especially in higher education. In Europe, Aastra has a strong presence with medium to large businesses, and the company holds leading market share positions in several EMEA countries. Aastra is also active in South America, Asia, and Australia. The firm is headquartered in Concord, Ontario, Canada, but most of its employees are based in Europe.
Over the past ten years, Aastra has been acquired and has integrated multiple companies into its portfolio. In 2003, Aastra acquired ASCOM PBX which extended the firm’s endpoint offerings and SMB reach. Then came EADS (which included the former Intecom) in 2005, which extended its reach into the medium and large accounts. DeTeWe in 2005 made Aastra the only call manager vendor with its own DECT capabilities. These acquisitions gave Aastra strong share in numerous markets and regions. In 2008, Aastra bought Ericsson’s enterprise division, cementing its leadership role in multiple European markets.
Aastra used the analyst event to make it perfectly clear that it acquired competencies, not products. And it wants to shed its acquisitive reputation in exchange for one of innovation as it merges these competencies into its new portfolio. The acquired companies have a legacy of innovation--from Ericsson being the first to develop the telephone handset to DeTeWe’s founding contributions to DECT.
Astra's UC vision is focused on video, mobility, the cloud, and openness. Although the company offers several call manager platforms, the MX-ONE is the first among equals. The MX-ONE, and its scaled down version, the A700, offers both the broadest distribution and strategic capabilities, however Aastra intends to bring its UC core features to all of its call managers.
In terms of video, Aastra is now shipping its previously announced BluStar 8000i terminal. This device is noteworthy, with a 13" touch screen at eye level when positioned on a desk. It supports HD voice, HD video, and collaboration features. The device is will be supported soon on the MX-ONE, Clearspan, Aastra 5000, and Aastra 400. We learned "BluStar" represents a family portfolio rather than just a device, and the BluStar Client will soon offer similar functionality on the desktop computer. BluStar Agent is also planned for rich contact centers.
Aastra is riding mobility with its Aastra Mobile Client (AMC) solution for fixed mobile convergence. The MX-ONE offers native mobility features, and the AMC adds to that with mobile device clients. The AMC Controller is an optional server to support third party call managers and some mobile devices. Aastra offers clients for Android, iOS, Symbian and RIM, and expects both smartphones and tablets to continue to rise in enterprise importance.
In terms of the cloud, Aastra is betting on virtualization and hosted services with a twist. With VMware, Aastra is promoting its products as VMware Ready and even sold on an appliance with VMware pre-installed. In terms of hosted services, in selected markets Aastra is evaluating hosting a customer’s call manager platform. The entire system is dedicated to a single customer, but charged per user. This approach offers many of the benefits associated with hosted voice, without the security and capacity concerns of a shared system. At this time, the MX-ONE is not positioned for service providers as a multi-tenant platform.
In terms of openness, it was a bit ironic that the event was hosted just outside a famous walled garden, Savill Garden in London. Aastra likes to be outside walled gardens and advocates openness. The call managers leverage standards based protocols and provide SDKs for interfaces such as SIP, CSTA/TSAPI/API, CSTA3/XML/ASN1, GICI, TR87, and SOA. The BluStar 8000i supports SIP, H.264, H.323, XML, and third party applications. The firm is working to provide a wide choice of SIP certified carriers and video interoperability. The MX-ONE also supports integrations with Microsoft Lync and IBM Sametime.
Aastra also provided updates on its initiatives and applications. The company is seeing notable successes in the health care and hospitality verticals--partially attributable to its DECT integration. Aastra shared some impressive wins in the contact center market, a key application vertical associated with its Soldus eCare solution. The Aastra Alarm Server integrates with call managers and gateways to manage alarms, notifications, sensor status, and escalations. It is suitable for fire alarms, nurse call, panic/help buttons, and other types of urgent notification systems. Aastra’s DECT phones now support location services, integrated alerting, and integrated text messaging.
An impressive story was presented. The company has momentum in several key areas, and unlike many of its competitors has a decade of profitability under its belt. Aastra is competing on several telecom fronts including the SIP endpoint market; Lync endpoint market; the small, medium, and enterprise call manager markets; advanced contact center space, FMC solutions, and wireless (wi-fi and DECT) solutions--and it's competing around the world.
However, the company has some major challenges in pulling together all these products with its engineering teams scattered around the globe. With such a broad portfolio, its R&D budget (10% of sales) gets very fragmented. Aastra is a highly decentralized company which offers some benefits, but hinders brand development. In some cases, the companies that Aastra acquired are still better known than Aastra. Aastra's product portfolios and distribution models vary in different regions. The MX-ONE, Aastra’s primary global platform, does not have strong penetration in North America.
For a more detailed examination, look for an upcoming TalkingPointz report on Aastra expected in January.
Dave Michels is a contributing editor and independent analyst at TalkingPointz.com
