Entrepreneur Magazine published its Top-Performing Entrepreneurial IPOs and I couldn't help but notice the list of the top 15 performers. One on the list is an IP-PBX manufacturer and that was Shortel. So, Shoretel, congratulations, now get busy, break those molds and make some money.
Entrepreneur Magazine published its Top-Performing Entrepreneurial IPOs and I couldn't help but notice the list of the top 15 performers.
One on the list is an IP-PBX manufacturer and that was Shortel. So, Shoretel, congratulations, now get busy, break those molds and make some money.Top dog is Cavium Networks, which designs integrated processors for "intelligent networking" that I think will continue to be a rising star. Their return on the initial IPO was 140.7%
Then, there's COMVERGE. which provides power grid and capacity management solutions coming in with a return on their initial IPO of 82.6%
My gut analysis looking at the list hints that doing something to substantially to bring about "intelligent networking" into the mainstream is warmly received (Cavium Networks). By comparison, IP Telephony is an old saw. Making way into telephony is a one-phone-system-at-a-time process (Shoretel).
But doing something to impact energy costs or to improve the process is more than an interim solution, it's a required step along the way to generating one's own juice (power- heat- steam- electricity). (COMVERGE)
Three big things continue to be on my list. First is energy. For those who ain't got it, get cold showers. (More on this to come)
Second is the intelligent network. Openly defined- get all the appliances, processors, gizmos and wares out of homes, offices, buildings and put the application in the cloud. Doing so will consume less energy, efficiencies will be gained, TCO will be lower and the dynamics of mobility will be improved tenfold.
Third is software convergence. There are too many varied solutions that reside on the desktops and in the server farms. Virtualization is only an interim step along the way. VMWARE is hot but I think it won't stop and will continue on morphing into the cloud. Again, if and when it does- it will consume less energy, efficiencies will be gained, TCO will be lower and the world will be greener.
Now- for those in doubt, consider UC. Eventually, even the beloved KSU, PBX (IP-PBX) and all those tinker toy IT type devices that form a kluge on the customer premises that I see everyday, yes- all that stuff will eventually wind up jammed in a box and eventually headed for the cloud.