Collaborative Thinking

Microsoft RTM's Office Communications Server 2007

OK, you can start playing the theme from the movie "Jaws" now.

The chess match between Microsoft, Cisco and IBM regarding unified communications will be one of the most competitive battles of the past decade. But there are not the only players. Oracle has yet to reveal its strategy regarding unified communications. Google is quite likely to take a run at the UC market opportunity as well. Adobe could make a UC play by leveraging its Acrobat and Flash strengths. And there are "barbarians at the gate" in terms of non-traditional UC options that include open source solutions and vendors that have consumer roots but have made inroads into enterprise environments (such as Skype). Apple's strength in the consumer market, and iPhone surge, could lead to some interesting UC market dynamics and partnering opportunities. There are also plenty of smaller vendors that continue to innovate such as Iotum.

Hopefully business and IT strategists will keep their minds open as they begin projects and programs related to unified communications. Some questions to ask yourself as you begin to look at the UC solutions from these vendors:

• Does the vendor understand the nuances of my business segment (e.g., compliance and records management needs)?
• Does the vendor's competencies and portfolio include business (application) solutions or are they focused on "plumbing"?
• Does the vendor vision span beyond UC to include broader trends around collaboration, social computing, business processes, and consumer aspects?
• How complete, modernized and mature is the UC platform?
• Does the UC platform support both SaaS and on-premises as well as hybrid configurations?
• What role does open source and open standards play in the vendor's UC strategy?
• How does the vendor view consumer trends impacting enterprise UC efforts?
• How modularized is the UC platform (e.g., can you "swap out" a subsystem component)?
• How well does the UC platform support integration and interoperability?
• What are the developer tools offered that enabled communication-enabled business processes, and real-time collaborative applications?
• Does the vendor understand that topics such as presence, location and mobility represent broader issues than just unifying communications?
• How well does the vendor and its UC platform support your migration and co-existence strategies needed for legacy or other tactical solutions?
• How effective has the vendor been in terms of (1) building out its UC channel ecosystem, (2) establishing viable business models for its partners and (3) establishing training, professional services and other types of consulting practices to assist partners and customers?
• Does the vendor have a credible track record at being a reliable "technology steward" (e.g., support for standards, cooperation with third-party partners and competitors on integration and interoperability issues)?

While your thinking about answers to these questions - some additional articles related to the OCS 2007 news coming out of the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting:

Microsoft Delivers on Its Unified Communications Vision

Q&A: Gurdeep Singh Pall, vice president of the Unified Communications Group, highlights Microsoft’s progress on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 as the company readies for its unified communications launch this fall.

REDMOND, Wash., July 26, 2007 – During his address at Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting (FAM), Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, announced that Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator are code complete and will release to manufacturing (RTM) tomorrow. With this milestone and launch around the corner this fall, the Unified Communications Group is one step closer to fulfilling the UC promise and helping customers streamline business communications, increase productivity and lower costs.

PressPass spoke with Gurdeep Singh Pall, vice president of the Unified Communications Group, about the evolving unified communications industry, the return early adopters are seeing from Office Communications Server and Office Communicator and the company’s progress towards launch in the fall.

Microsoft PressPass: Q&A: Gurdeep Singh Pall, vice president of the Unified Communications Group

Microsoft Related Stories:

Microsoft-related Resources:

• Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting Webcast and Transcripts

• Microsoft Unified Communications

• OCS 2007 videos on IT's showtime

• OCS 2007 Training

• geekSpeak recording: Speech Server with Michael Dunn

Other Microsoft Resources:

• Unified View White Paper

Other Stories:

BetaNews: Office Communications Server Heads to RTM

Cisco counter-attacks on unified communications

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007

A potpourri of links to webcasts, videos, demos and transcripts from the July event. Items of note:

- the Steve Ballmer webcast on Microsoft's Software and Services model.

- the demo on Round Table, a strategic component within Microsoft's Unified Communications portfolio of products and services

- the transcript of Chris Capossela's presentation on the Information Worker business, SharePoint and Office Communications Server

Webcasts

• Kevin Turner: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 12, 2007)
100 kbs | 300 kbs | 500 kbs

• Allison Watson and Kevin Turner: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Steve Ballmer: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

Video Highlights

Maria Martinez
On demand webcast available now
Corporate VP Maria Martinez illustrates Microsoft’s commitment to helping partners align services and offerings with new market priorities.
View the highlights

Kevin Turner
On demand webcast available now
In the final keynote of WPC 2007, COO Kevin Turner talks about some of the challenges Microsoft is addressing and illustrates the real impact partners have in improving lives. See Logan’s story.
View the highlights 

Andy Lees
On demand webcast available now
With the upcoming launches of Windows Server, SQL and Visual Studio, Andy Lees discusses Dynamic IT, explaining the power of unified and virtualized environments.
View the highlights

Demo Highlights

Microsoft Surface
Link Updated Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Allison Watson picked her favorite demos of the week, including Microsoft Surface. Learn more about Surface, the first surface computing platform.
See video Product information

Live Labs Photosynth
Link Updated Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Watch how a three-dimensional image is created from two-dimensional photos. See photos from multiple angles and seamlessly zoom in or out of a photograph that’s gigapixels in size.
See demo

Microsoft RoundTable
Link Updated Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Watch Allison Watson conduct a conference with partners from around the world with 360-degree cameras that can track any speaker in the room.
See video Product

Transcripts

• Kevin Turner: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 12, 2007)

• Maria Martinez: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 12, 2007)

• Simon Witts: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 12, 2007)

• Steve Guggenheimer: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 11, 2007)

• Tami Reller: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 11, 2007)

• Andy Lees: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 11, 2007)

• Sanjay Parthasarathy: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 11, 2007)

• Allison Watson: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 11, 2007)

• Steve Ballmer, Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Transcript
• Presentation (.pdf file, 6 MB)

• Steve Ballmer: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Mike Sievert: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Allison Watson: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Kevin Turner: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

• Chris Capossela: Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 (July 10, 2007)

WebEx On Community Ecosystems

Anecdotally, I have head complaints over the years about the aggressive outbound sales calls and somewhat challenging problems with customer service at WebEx so I think the company has an uphill battle when it comes to the notion of community-building. (BTW, I've covered web conferencing since 1996). Still, the podcasts are interesting to listen to in order to gain some better understanding and context now that Cisco has completed the acquisition. I think the real opportunity for Cisco here is not so much the idea of community around the traditional WebEx conference business but about its emerging WebEx Connect platform. Cisco now has some interesting assets at its disposal: the WebEx Media Tone Network, its multiple data centers, a leadership position in the web conferencing market, and the opportunity to build out a broad portfolio of real-time collaboration services and "Web 2.0" / "Enterprise 2.0" applications could very well place Cisco in an interesting market position.

Although not too much has been revealed in terms of any roadmap of how Cisco technology could be delivered in a SaaS manner or how a partner ecosystem will evolve, there are some possible scenarios.

What if Cisco were to persuade Zoho, Zimbra, Wetpaint and some other companies to host their solutions within a WebEx Connect platform? Could there could be a “Cisco Apps” or “Cisco Live” counter to Google and Microsoft (perhaps renamed as "Cisco Connect") that leverages Cisco strengths in unified communications and its interest in social networking? Add to that possible scenario any business arrangement with Apple and the conversation broadens even more to include convergence of digital life and digital work.

In any case, the podcasts are below (just follow the links). Included also are some other viewpoints on WebEx's community-building effort:

When Google bought YouTube recently for $1.65 billion, the world of business sat up to take serious notice of social networks. Today, many companies are looking into how they can tap into -- or develop -- communities as a way to make better decisions and increase profits. Jon Spector, a former Wharton vice dean and now CEO of the Conference Board, spoke with participants at the Community 2.0 conference in Las Vegas earlier this year to explore how companies are trying to harness communities to reshape their businesses. In this podcast, Spector speaks with Diane Davidson, director of customer marketing at WebEx.

WebEx's Diane Davidson: 'We Defined a Community Ecosystem' - Knowledge@Wharton

Director of Customer Marketing, Diane Davidson, reviews the opportunities that big companies like WebEx face when trying to engage with the community. Diane also highlights benefits and challenges WebEx experienced as a result of launching customer communities.

C20 Podcast: Diane Davidson, WebEx

Other points of view:

Conflict in Community 2.0

Challenging WebEx

Postscript From Catalyst 2007

Catalyst was incredibly busy for all of us in the Collaboration and Content Strategies  (CCS) service. The customer interaction and overall conference excitement makes Catalyst a very different experience for both attendees and analysts alike. I've tried to aggregate and summarize the dialogs I had with clients over the course of the week (including ad-hoc conversations in the hospitality suites as well as meetings scheduled during the event). The priorities of the people I talked to were:

• Revisiting strategic plans for collaboration
• Best use of user segmentation models
• Applying social software to "connect the dots"
• Getting started with unified communications

Continue reading at the Collaboration & Content Strategies team blog...

Stitching Conversation Threads Fractured Across Channels

A timely and relevant blog post on communication streams and channel switching. Tools today are often designed as if the own the totality of a conversation thread (e-mail to e-mail, IM to IM). While there are some options that make this experience less painful, I expect this is one area where vendors can innovate (initially within their own platforms and eventually cross-vendor). Twitter is a pretty good example. Tools that support sending communication messages (e.g., e-mail or IM) that can be published to XML feed subscribers is another interesting approach. Microsoft's OCS has some capabilities that allow users to deflect inbound messages to another channel type as well. 

Communicating is simple. Well it is simple at its core of one person talking with another person face-to-face. When we communicate and add technology into the mix (phone, video-chat, text message, etc.) it becomes more difficult. Technology becomes noise in the pure flow of communication.

Stitching Conversation Threads Fractured Across Channels :: Off the Top :: vanderwal.net

Social Presence: More than a buddy list or SIP/SIMPLE for that matter...

For those interested in thinking beyond the boundaries of buddy lists and even contemplate what might happen if we leapfrogged what today is considered "rich presence":

Me.dium's collaborative browsing vision

When we wrote about Me.dium over four months ago, we described it as 'social browsing'. Perhaps a refinement of this would be collaborative browsing, and that would be a more precise definition of what the company is trying to do. At the heart of Me.dium is the idea that by enabling real-time discovery and communication during browsing, this will enable people to get things done faster and in ways not possible before.

During my interview with the company founders, we discussed the typical scenarios for using Me.dium:

• You and your friend are trying to accomplish a common task;
• You are trying to do something on your own and meet others who are trying to do the same thing;
• You are observing the patterns of crowds nearby and so you are able to discover new things.

An example of the first scenario would trying to book a trip with a friend. You go to a common site, do research and chat with each other. An example of the second scenario would be shopping for a gadget. When you navigate to sites, you notice other people on those sites and you can strike up a conversation with them. In both of these use cases, the idea is to collaborate during browsing to make things easier.

The third example, as explained by the founders, is crowd following. This is similar to the scenario of walking on a street and seeing a lot of people in a restaurant, leading you to decide that this is a good place to be. By analogy, as you are browsing you may notice people flocking to a site - and decide to follow them. To me, this is less likely use cause - because it is difficult to discern behavioral patterns of a crowd, particularly using a network-like user interface. Perhaps if the hot spots were suggested in a different way, then it would be easier to embrace. But these sort of things can be always be tweaked.

Me.dium Secures $15M Series B - The Dawn of Collaborative Browsing?

Microsoft Debuts Office Live Meeting 2007

It has been some time since Live Meeting has been significantly upgraded. Although Microsoft has long-held the Number 2 spot in the web conferencing market, it has been unable to gain any significant ground on WebEx (recently acquired by Cisco). The web conferencing market is an interesting industry segment. I have covered the space since the late nineties. By most estimates, WebEx has approximately 65% of the market and Microsoft approximately 25% plus or minus a few points. The rest of the market is spread across a large number of vendors. There are at least 75 or more vendors in this market providing a variety of hosted and/or on-premises solutions. There is incredible downward pricing pressure on the market. Given the number of vendors and downward pricing trends, open source has so far not been a factor in this particular market. Within large enterprises, most of my calls over the years have focused on pricing models, integration capabilities and service levels - not feature issues.

In this release, I believe Microsoft is making a purposeful attempt to differentiate itself from the churn of the pure-play web conferencing market. Rather than compete in a debate on pricing, Microsoft is changing the nature of the conversation by linking Live Meeting to its broader unified communications strategy. While there are clearly some advancements that will be appreciated by organizations and users looking for a hosted web conferencing solution, many of the specific improvements are going to be of interest to organizations in a broader context.

• The interface upgrade is very much needed to modernize the user experience (especially given solutions with impressive interfaces such as Adobe's Connect).
• The rich media advancements will be mostly relevant to those interested in virtual classrooms, product demonstrations, etc where visual capabilities can make a difference. I still do not have a significant number of data points from clients over the years that leads me to believe that video is a make-or-break reason to pick one platform over another.   
• The VoIP support will be valuable to organizations trying to save costs associated with traditional audio conferencing providers and will be especially appreciated when it comes to global web conferences.

The significant message Microsoft is sending to the market (and its clients) however is that Live Meeting is part of its broader unified communications strategy and that the synergies with the 2007 wave of Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Communicator, Office Communications Server and RoundTable should change the way organizations assess their solution providers. Specifically, that market convergence will consolidate product categories (e.g., instant messaging, mobile, web conferencing, IP telephony) and that decisions need to prioritize a platform-centric approach to reduce the many number of stove pipes that now exist. This does not mean a single platform, but a goal of fewer moving parts in terms of infrastructure and SaaS providers.

It should be noted that there was no mention of how this threesome (Office Live Meeting, Office Communications Server and RoundTable) aligns with the SharedView ("Tahiti") service. So clients are likely still unclear as to how all the pieces come together over time.

Microsoft is strongly emphasizing the relationship between Live Meeting and OCS (shared codebase) and the linkage to RoundTable (which provides a conferencing solution for room systems). Now, that message begs the question as to differences between Live Meeting and OCS - while Microsoft talks about the commonality - there are capabilities that are not equal. IT organizations are should be very thorough in their assessment of these releases so that they can properly position each platform to their business users.

For instance, the on-premise version scales to around 250-300 users (much less than the hosted service). The compliance capabilities available within OCS are not the same as Live Meeting. You also still need to manage the Live Meeting system separately (through its Intranet Portal) from the OCS system which has its own administrative back-end. There is no server-side record/playback in OCS as there is in Live Meeting. There are also subtle differences in how the PSOM (Persistent Shared Object Model) protocol is handled over Live Meeting (often tunneled through HTTP) and how OCS handles that protocol internally. The list goes on. A common user interface is a good thing - but due diligence is required to understand the nuances of how Live Meeting and OCS handle audio/video and web conferencing overall.

So overall:

• This is a very good release for Microsoft. The solution will solidify the integrated story across all of Microsoft's UC products and services.
• But - since Microsoft has raised the issue of commonality between Live Meeting and OCS, it will need to explain and rationalize the differences between the two platforms. IT groups must be very thorough in their assessment of each release.
• I do not believe that this release, in-and-of-itself, will cause any significant gain in market share vs. WebEx. People that have selected WebEx are not likely to make a decision that will defacto lead to an OCS deployment. Given Cisco's acquisition - WebEx clients will be looking for Cisco to clarify the role WebEx will have within Cisco's overall UC framework and how it will align, integrate or interoperate with MeetingPlace. Cisco will need to respond soon with its roadmap for WebEx.
• This will put pressure on vendors such as Adobe, Citrix, Interwise and other players - forcing them to either compete in the low-cost aspects of the web conferencing market, look to specialize around certain business activities (such as Adobe and its link between Acrobat and Connect) or pursue more vertical solutions (around e-learning). Smaller vendors will increasingly find themselves locked out of strategic UC conversation with business and IT decision-makers given the growing preference towards broader UC platforms.

Microsoft Press Release

Microsoft Debuts Major Release of Web Conferencing Service

2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting supports 360-degree video, VoIP and rich media integration.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Web site

ORLANDO, Fla. — June 5, 2007 — Today at Microsoft Corp.’s annual Tech•Ed conference, the company unveiled the 2007 release of Microsoft^® Office Live Meeting, a new version designed to dramatically improve online meetings, events and training.

.....

Scheduled for availability in fall 2007, the new version of Office Live Meeting will make it easier for organizations of all sizes to experience the benefits of Web conferencing, whether people are conducting simple ad-hoc collaboration sessions, formal Web-based meetings, advanced online training or large communication events.

.....

The 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting helps organizations better connect internally with employees and externally with customers and partners through these features:

• A redesigned and simplified user interface that helps conferencing participants remain focused on core content

• Improved training and event features that give presenters the ability to offer handouts, public class and event listings, and advanced testing and grading

• High-fidelity shared and local recording capabilities that give organizations the power to archive a Live Meeting session for playback

The 2007 release also supports multiple communication channels to provide an engaging experience:

• Two-way phone or VoIP offers participants a choice for integrating conference audio

• Embedded flash, video and audio files help presenters deliver rich content to conferencing participants

• Live webcam video and 360-degree panoramic video with the Microsoft RoundTable™ system offers a virtual experience, bringing the active speaker to participants

Microsoft Debuts Major Release of Web Conferencing Service: 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting supports 360-degree video, VoIP and rich media integration.

Microsoft's Unified Communications Strategy

For Burton Group clients, the following two reports have been recently published. Clicking on the link to each document will bring you to a client log-in page.

Office Communications Server 2007: A Pivotal Enterprise Decision

v1.0, 25 May 2007

Author(s): Mike Gotta

Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 establishes Microsoft as a major force in the unified communications (UC) market. Improved support for voice, instant messaging (IM), web, audio/video conferencing, and for compliance offer a compelling solution for customers consolidating technologies around a single vendor. Maturity, integration, and dependencies on other Microsoft products are valid concerns for many organizations. Microsoft must prove that it can play the role of a trusted steward by enabling a healthy ecosystem for partner business models and interoperability with competitive offerings. Failure to do so will promote a Microsoft backlash, legitimizing IBM as a more open UC framework.

The shadow Microsoft casts over the unified communications (UC) market is immense. Microsoft’s market influence and ability to leverage synergies between Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and its other products are formidable hurdles for competitors to overcome. OCS 2007 itself represents a comprehensive advancement of Microsoft’s existing capabilities across presence, instant messaging (IM), web conferencing, audio/video (A/V) conferencing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and archival services. Future integration with Office SharePoint Server 2007 and eventual linkage with services delivered through Windows Live and Office Live promise compelling solutions for organizations to improve productivity, enable new work models, and reduce infrastructure complexity.

Still, questions linger. Many information technology (IT) strategists are not convinced that OCS 2007 is mature enough to satisfy diverse enterprise telephony needs and displace investments in existing IP private branch exchange (IP-PBX) infrastructure and other communications systems from vendors that have provided proven platforms. Despite Microsoft assurances that its technology will leverage and extend existing IP-PBX investments, customers remain skeptical and are not sure how well Microsoft will interoperate with solutions from competitors and the degree to which the release supports industry standards.

All organizations need to plan for convergence of communication technologies and the impact UC will have on reporting structures as IT groups that are not used to working closely together are forced to do so over the next few years. This is especially true with OCS 2007, given its linkages to Microsoft’s productivity, collaboration, and other communication tools. OCS 2007 warrants a thorough understanding of its capabilities by IT groups. Effective assessment projects require organizations to:

• Understand Microsoft’s UC strategy and how it influences market trends and vendor dynamics
• Comprehend the importance of OCS 2007 within that strategy
• Examine the architecture of OCS 2007 and its impact on supporting infrastructure (e.g., perimeter network)
• Identify what activities take on a higher priority, such as topology design, system enhancements, and deployment configuration
• Recognize the areas that are critically necessary to evaluate (e.g., presence, web/audio/video conferencing, enhanced VoIP, and archival services)

Successful assessment projects will help strategists formulate go/no go decision criteria and will enable management to select the best direction for their organization regarding UC and the possible role of OCS 2007. This report examines Microsoft’s current offerings in addition to the current version of OCS 2007—in public beta at the time this report is being published.

Understanding Microsoft’s Unified Communications Foundation

v1.0, 15 May 2007

Author(s): Mike Gotta

Microsoft has a long history of delivering real-time collaboration technology to enterprise organizations. Although its early efforts enjoyed some success in terms of user adoption (e.g., NetMeeting), Microsoft failed to deliver a robust end-to-end enterprise-grade solution prior to the release of Microsoft Office Communicator (MOC) 2005 and Office Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005. To understand how Microsoft transformed itself from a vendor associated with real-time collaboration to one now recognized as a leading vender and major force in the market for unified communications (UC), strategists need to examine the company’s progression from the beginning.

Since 2002, Microsoft has increasingly expanded its investments in technologies related to real-time collaboration. Such activities in the short run were intended to propel Microsoft into a competitive position against IBM regarding instant messaging (IM), presence, and web conferencing (via the online service offering, Microsoft Office Live Meeting [MOLM]). While important tactically, Office Live Communications Server (LCS) and its client, Microsoft Office Communicator (MOC), served Microsoft’s strategic intent to exploit its standards-based architecture and catapult itself into a leadership position in the unified communications (UC) market. MOC, LCS 2005, and Live Meeting 2005 have gained credible market adoption and broad industry support, but the release of Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 represents the strategic lynchpin of Microsoft’s maturing UC efforts. To understand how Microsoft transformed itself into a vendor now recognized as a major force in the UC market, strategists need to examine the company’s journey that began in 2002. This overview provides a guide for business decision makers and information technology (IT) strategies involved in UC, architects and infrastructure planners who are considering Microsoft’s OCS 2007, or for other strategists who monitor Microsoft’s technology direction.

Avaya To Be Acquired?

Market Snapshot

The unified communications market should undergo considerable consolidation over the next several years as product categories converge around broader, integrated platforms that blend communications and collaboration technologies. Smaller vendors left in the market will provide “feature set” add-ons that extend the core capabilities of such platforms or compete in specific functional areas where specialization enables them to have a superior solution. That would leave a credible under-market where open source, open standard and consumer-oriented vendors (e.g., Skype) could offer a compelling alternative for organizations interested in “rolling their own” framework for unified communications.

If Avaya was in play... who would come to the game?

In addition to Nortel, Cisco could be one candidate that would find Avaya attractive. Cisco is intent on consolidating its base IP communication platform and market position. Cisco is also very driven to extending its solution capabilities into the area of communication-enabled business processes, collaboration and "Web 2.0". Avaya’s efforts regarding SOA and unified communications, as well as its acquisition of Ubiquity, would benefit Cisco’s application efforts.

Oracle would be another interesting suitor for Avaya. Oracle’s competitors – Microsoft and IBM – have strong unified communications strategies. Oracle has not been very pro-active in the unified communications market. Oracle has made some moves. It acquired HotSip in 2006 and included some HotSip's IM and presence capabilities (based on SIP/SIMPLE) within its WebCenter platform. Oracle also recently acquired the assets of AppForge (mobile software) and announced a Service Delivery Platform that includes the Oracle Communication and Mobility Server (targeting carriers). But overall, it has not articulated a comprehensive enterprise strategy for unified communications.

Being late to the game could pay off for Oracle however when it comes to Avaya. Avaya clearly would make Oracle a much more credible unified communications player. Given Oracle's large portfolio of business applications, the technology associated with Avaya (namely Avaya's SOA efforts and Ubiquity technology) could quickly propel Oracle into a leadership position concerning communication-enabled business processes. Some of the partner work Avaya has announced regarding Google could also help Oracle bridge its HotSip technology with its older Oracle Collaboration Suite platform (which is based on the same technology as Google, XMPP).

What about IBM?

IBM is a long-shot but it would not be inconceivable for IBM to be interested in Avaya. IBM would likely turn around and dump the hardware-related business (as might Oracle) and focus just on the middleware software assets of Avaya. IBM's entire strategy for unified communications + collaboration (UC2), rests on the premise that it would not cross certain business model and technology lines (namely IP telephony, video and audio conferencing). Those capabilities would be delivered by IBM's communication partners. This strategy differentiates IBM from Microsoft and alleviates some of the pressure IBM would feel if it had to compete across all aspects of the UC market (given that more time is needed to modernize the Sametime platform). IBM announced a special arrangement with Cisco but Cisco turned around and acquired WebEx. Given Cisco's intent to compete at the same level as IBM and Microsoft in the unified communications market, IBM could feel that it has no alternative but to make a more dramatic move and obtain more direct control over certain communication technologies (making Avaya attractive). IBM would also not want Microsoft to have any part in an Avaya acquisition.

What about Microsoft?

This scenario might also be a long-shot but has some credibility. Microsoft has never indicated that it wants to get into the hardware business extensively. It could however turn around and find someone else to take on those aspects of Avaya's business and retain specific software assets (similar to what IBM would likely do). If that was the case, then Microsoft would pick up some interested technology (again, related to Avaya's SOA efforts and Ubiquity acquisition). I could see a coordinated Microsoft/Nortel combination that could acquire Avaya with each party taking away the assets relevant to its own business efforts (Nortel for instance picking up the hardware aspects and certain application categories dealing with the high end of the unified communications market).

Other options?

Well, this could all be idle rumor and Avaya could continue as an independent entity, perhaps backed by a stronger partner that wanted the organization to remain intact. Or perhaps Avaya merely divests itself of some business units. Right now, we're all merely speculating on different scenarios given recent news accounts.

 

Avaya May Be Next Telecom Takeover Call

By LI YUAN, DANA CIMILLUCA and DENNIS K. BERMAN

.....

READY FOR A DEAL?

• In Play: Avaya is in talks with private-equity and strategic bidders about selling part or all of the company, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Switching Gear: The telecom-equipment maker is hoping to take advantage of a fertile period for high-tech deal making.
• Needed Consolidation: Analysts said mergers among telecom carriers have left the equipment segment crowded, with too many vendors chasing too few deals.

.....

Avaya is in talks with private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners about a leveraged-buyout plan, said people familiar with the matter.

Avaya postponed its analyst-day meeting scheduled for May 31 and has yet to reschedule it, a sign being read by some analysts that the company may be in buyout talks.

Earlier this month, Avaya also talked to Nortel about a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. But the momentum cooled off after the two sides couldn't agree on price and whether Nortel should pay cash or stock, according to people familiar with the situation. The sides are still talking and a deal could still materialize, these people said.

.....

But that space is getting crowded. Microsoft Corp. formed an alliance with Nortel last year, while network company Cisco Systems Inc. joined forces with International Business Machines Corp.

An Avaya executive said in February that Microsoft had also tried to court the company. Karyn Mashima, senior vice president of strategy and technology, was quoted by an online trade publication that Microsoft offered Avaya a partnership before it formed one with Nortel. But Avaya turned it down because the deal would have required licensing what constituted Avaya's "crown jewels" to Microsoft. Microsoft isn't involved in talks with Avaya, but that could change, according to a person familiar with the matter.

.....

--Bobby White contributed to this article.

Source: Free Article - WSJ.com

Avaya Is Said to Be Exploring a Sale of All or Some of Itself

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED

Published: May 29, 2007

The telecommunications company Avaya is in negotiations to sell a part or all of itself, in what may be the latest round of deal making in its industry, executives briefed on the negotiations said last night.

The company, based in Basking Ridge, N.J. and valued at $6.1 billion, has retained the investment bank Credit Suisse as an adviser, the executives said. Among those interested are two rivals — Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks — and the equity buyout firm Silver Lake Partners.

The executives cautioned last night that negotiations were in the early stage and that the company could still remain independent.

A spokeswoman for Avaya did not return a telephone call or an e-mail message seeking a comment.

Source: Avaya Is Said to Be Exploring a Sale of All or Some of Itself - New York Times

Intel, The Other Unified Communications Vendor

We tend to overlook Intel's position in the UC ecosystem but the vendor actually plays an incredibly important role. I attended the 2004 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in 2004. The conference exhibits included several prototypes of devices with different form factors that supported UC-related functions. The company has talked about its vision of a Digital Office as well. Intel's effort in the areas of devices and form factors has ripple effects throughout the rest of the industry - including unified communications.

The chip giant is mounting a long-term campaign to turn personal computers into more reliable tools for calling and conferencing. Instead of exploiting the Internet to lower communications costs, the next phase is about adding new features, says Steve Grobman, an Intel director of business-client architecture involved in the effort. "It's really about who can give the best experience," he says.

Among the benefits for business: broader access to online meetings with advanced features such as TiVo-style playback, instant captioning of conversations -- or even translation into multiple languages, Mr. Grobman says.

Source: Free Article - WSJ.com