Metaswitch Forum - the Bigger Picture for UC

13 Oct 2011

When I wear my UCStrategies hat, I often see things differently from my everyday focus on the broader IP communications space. UC is not a key element for many of the industry events I attend, and while it's always on the program, there are simply higher priorities in the business. As much as readers here may think the world revolves around UC, this is but one galaxy in a larger universe.

Earlier this month, I participated in my fifth Metaswitch Forum, and my UC takeaways support this position. However, just because UC is not the main course, don't discount the relevance of what's happening in their space. I find this particularly relevant for Metaswitch, not just because of their large - and growing - customer base, but because UC has been more prominent in previous Forums.

So, I know UC is an important part of their product portfolio, but wearing the UCStrategies hat, it's incumbent upon me to ask why we hardly heard anything about it at the 2011 Forum, especially during the roadmap sessions. After reviewing my Forum notes in this context, I see some themes that provide a pretty good answer, and I think they all have implications for UC's future. I came away from the Forum firm in the belief that Metaswitch has properly read the tea leaves and adjusted accordingly; I'm not so sure I feel the same way about UC vendors.

There was no bigger theme than mobility at the Forum, and I can see why Metaswitch is focusing so much on this trend. We saw many compelling examples and applications that would be called UC if they were in a business setting, but don't let that fool you. I found it odd to see so many consumer-oriented demos at Metaswitch (typically in urban settings) given that most customers in attendance were Tier 2/3 operators serving rural or smaller urban markets.

However, the times they are-a-changing and the broader storyline for mobility is that customers want an "immersive, multimedia" experience. They talked about 7 M's that carriers need to be competitive today, and one that sticks with me is that customers want "moments, not minutes." Multimedia experiences create those moments that transcend minutes, and nothing does that better than smartphones.

If you're old school like me, you're probably rolling your eyes at the idea that all of this wonderful innovation is coming along so we can... walk, talk, text and browse at the same time, and wander obliviously down the sidewalk without lifting our heads en route to meeting a friend for coffee. If this is progress, I'm living on the wrong planet, but this isn't about me.

Again, don't be fooled by these superficial scenarios that define happiness for twenty-somethings. The modern world is quickly succumbing to the allure of smartphones, especially the iPhone, and that's where things start veering back towards UC. The recent BlackBerry service outage only compounds RIM's downward spiral, and without being too gloomy, it's hard to see anything stopping the iPhone from becoming the de facto smartphone of choice across the board.

As the lines between business and personal use for mobility blur, this spins things closer to UC's vortex. Add the tablet into the mix, and it becomes nearly impossible to ignore Apple's impact on how all mobile users define value. Between Apple and Android, the mobile user experience has been radically transformed in the last two years, and it's incredible to think that these changes have come from outsiders to the mobile operator world. The bottom line is that consumers can't get enough of these cool, fun, social, and of course free applications that apps stores churn out endlessly. On that note, the reason why RIM and Microsoft are being left behind in the mobile space is because they lack the cachet to attract the developer ecosystem needed to feed this machine. RIM may arguably have the best device for business, but the developers go where the action is, and it's not there.

The big shift here is that end users are increasingly driving the bus, not operators and not vendors. With most applications being free, and so many OTT - over the top - providers offering free or near-free services, the balance of power has swung heavily in favor of the end user. They'll certainly take free when they can get it, but they're also prepared to pay for services or applications that add value to the overall user experience.

For UC providers, there's a lot to pay attention to here. As mentioned earlier, don't let the consumer focus diminish the bigger picture. As consumers - end users - shift their habits to mobility, their rising expectations will come to encompass business needs, especially if they start favoring consumer-based smartphones/tablets and operating systems for the workplace. Not only do I think we'll see a consumerization of UC (even though end users won't call it UC), but end users will play a bigger role in defining the UC value proposition.

With so much to pick and choose from in this new mobile space, end users have many options to get what they need independent from the WAN/LAN or the IT department. Considering that end users don't pay for conventional UC offerings in the first place, that's not going to change as these trends continue. This means that both UC vendors and carriers will have less leverage in defining the value of UC solutions. As mentioned above, there are things end users will pay for, so all is not lost; it's just a matter of understanding what's driving the market now, and what constitutes value that can be monetized. I realize the world hasn't gone totally mobile - or totally Apple - yet, but I do think these scenarios are well along the evolution path, and if UC vendors don't adjust, they could find themselves on the outside looking in.

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