Business Leads UK

Presentation training with the IT sector yesterday. A bright and totally enthusiastic bunch of code developers, programmers and testers rising to the challenges of the conference hall. Tasked by their management team with promoting their various software offerings this young team now hits the conference cicuit with a vengeance; committed, eager and trained. What we didn't manage to build on yesterday, they will gain with practice and experience. Great stuff.

Throughout the last twenty years – voice and data technology has been positioned as the ‘differentiator’ by which companies can distinguish themselves from their competition -  whether it is getting closer to your customer through the use of sophisticated contact centres and new CRM initiatives, through to complete integration of all business processes by implementing ERP systems.  And the promise of massive costs savings that theoretically these new technologies can deliver – whether it being the ability to offshore your cost base or to reduce headcount and stock levels by delivering better integration with your supplier base.

And, of course, let us not forget the impact of the Internet and all it has to offer in front end order management and customer service, information management and marketing opportunities.

But at what cost?

Fully integrated ERP systems can cost a large corporation millions – but are rarely implemented effectively and promised ROI figures are never met.  New technologies often displace older technologies long before the old equipment has even paid for itself – but without any discernable improvement in business performance. The pace of change not just of the technology but the applications is outstripping the average users’ ability to keep up with it, or have time to use it.  The growth of new applications, whether it be on an iPod or in a corporate environment, is technology looking for a use – after all who needs an application to divide a restaurant bill amongst friends?

The underlying infrastructure behind these technologies offers manufacturers both opportunity and challenge.  For the hardware and systems manufacturers – there will always be a need to provide faster systems and greater bandwidth, but as we already know, much of this equipment is simply a commodity.   Margins are squeezed by the sheer volume of manufacturers and development costs are in danger of never being recovered. It is a market driven by supply and demand – and over the next few years only the strong will survive.

Many would argue that it is what goes through the infrastructure that will help companies survive and prosper.  It is true now that software developers can create the applications to do just about anything we can imagine. But for development companies – the challenge is finding the old adage ‘killer’ application that truly makes the difference. And by ‘killer’ we mean something that everyone wants to (and can) use.

It is within the applications space that today’s CIOs have the difficulty. They are bombarded by solutions from both the traditional business software suppliers and the latest community based application free on the internet.  The traditional guys offer strong business cases and ROI charts – the internet offers simple social networking solutions which everyone uses.  A few weeks ago at a CIO conference – the CIO of a large multinational, himself only in his mid 40s, was struggling to know what to do with his email service. The problem? – no-one in his organisation under 25 years old was using it!  Their preference – Instant Messaging on Facebook which they used to communicate with colleagues in the office.  His dilemma – it was completely outside his control – no security, no guaranteed quality of service, and he was paying a fortune for equipment and software that wasn’t being used.  Add to that their use of personal mobile phones, and you can see why he has a problem.

Now the telecommunications industry has many such solutions – telepresence, fixed mobile conversion, browser based applications, voicemail integrations with Outlook, etc but how much will it cost to implement, and how long?

For an industry that is predicted to generate over $300 billion is sales in 2009 – all is not yet lost – however large manufacturers will have to quickly understand how to balance the ever decreasing margins on the infrastructure business, with their search for the ‘killer’ application that everyone wants to use.  The big software houses have also realised this – the new commoditised infrastructure and the hype around cloud computing will eat into their traditional licence based fee structures.

The next few years will see a completely new desktop in the workplace as companies realise that their employee base have expectations that existing infrastructures just cannot deliver – it is not simply a case for moving from TDM to IP based voice, or desktop computing to network computing – but a much more significant change to user driven simple applications available over any interface, anywhere, anytime.

So the answer to the question?  I fear it is too little too late!

Kevin Southworth is the Managing Partner of The Posse Limited, a strategy consultancy specialising in IP telephony and UC applications, and telecom risk assessments

It’s a changing World we live in and for IT and Telecom this is especially true.  Almost every week we see another piece of technology that we are told will change the way we work for ever.  The only problem is …you’ve only just finished upgrading your network for the last good idea! No doubt your service provider has already discussed the next generation of equipment and upgrades.

How concerned should you be at the pace of change?  What is the reality about the nature of the technology we rely on everyday? And how do you know if you are paying over the odds for equipment and bandwidth?  What are the underlying risks of keeping what you have today, and continuing to use your existing service providers?

The Posse has developed a Network Risk Assessment Tool that focuses on three areas – understanding your requirements, understanding your network, and understanding your existing contracts and suppliers.  The conclusions gleaned from researching these three categories lead to a risk profile that clearly identifies where High Risk and Low Mitigation coincide within your network and the relationships with your suppliers. You can then review the areas of highest risk with your existing service providers to ensure they develop mitigation actions against each area of concern.

The tool itself can be readily adapted to your specific needs, and has been used not only as a once only activity – but also to monitor the effectiveness of newly introduced changes.  Its design also lends itself to providing a research tool for monitoring implementations across multinational organisations to ensure that Global Standards are adhered to.

In the ever changing World - the ability to regularly identify potential failure points in a network, or to ensure that company policies are implemented across all sites, and that your suppliers are meeting their obligations cost effectively – is critical to being able to make confident decisions about how to move forward.

Kevin Southworth is the Managing Partner of The Posse Limited, a strategy consultancy specialising in IP telephony and UC applications, and telecom risk assessments.

Unpalatable as it may be to PBX manufacturers … we are about to undergo a step change in the look and feel of the desktop.  IP telephony has not fundamentally changed the desktop or the infrastructure that supports it.  We still have a multifunction, multi button handsets connected to a lot of hardware in the basement! The scene is now set for leapfrog technologies to radically overhaul the delivery of traditional voice and applications.  The combination of UC and FMC paves the way for a simpler more cost effective and practical approach for the end user. Whilst many are still considering whether to move from TDM to IP telephony, a more fundamental discontinuity is evolving.

Consider this - how many of us survive quite happily today using a combination of a mobile phone and a laptop/desktop?  What additional features would need to be added to both products to transform them into a full voice and data desktop solution?  Take a look at the products that Google, Microsoft and the mobile operators are beginning to offer.  Even the traditional telecom equipment manufacturers now constantly talk about servers, softphones and applications. 

Add to this the recent churn amongst the equipment suppliers, and the huge installed bases that are swapping hands almost on a monthly basis and the market discontinuity can no longer be ignored! The loss of players such as Nortel, and the amount of money spent to acquire aging installed bases can still of course lead to a counter revolution as companies seek to milk an installed base looking for a good Return on Investment – however the momentum is growing for a new approach to enterprise telephony.

Now consider the sceptics’ resistance to change - investments in infrastructure, reliability, re-training costs, ability to support, etc. Many of these no longer worry the savvy IT and Telecoms professional.  Of course, few would jump just because someone says it’s OK – but a well considered risk assessment would likely conclude that most concerns are manageable and that the benefits in simplicity and cost savings are too great to ignore.

Ladies and Gentlemen – batten down your desktop telephone handset – a storm is coming that will change the landscape!

Kevin Southworth is the Managing Partner of The Posse Limited, a strategy consultancy specialising in IP telephony and UC applications, and telecom risk assessments.

Let’s face it – it’s hard enough just keeping up with all the technology changes that the vendors throw at you – but when someone comes along and says that for a fixed fee per desktop they will take care of all the day to day activity AND make sure that you are kept up to date with all the latest gadgets AND save you money - it’s hard to say no!

For the first few months of your new relationship – all of your troubles are on someone else’s shoulders, and your bills are down.  You feel comfortable with the support you are receiving and the decision looks like it was the right one. Then as the months pass by – you see less and less of your account manager – and although the day to day services are still delivered – you no longer have the dialogue about new technologies and the opportunities for improvements and further cost savings.

Now whilst no-one can begrudge the service provider their right to make money – after all you did nail them on the desktop price to start with! – It is easy to forget about their other commitment to keep you informed of the latest technologies and applications. 

To make matters worse, where these arrangements started with a full blown outsourcing deal – transitioning both physical assets and resources – the reduction in scope of the original agreement can be slow and unnoticed.  Relationships evolve from strategic partnerships into ‘milking the assets’ and greater margins for the service provider.  Ultimately – your network becomes stagnant, and changes are driven by demand rather than innovation.

Recovering from such a situation may find you starting to rebuild a team capable of understanding the new technologies available and identifying opportunities. This cost of course is on top of the desktop commitment you are still contractually obliged to pay to the service provider – time to renegotiate?

The message here is simple … if you rely on IT to help you innovate and streamline your business operations – then keep the strategy in-house or work with an independent consultant who can challenge your service partner regularly. Keep one egg out of the basket when you hand the basket over – just in case!

Kevin Southworth is the Managing Partner of The Posse Limited, a strategy consultancy specialising in IP telephony and UC applications.