BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Convergence

Well, where do I start? Not sure if I'll be saying much about suicide rates in Scandinavia, or in technology for that matter, but I hope I can bring some different, opinionated and perhaps challenging views on the channel and the vendors.

One particular topic, I will touch upon regularly as I attempt to move discussions from less data-centric to more of a middle ground, is the dreaded "C" word - Convergence!

What do I mean by Convergence? Well, what do you think I mean? I'm guessing every one of you would give me a different answer whether you're a vendor, a distributor, a reseller or an end-user of telecoms equipment.

Well here is my view. Convergence is simply about bringing voice and data together on a single network. Why complicate it any more?

Certainly we could talk about "true" and "rich" convergence, those environments for the paragon of convergence - email, voicemail, fax and mobile. Then there's content of course and even video conferencing. We could even throw in some applications like CRM, CRP, SAP for good measure. But that just brings us to yet another "c" word - Confusion.

And while we're on a theme, what about the big "C" - Cisco? They're currently claiming they are shipping more IP handsets than ever before, and yet people ask where? Mitel are quick to join in on the noise but again we say 'what?'

Meanwhile, the traditionalists amongst Avaya/Alcatel seem to suggest that TDM still has a way to go in the market. So now who do we believe?

I have to say that the spin and hype is out in force. But one question above all else strikes me. Being in an SME organisation myself - why would I spend Ł300 on a handset, when I can buy one for Ł30? Sorry Cisco, but saying it is IP and that it can switch on your Microwave, just isn't the way forward - but 'convergence' is coming and eventually people start to believe the hype!

Manny Pinon, CEO Vanix
Published in Comms Dealer