Getting to the Core of Unified Communications (Part 3)

In the Post-PC Era, advocated by many Unified Communication vendors, it seems that most services will be provided from some distant cloud, using features on devices employees bring to work managed by a service provider who splits bills between what is work and what is private. In this world, being a Value Added Reseller (VAR) or Systems Integrator (SI); it can feel as stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Yes, I am exaggerating it a bit, but pushing what is happening to an extreme is a good way to identify what needs to be done, what competence is needed and who will be your competitors and partners for the future. However, there are opportunities; they lie in the land in between each point of integration, where standard clients meet business processes, where front-office meets back-office and where innovation meets legacy.

Innovation meets legacy

When call centers moved from legacy dialers into client server application centric solutions many vendors who relied on developing hardware had problems adjusting. Resellers struggled with how to make money until they found that in all situations there is always a time when old-meets-new, and that meeting creates opportunities for those who are observant.

Many believe cloud based telephony and unified communication solutions will take over many segments, especially small and medium. This will change the way business is done; buying a service instead of a product that is installed and managed. Currently the same technology is enabling new opportunities, such as private cloud solutions, where large organizations host their own infrastructure based on cloud criteria to benefit from what that architecture can give. Small companies cannot achieve it by themselves, but the same logic applies. They are looking for the characteristics of cloud, not the cloud itself. By working with a service provider to achieve these goals, the need to connect "innovation" with their legacy occurs. And this is an opportunity that is difficult for service providers to offer. It can be access to information on devices that are specific to a vertical, or using a web portal solution to see what if production is on time or if the customer will need to wait for their order.

Many companies live with a legacy in terms of systems, but also in their processes. How to benefit from the use of the new innovation inside legacy business processes is a critical knowledge that these companies will be looking for in a partner. In specific verticals, such as insurance and finance, there is a lot of paper legacy, where the physical document is the key element in the process. By offering ways to tie the physical and the digital and connect it with their business process, even mobile devices, where the technology resides becomes a secondary issue.

Summary

The future of unified communications is bright, but much is dependent on how well your organization can acquire new skill-sets that understand how to benefit from the mix of legacy and innovation. Innovation is not replacing everything; innovation can also mean that an enterprise does things better and more efficiently. By understanding how a company works, and what technology can do for them a resellers or system integrators can become a key partner in their strategic evolution, and stay ahead of the curve, so to say.