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Consultants' Market Views
 

Unified Communications - A Major Consulting Opportunity

by Marty Parker, UniComm Consulting

The scope of this change is the reason that we at UCStrategies.com (an industry information and service site) define UC as, "Communications integrated to optimize business processes."   The emphasis is on how the new communications tools of UC will change business processes and results, not on the cleverness of the technology itself.  Some powerful changes occur simply by providing powerful  new tools to the users, who naturally find the best ways to work.  Examples of this are the massive shifts away from (IP) PBX-based telephone calls (down to 3 billion per day in North America in 2009) to cell phone calls (4 billion) to e-mail (50 billion) and instant messaging/IM (46 billion) or to Facebook chats (1 billion).  We call this type of change UC-U, for User productivity.  These examples also show that the scope of UC goes far beyond VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol, the new function of an IP PBX).

A much more valuable shift occurs when businesses realize that UC can be built into their business processes to change the workflows, revenues, margins and profits.  These process improvements, which we call UC-B for Business process changes, usually proceed one process at a time, in a series of 6-month to 9-month projects, continuing over a number of years' time, not just one purchase each 10 years as is typical of the PBX market.   The most relevant analogy is the growth of call centers to contact and business centers over the past 15+ years; almost one-third of the PBX market is now driven by contact center requirements.  UC-B applications use many of the same concepts (workflows, contact management, call routing with presence, etc.) and similar tools (software integration to data bases and business applications) but reach across a much broader number of processes and employees in the enterprise.  There are now hundreds of UC case studies to prove this is possible, and the top UC applications and the related justifications and ROI are well defined.   For details, visit the UC Resources section of UCStrategies.com.

So, what does this mean to you as Consultants?  In a word, "Opportunity."   The opportunity is to stake out a leadership position with your clients on the UC topic, then convert that to actionable, revenue projects when each client is ready.  Build your expertise by becoming well-informed on the case studies and applications as suggested above.  Then, propose engagements to assist your clients in reviewing their business processes to find the places where communication 'hot spots' (delays, errors, rework or waste) are occurring and help them to define the new UC solutions that will eliminate or mitigate those costly problem areas.  I can assure you this is a real business - we're in our fourth very successful year doing only UC at UniComm Consulting.  We wish you great success - the market is big enough for all of us.
 

 Your feedback is welcome at mparker@UniCommConsulting.com

Brookside's Supporting Market Intelligence
 

Unified Communications - A Major Consulting Opportunity

Brookside's 2010 Telecom Consulting Market Study Findings
 

Brookside's recently completed 2010 Telecom Consulting Market Study reveals the following about consultants' UC perceptions, interests and activities.

• Unified Communications was identified as the #1 technology/trend/application growth driver for telecom consulting over the next 2 years (up from #2 in 2009); representing a 25% increase in the number of consultants selecting UC as the #1 growth driver.
• Collaborative technologies (video, audio and web conferencing) was the #2 growth driver.
• There was a 90% increase in consultants saying that Improving Communications-Enabled Business Processes is one of the top three deliverables consultants are hired for.
• UC-related recommendations greatly contributed to the 8% increase in the total sales dollar value of consultants' recommendations to their clients in 2010.
• 5% of industry consultants now classify themselves as Business Process consultants.
• Among consultants active in UC-related engagements, Unified Communications Strategies is the fourth most regularly accessed/read industry web site/trade journal (the top three are: Network World, No Jitter and Information Week).
   

Your questions or feedback are welcome at msawka@brooksidegroup.com.

Consultants' Market Fact: Did You Know . . .
 

Market News, Resources & Events
 

• Enterprise Connect 2011 - Visit with the following Vendor Consultant Programs at Enterprise Connect, February 28 - March 2, in Orlando, FL
  • Alcatel-Lucent
  • Avaya
  • Cisco
  • Interactive Intelligence

  • ShoreTel

• Telecom Consultants Insights: 1Q2011 - Participate in Brookside's quarterly Telecom Consultant Insights Survey. The 1Q2011 survey focuses on TEM as a growing market opportunity for consultants. Click HERE to access the survey and receive a summary of the study's key findings.

• Consultant Program Membership Links - Not a member of the following telecom vendor consultant programs? Click on the links of interest below to register for these informative and helpful programs.

   

  • Alcatel-Lucent Consultant Program
  • Qwest Communications Consultant Program
  • ShoreTel Consultant Program
  • Tyco Electronics Telecommunications Program for Architects, Consultants and Engineers (PACE)
     
• Consultant Program Directory - Need Vendor Consultant Program contact information? Click HERE to access Brookside's Directory of Telecom Vendor Consultant Programs.

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