Where Will Unified Communications Take Us?
The Future of Business Communications
By Peter Brockmann, Brockmann & Company
Published April 2007, Posted April 2007

Abstract:

The industry "buzz" around unified communications (UC) is real. Both Microsoft and Cisco re-named their portfolio "Unified." IBM coined its software strategy as "Unified Communications and Collaboration." UC reflects a fundamental and continuing reorganization of communications services, technologies and the vendors and resellers who supply them. For the industry participants the goal is growth. For users, the goal is greater user productivity and customer responsiveness.

Communications products and services have been an important fuel for the engine of growth for many businesses. This industry has delivered numerous innovations, from a wide array of sources, available from a broad and growing range of channels to market. These fundamentals - technology, source, channel - have served business users well over the past decades, bringing new products and services, lower prices and more convenient access to innovations. The acceleration of competition on these dimensions present new opportunities for users, channels that serve them and the vendors that create innovations.

The market dynamics are reviewed in this report to develop a deeper understanding of the forces moving business and the industry forward. The Brockmann & Company forecasting model is useful in understanding the likely shape of the future.

So, where can unified communications take us?