Enterprise technology often follows consumer trends. Currently, in
the mainstream telecoms world, phone call and SMS usage is being eroded
by competing and fragmented IP and app-based platforms – the so-called
“OTT players”. Instead of using a handful of standardised (but expensive
and limited) services, people are voting with their thumbs and using a
wide range of communications apps and tools, on a case-by-case basis.
They offer a mix of functionality, low/free cost and "coolness" -
Whatsapp, Skype, Kik, LINE, WeChat, Viber, Hangouts, iMessage,
Instagram, SnapChat and so on.
In business, an equivalent trend
(or threat) is brewing. It manifests as communications dis-unifying,
despite the industry buzzword suggesting "unified" platforms are the
only path to the future. As well as standalone VoIP and conferencing
systems, we are also seeing specific instances of enterprise
communications being carved out of traditional, centralised UC/PBX
platforms and integrated directly into cloud-based applications and
business processes.
In addition, business users who have never before had a PBX "seat" or extension (eg the self-employed, or startups) are using sophisticated mobile or cloud-based apps to enhance their communications experience. They are also using IP-connected phones and tablets, rather than legacy circuit-based communications.
Some dis-unification has always been inevitable - we all get invited to other companies' conferencing systems, webinars or even messaging platforms. Many in the business community use their own personal mobile and home phones, Skype when travelling, send messages with personal webmail - or indeed using the tools built-into sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. New collaboration tools like Slack are currently getting a lot of attention as well. These tools have mostly been used for communication between companies, but a fair amount (especially BYOD calls and SMS) has been between colleagues internally as well.
In addition, business users who have never before had a PBX "seat" or extension (eg the self-employed, or startups) are using sophisticated mobile or cloud-based apps to enhance their communications experience. They are also using IP-connected phones and tablets, rather than legacy circuit-based communications.
Some dis-unification has always been inevitable - we all get invited to other companies' conferencing systems, webinars or even messaging platforms. Many in the business community use their own personal mobile and home phones, Skype when travelling, send messages with personal webmail - or indeed using the tools built-into sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. New collaboration tools like Slack are currently getting a lot of attention as well. These tools have mostly been used for communication between companies, but a fair amount (especially BYOD calls and SMS) has been between colleagues internally as well.
The question is what happens in future to business communications.
Disruptive Analysis sees two possible paths:
- Towards more fully-Unified Communications, where enterprise IT departments, working with their UC&C vendors and service providers, extend corporate communications platforms to mobile, to collaboration both internally and externally, and (via APIs and SDKs) blended into corporate line-of-business apps and web tools.
- Towards ever-more fragmented Dis-Unified Communications (DUC), where a declining fraction of a business's total voice, video or messaging traffic transits its own "platform", as employees extend the BYO model from devices, to BYOconferencing, BYOcontactcentre, and adopt applications and cloud-services that have their own contextual comms built in by their developers or service providers.
Disruptive Analysis believes that both trends will happen
simultaneously, in fact - but just in different contexts. And WebRTC
will be a catalyst of both - allowing UC to address more devices and
use-cases, but also allowing "DUC" to encroach from adjacent software
domains. (Non-WebRTC approaches will also continue as well, but most
will converge over time, such as Microsoft's Lync Web API and ORTC)
We
already see UC systems being extended outwards - for example "guest
access" enabled in Cisco Jabber, or federation from MS Lync. WebRTC will
extend this trend further - already seen in early implementations like
Unify's Circuit. Hosted UC platforms offered by telcos are also starting
to embrace WebRTC - a trend that is likely to be embraced by most
vendors and major operators during 2015.
As
in consumer markets, a core part of WebRTC-extended business UC
proposition is around interoperability and identities being “anchored”
in central systems, with well-defined numbers and identity (and
security). This certainly makes sense for industries and companies with
strict compliance and call-recording needs, for example - and it seems
likely that these capabilities will be integrated into line-of-business
apps such as doctors' practice-management or banks' trading platforms.
Conversely, other contexts have counter-arguments that communications-as-a-feature works better as optimised “islands”, disconnected from traditional UC platforms. A putative video-interviewing service for recruitment, built into a site like LinkedIn, would probably have no relationship with E.164 phone numbers or single-enterprise IDs. Similarly, clunky phone-number dial-ins for conference calls and webinars will gradually fade out - probably replaced with email addresses or other log-on IDs.
Conversely, other contexts have counter-arguments that communications-as-a-feature works better as optimised “islands”, disconnected from traditional UC platforms. A putative video-interviewing service for recruitment, built into a site like LinkedIn, would probably have no relationship with E.164 phone numbers or single-enterprise IDs. Similarly, clunky phone-number dial-ins for conference calls and webinars will gradually fade out - probably replaced with email addresses or other log-on IDs.
The
real battleground, however, will be future vertical applications for
business, both internally-focused and for B2C/B2B interaction. There
seems little reason for an oil-company's field maintenance application
(which might incorporate video interaction for remote diagnosis of
problems) to interface with the UC system used at head office -
especially if it is cloud-based and used for multi-way conferences with
partners and suppliers as well. A security application, which includes
both physical guards as well as CCTV cameras, would also likely be
standalone.
The choice of communications components would up to
the app developers, who may well choose a WebRTC platform provider, and
look to support a broad range of endpoints, both with and without
telephony capabilities. B2C interaction platforms on the web may also be
decoupled from phone-based contact centres - although some will
undoubtedly be multi-channel . In many instances, new models of
communication will be invented - a permanent telepresence "window"
between two offices doesn't really fit with the "call" and number-based
UC system. The benefits of dis-unification (to users and developers)
would likely outweigh the management/organisational downsides of UC.
The
ramifications of this trend are huge - and largely under-appreciated by
the UC community. Globally, there be 1.7bn people using communications
as part of their work by 2019 - but Disruptive Analysis forecasts only
23% (400m) will have a formal UC/IP-PBX "seat" - and even most of those
will use some form of DUC applications at least occasionally, as well as
their main "corporate" system.
The other 1.3bn will use a mix of
standard telephony (mostly mobile, GSM/UMTS plus a small % of VoLTE), or
various form of VoIP, Video and cloud communications. Even among the
hard-core of global "knowledge workers", there will be 600m who use
WebRTC at least sometimes in their job - yet fewer than 100m of those
will be using it in the context of their UC system. The vast bulk of
business interactions via WebRTC will be dis-unified.
Put another
way, by 2019, the number of dis-unified communications users in business
will probably be twice the number using UC, whether premise-based or
hosted. This is as big a trend in enterprise communications as so-called "OTT" apps are for telcos.
For a full analysis of the impact of WebRTC on
UC & DUC, see Disruptive Analysis' research report, which covers the
enterprise market as well as telecoms and the consumer web. Purchasers
will also receive an upcoming update document. Please click here for details.
Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis and author of this article & the report, will be at Enterprise Connect in Orlando on March 16-17, and UCExpo in London on April 21-22. Please contact information AT disruptive-analysis dot com for briefings, speaking engagements and private workshops/consulting
Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis and author of this article & the report, will be at Enterprise Connect in Orlando on March 16-17, and UCExpo in London on April 21-22. Please contact information AT disruptive-analysis dot com for briefings, speaking engagements and private workshops/consulting
Dean, I see the same trends for multimodal business communications, as both vertical applications and communications with people move into private, public, and hybrid clouds.
ReplyDeleteThe real challenge will be for organizations to migrate gracefully from their old, premise-based technologies to he new wya of interacting with online applications and people.
We had seen how ShadowIT has created enormous pressure on enterprises to adopt cloud in both infra as well as business applications. Similar trend will emerge or rather emerging in UC market. As enterprises users adopt OTT apps due to convenience or experience, LOB applications adopt silo communication channels... enterprises need to embrace better UC which can be either extended by traditional players or merged with emerging WebRTC platforms. User experience and security will be key drivers in this market.
ReplyDelete