Gartner’s MQ for Corporate Telephony sparks industry buzz
Last week Gartner published its Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony, 2008. For the first time, this report includes Microsoft in addition to the traditional PBX vendors. By affirming OCS 2007 as a viable telephony solution—at least for nomadic or highly collaborative users—in large enterprises, Gartner is deliberately signaling the shift from hardware-bound to software-powered voice. Microsoft’s debut in this report has sparked commentary by other industry observers:
· Marty Parker of UniComm Consulting blogged on both UC Strategies.com and NoJitter.com (formerly Business Communications Review), alluding to Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma in his analysis of Microsoft’s entry into enterprise telephony:
“…disruptive technologies are always seen as ‘not sufficient’ to meet the established industry standard. But since the new entrants enable new approaches and address un-served markets, the disrupters carve out an ever-expanding niche, until they are the new leaders. Now, we see Microsoft in exactly that position in the Gartner MQ for Corporate Telephony.”
“I’ve argued before that Microsoft does not want to win as a leader in the PBX market, they want to win as a leader in the ‘communications’ market, where their software can make major improvements in business operations, not just simply replace a phone.”
· At Information Week Erik Krapf also noted Gartner’s UC-centric stance by stating that change is part of the very nature of corporate telephony. “The bottom line is that corporate telephony always has evolved,” he writes, “and its continued evolution will take it in the direction of Unified Communications.”
· Brian Riggs of NoJitter.com takes issue with the assertion, by some commenters, that OCS lacks basic telephony capabilities:
“Last time I checked the Office Communications Server documentation, basic core telephony were in no way lacking from the software. Though typically deployed as an adjunct to a PBX, OCS can just as easily be set up as a standalone voice platform. The problem is not that Microsoft’s unified communications solution lacks the most basic core telephony functions. The problem is that basic telephony functions are all that OCS can presently provide, at least when it comes to voice features. I fully expect this to change going forward … and, frankly, so should you.”
Many analyst firms, including Gartner, have emphasized that today’s telephony purchasing decisions should only be made in the context of a UC strategy. You already know Microsoft as a leader in the broader, more strategic category of unified communications. Now Gartner wants you to know Microsoft as a visionary in corporate telephony, too.
Many of our customers are finding OCS and Office Communicator easily meet the telephony needs of their mobile and nomadic workers, while laying a foundation for unified communications across the enterprise.
