Volume 2: Vendor Analysis

Table of Contents

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
2 VENDOR ANALYSIS 2
2.1 TOUGH DECISIONS 2
2.1.1 Bottom Line: Huge Improvement! 2
2.1.2 Vendor Evaluations, by Customer Sizes 4
2.1.3 Vendor Assessment, by Industry 5
2.2 BUYING CRITERIA 6
2.3 WHO MADE THE SHORT LISTS? 8
2.3.1 Vendor Assessment 10
2.3.2 Vendor Selection 10
2.4 VENDOR CLOSING RATES 12
2.5 VENDOR RATING CATEGORIES 14
2.5.1 Value 16
2.5.2 Technology 17
2.5.3 VAR Expertise 18
2.5.4 Management Tools 19
2.5.5 Customer Service 20
2.5.6 Solution Experience 20
2.5.7 Product Features 21
2.5.8 Ease of Installation/Troubleshooting 21
2.5.9 Overall Performance 22
2.6 VENDOR-SPECIFIC ANALYSIS 23
2.6.1 Avaya 23
2.6.2 Cisco 27
2.6.3 Nortel 34
2.6.4 ShoreTel 39
3 CUSTOMIZED FINDINGS 45
4 APPENDIX A: REPORT METHODOLOGY 46
4.1 PROCESS 46
4.2 TIMEFRAME 47
4.3 PARTICIPANTS 48
4.4 BY INDUSTRY 48
4.5 BY SIZE 49
4.6 DISCLAIMER/DISTRIBUTION 50
5 APPENDIX B: PEER PROFILE BENCHMARK DESCRIPTIONS 51

Table of Figures

FIGURE 1: NUMBER OF VENDORS ASSESSED 2
FIGURE 2: VENDORS ASSESSED, BY REVENUE 3
FIGURE 3: VENDOR ASSESSMENT, BY INDUSTRY 4
FIGURE 4: BUYING CRITERIA 6
FIGURE 5: SELECTION CRITERIA, EXPERIENCED USERS 9
FIGURE 6: WHICH VENDORS ASSESSED? 11
FIGURE 7: WHO WAS SELECTED? 12
FIGURE 8: ASSESS/SELECT COMPARISON 13
FIGURE 9: VENDOR CLOSING RATES, 2003-2005 14
FIGURE 10: CONSOLIDATED VENDOR RATINGS 16
FIGURE 11: MEAN SCORES FOR ALL RATINGS 18
FIGURE 12: AVAYA 2005 RATINGS 23
FIGURE 13: AVAYA RATINGS, 2003-2005 26
FIGURE 14: CISCO RATINGS, 2005 28
FIGURE 15: CISCO RATINGS, 2003-2005 32
FIGURE 16: NORTEL RATINGS, 2005 35
FIGURE 17: NORTEL RATINGS, 2003-2005 38
FIGURE 18: SHORETEL 2005 RATINGS 40
FIGURE 19: SHORETEL RATINGS, 2003-2005 44
FIGURE 20: PARTICIPANTS BY TITLE 47
FIGURE 21: PARTICIPANTS BY INDUSTRY 48
FIGURE 22: ANNUAL REVENUE 49
FIGURE 23: IT BUDGET 50

Table of Tables

TABLE 1: SELECTION CRITERIA, 2002-2005 8
TABLE 2: AVAYA, AT A GLANCE 24
TABLE 3: CISCO, AT A GLANCE 29
TABLE 4: NORTEL AT-A-GLANCE 36
TABLE 5: SHORETEL, AT-A-GLANCE 41

1 Executive Summary

Convergence projects are running strong in the vast majority of organizations. Voice typically is the first application implemented on a converged IP backbone, and Nemertes is starting to see IT executives explore new applications, such as video, unified communications, collaborative tools, and real-time communications dashboards. They’re also recognizing the need for network optimization, branch-office technologies, enhanced management tools, and detailed cost analyses. And finally, they’re waiting not-so-patiently for the carriers to catch up with market demands.

Volume 2 of the “Convergence & Next-Generation WAN Technologies” benchmark explores the vendor assessment and selection process, as well as specific ratings of key IP telephony vendors. It includes details on which vendors or carriers IT staffs are assessing and selecting, and which ones are closing the highest percentage of deals. For the third straight year, ShoreTel comes out on top. Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel each won some areas and trailed in others. We’ll analyze what the vendors are doing well, where they need to improve, and why, along with detailed comments from IT executives about each vendors’ strengths and weaknesses.

Volume 3 of this benchmark analyzes the business case for VOIP, with specific figures on costs and savings. Additional volumes will explore converged applications, branch-office trends, management challenges, mobility plans, and WAN service/technology trends. We also provide detailed cost analyses and comparisons outlining capital and operational costs and savings, and analyze organizational best practices based on Nemertes’ Peer Profile Benchmarks, a multi-faceted method of categorizing companies based on a variety of characteristics.

Please contact research manager Shirlene Browne, shirlene@nemertes.com if you would like to schedule a briefing.