Vol. 6: Converged Applications

Table of Contents

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
2 CONVERGED APPLICATIONS 6
2.1 ORGANIZING FOR CONVERGED APPS 6
2.2 IP TELEPHONY/VOIP 7
2.2.1 Wireless VOIP 11
2.3 APPLICATION DRIVERS 13
2.4 COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS 14
2.4.1 Video conferencing 15
2.4.2 Audio Conferencing 17
2.4.3 WebConferencing 19
2.4.4 Unified Communications 20
2.4.5 Presence & Instant Messaging 23
2.4.6 RTC Dashboards 24
2.4.7 IP-Enabled Contact Centers 26
2.5 SIP—DOES IT MATTER? 29
2.6 THE MICROSOFT FACTOR 30
2.7 RECOMMENDATIONS 32
2.7.1 For Vendors and Carriers 32
2.7.2 For Customers 33
3 CUSTOMIZED FINDINGS 34
4 APPENDIX A: REPORT METHODOLOGY 35
4.1 PROCESS 35
4.2 TIMEFRAME 37
4.3 PARTICIPANTS 37
4.4 BY INDUSTRY 38
4.5 BY SIZE 39
4.6 DISCLAIMER/DISTRIBUTION 40
5 APPENDIX B: PEER PROFILE BENCHMARK DESCRIPTIONS 41

Table of Figures

FIGURE 1: CONVERGENCE TIMETABLES 6
FIGURE 2: IP VOICE ON LAN 8
FIGURE 3: IP VOICE ON THE WAN 9
FIGURE 4: WIRELESS INTEGRATION PLANS 11
FIGURE 5: WIRELESS INTEGRATION, BY INDUSTRY 12
FIGURE 6: APPLICATION DRIVERS FOR CONVERGENCE 14
FIGURE 7: DESKTOP / ROOM-TO-ROOM VIDEOCONFERENCING 15
FIGURE 8: VIDEOCONFERENCING ADOPTERS, BY INDUSTRY 17
FIGURE 9: AUDIOCONFERENCING USAGE PLANS 18
FIGURE 10: WEB CONFERENCING PLANS 19
FIGURE 11: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS PLANS 20
FIGURE 12: INSTANT MESSAGING PLANS 22
FIGURE 13: PRESENCE PLANS 23
FIGURE 14: REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS DASHBOARD PLANS 25
FIGURE 15: IP-ENABLED CONTACT CENTER PLANS 26
FIGURE 16: CRM INTEGRATION PLANS 27
FIGURE 17: IMPORTANCE OF SIP COMPLIANCE 28
FIGURE 18: WHY CARE ABOUT SIP? 30
FIGURE 19: PARTICIPANTS BY TITLE 36
FIGURE 20: PARTICIPANTS BY INDUSTRY 37
FIGURE 21: ANNUAL REVENUE 38
FIGURE 22: IT BUDGET 39

Table of Tables

TABLE 1: COMPLEXITY OF IP TELEPHONY ROLLOUTS 10

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 6 of the “Convergence & Next‐Generation WAN Technologies” benchmark explores trends and usage plans for converged applications. Once companies decide to use VOIP, what’s next in their arsenal of applications that will ride on a converged IP backbone? We found that several applications are on the agenda, including conferencing, presence, instant messaging, wireless integration, real‐time communications dashboards, and IP‐enabled contact centers.

Volumes 7 & 8 of this benchmark will provide an assessment of mobility and of managing converged networks. Additional volumes explore vendor and carrier analyses, organizational and operational best practices, management challenges, mobility plans, and WAN service/technology trends. Nemertes also
provides a Convergence Market Analysis, which explores the differences between vendors and service providers in the convergence space. We also analyze organizational best practices based on Nemertes’ Peer Profile Benchmarks, a multi‐faceted method of categorizing companies.

Please contact us if you would like to schedule a briefing.