Datamation Logo

Unified Communications Complexity Baffles Buyers

April 30, 2008
Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be leading the charge in unified communications, but the titans and their competitors face high hurdles in their quest persuade IT buyers to sign up.

A new Infonetics Research report released this week reveals that while top players — a list that also includes Avaya (NYSE: AV), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Nortel (NYSE: NT) — are pushing UC products, enterprises are pushing back.

Beyond having to convince enterprises to kick legacy PBX boxes to the curb in favor of VoIP solutions, they also need to address IT shops’ serious concerns over product integration.

For many buyers, the looming complexity of ensuring interoperability with existing offerings has emerged as a critical barrier to adoption.

“It’s no secret Microsoft is predicting the death of the PBX, to be replaced by a software-based communication approach like [Office Communications Server] 2007; but we didn’t find many people convinced that this is yet the way to go,” Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst at Infonetics, said in a statement.

The study found companies are keeping IP-based PBXs in play and layering UC software on top. The approach is one reason Microsoft has attained some early success and why IP telephony providers are also gaining traction.

But for the most part, the study found that most enterprises are wrestling with issues around interoperability. While some vendors’ offerings support standards and integration with third-party products, others are designed to operate on their own IP-PBX or presence environments.

Recent research from Gartner seconded that finding, reporting that UC architectures will become the biggest challenges given multi-vendor environments and offerings that feature large number of servers acting as gateways — requiring further, complex integration work.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.

  SEE ALL
ARTICLES
 

Subscribe to Data Insider

Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, data security, and more.

Datamation Logo

Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.

Advertisers

Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on Datamation and our other data and technology-focused platforms.

Advertise with Us

Our Brands


Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions About Contact Advertise California - Do Not Sell My Information

Property of TechnologyAdvice.
© 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.