A lifeline for drowning clients

The good news for the channel is that UC is not the end game, but merely a stop along the journey towards “communications-enabled business process”, said Gartner’s Johnson.

“The only reason business people would invest in IT or communication is because it’s going to do something for their business process. UC is going to be a handy set of tools on the way to communications-enabled business processes. If that is a business’ reason for investment then we think the IT platform provider is probably going to dominate,” he said.

“Generally IT platform providers get a look in because they’re closest to the business process, so the next question is who are their partners? What comes out of that for the channel is that system integrators are going to be more valued in the future than network integrators. System integrators are more likely to get the prime contracts and network integrators the sub-contracts. That’s a huge statement by itself.

“Now the network integrators are thinking “hang on, I’m going to get all this shitty work that’s subbing for somebody else”. If they want to do something about that, maybe they need to acquire system integration skills or consider mergers, acquisitions and organic growth – whatever it takes to reposition themselves.”

Cisco’s channel operations director Jeff Sheard agrees that UC means channel players need to think beyond gluing together communications tools and find ways to build services on top of this new communications platform.

“Increasingly customers are not prepared to pay for that sort of basic integration, what they are prepared to pay a for, or pay a premium for, is applications that enable some productivity or deliver some innovation,” Sheard said.

“This presents a tremendous opportunity for channel players to move up the value chain, because you’re talking about getting into an applications environment and perhaps developing solutions for particular industry verticals. It’s an opportunity to develop a unique capability and expertise around the technology and a particular vertical, or perhaps a geography such as far north Queensland or Western Australia’s mining industry. Partners have an opportunity to own a particular niche and therefore drive a higher
margin yield.”

While evolving technology may force channel players to reposition themselves, Sheard said the channel’s intimate relationship with customers means there will always be money to be made in consulting and management.

“The integrator is responsible for all scoping and alignment to business priorities, and ultimately responsible for the success of the project, based on knowing how the customer defines success,” Sheard said.

“This requires sound technical skills and a deep understanding of how the components fit together, but also project management skills to keep the project on track. It also requires consultative skills to ensure all parties are engaged during the planning, implementation and sign-off phases.”

An effective UC implementation also needs to focus on the business value, said Siemens Enterprise Networks’ chief technology officer Mark Anderson.

“Technology gurus are important but need to be steered by a definition team able to understand the goals of the project,” Anderson said.

“A good system integrator must be able to draw on a broad range of expertise, but the nature of the beast is anticipating and conquering gotchas that will come into projects – which requires experience and knowledge of the environment. Typically system integration projects are unique, so a cookie cutter mentality based on longstanding vendor relationships is not necessarily
a good starting point.”

“I think that those who come from a voice background still tend to think the world revolves around what the voice requirements are. Those who come from a data background are just the opposite. I think those who are going to be successful are the ones who can then make the leap to the fact that there is no distinction.”

OKI is better known in Australia for its printers, but it has re-entered the Australian voice market with OKI IP Stage after an agreement with Ericsson expired. OKI IP Stage product manager and national channel manager, Anya Grichina, agrees the rise of UC presents new opportunities for channel players prepared to embrace them.

“They would need to take on extra skills and offer applications not supplied by the big players such as the telcos – and you will always find those opportunities if you look for them,” Grichina said.