Outlook 2006

One of the most-used buzzwords in 2005, convergence — in the shape of the melding of voice, data and video — is set to take off in 2006 as end users put up the cash and resellers increasingly invest in training.

Proof of this is in the expectation that more IP lines will ship by mid 2006 than terrestrial lines, IDC telecommunications analyst, Landry Fevre, says. "When you have more than 50 percent shipments, the momentum is enough to completely switch technologies over," he says. "You can also see it as being a reality through Optus’ acquisition of Alphawest so they can grab a share of the convergence implementation market."

For Fevre, the legitimacy of convergence can also be seen in the growth in shipments of IP telephony handsets. In 2005, shipments are expected to double from around 200,000 in 2004 to 400,000, with 2006 likely to see some 600,000 moved.

While adoption of these handsets has largely been seen in the 200-seat and up companies in 2005, recent vendor plays have suggested that the small business market will be the focus of 2006, Fevre says.

"Avaya and Cisco with Linksys One are starting to provide SME or SOHO-style VoIP telephony solutions," he says. "As the market matures, vendors are moving downmarket and are looking for resellers to get them a broader market; 2006 will be the year that IT resellers should look at VoIP."

So, 2005 may have been the year businesses actually invested in VoIP, but 2006 will be the year that VoIP applications receive a slice of budgets, VoIP software provider TeleWare managing director, Mike Blanchard, says. "We are beginning to see investment in applications — not just helpdesks and CRM — that take advantage of the converged availability of traffic to deliver real business benefits rather than only cost savings in the transport network," he says.

Such benefits include integration of multi-facetted applications like unified communications, collection of email on the mobile phone and use of SMS as a business tool to inform and update in a timely manner, Blanchard says.

"The challenge for resellers in 2006 is to get vendors to support them in convergence training," he says. "The delivery mechanism is increasingly hosted rather than CPE solutions, particularly for the SME, and the reseller has to learn how to address and compete in this new market."

For VoIP specialist distributor CMS — Better OnLine Solutions, it is also important to remember that convergence in 2006 has more to offer than purely VoIP, sales director, Jenny Lane, says. "Cellular gateways — aimed at reducing expensive landline to mobile costs — are beginning to come into their own as a standalone and complement to VoIP," she says.

"Collaboration, or remote meetings, will be another solution to watch as these solutions offer enormous benefits to the busy executive, and allows for a personal touch with interstate and overseas offices."

For Juniper Networks channel director, Sander Dales, 2006 will see the drive for convergence expand beyond traditional enterprise offices to remote and roaming users, connected through a variety of means including wireless, mobile and public internet.

"Certainly IPTV, with the choice of programming, the on-demand capabilities and (in the plans of some operators) the ability to deliver HDTV, will make a compelling alternative to existing TV services," he says. "Managed and hosted services also feature prominently in most service provider plans as they align the strengths of their infrastructures and offerings to the economic and service demands of their business customers."

According to Dales, the vendor’s SI partners have moved to capture opportunities by broadening their skills sets beyond traditional desktop computing and are becoming more innovative in solutions delivery.

"This is being driven by need to reduce expenses, together with the increased focus on the financial viability of customer transactions," he says. "Similarly, VARs are leveraging the simplification of convergence to increase the range of solutions they are able to offer to their customer base, enabling them to revisit existing customers with new packages and increase the average sales price to their customers."

"ISPs are also driving towards a greater delivery of converged network-based services and managed services such as voice, security, et cetera as a means to provide greater value and differentiation in a very competitive market."

 

2006 channel emerging tech emerging technologies prediction reseller strategy