Does Convergence Confuse?

Jim Duffy of NetworkWorld recently wrote an article that piqued my interest, in reference to determining the value of Unified Communications. Commenting on a recent survey by Forrester, Jim’s analysis of the confusion of convergence, VoIP, and Unified Communications absolutely makes sense. We’re bombarded with lots of advertising, white papers, and documentation in general pertaining to the possible “solutions” to organizational communication problems. There are obviously a plethora of products available in the communications market, period. From my perspective, to add a certain amount of “value” to any solution, the organization must measure how “value” is perceived by the organization. It’s a common practice of vendors to automatically link a strong feature set to the presence of value in the market. However, this isn’t true for even 50% of the time. We all want products and solutions with strong feature sets. However, what isn’t estimated and measured is how a specific solution adheres and enhances the business practices and goals of the recipient. This lack of coherence leads effectively to enterprises being, well, baffled. Without value being properly measured, it’s nearly impossible to conduct a ROI analysis, let alone an analysis of the end-user or functional user. Does the new technology improve or impede workflow? Simply adding more functionality and features does not necessarily generate the successful introduction of any new technology. What’s the solution? We need to move away from a product-based solution. The end product is not the solution, it’s a tool that’s used to reach a solution. Why have some communication forms, such as email, been so successful. It’s not the platform or technology that’s in place, it’s the functional simplicity. It adheres well to the business goal of reliable, quick, and effective communication. Until the entire convergence and unified communications industry can move uniformly in this direction, we should expect the customers to be confused!