Over the past few years there has been considerable change in the corporate telephony market. There is consolidation of some of the traditional players and the entry to the market of additional vendors based on pure IP solutions i.e. Cisco, ShoreTel and software vendors i.e. Microsoft. All now compete in both corporate telephony and Unified Communications.
Below are some Gartner Magic Quadrants for 2015 that shows who they believe the players are and where they sit respectively in terms of ability to execute and completeness of vision. This information represents a global picture for large organisations of over 1000 users with solutions that are intended for on premise deployment.
Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony
Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications
New Zealand is a country where the majority of organisations have less than 1000 users so we have also included information for mid-size enterprises (100-999 users). While this information is North America based, most of these solutions are represented in New Zealand and therefore should be considered.
Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications for Midsize Enterprises, North America
Quite often upgrading current technology can prove more cost effective than replacing with solutions from a new vendor and corporate telephony platforms have proven particularly robust. There are many organisations that are using aging platforms because “they just work” that need review.
Through consolidation of vendors you may not recognise where your current vendor sits if it has been merged or acquired by another organisation. If it has there will likely be a migration or upgrade path to consider. Here are a few vendors that now sit under the names identified in the information above.
Avaya – includes Nortel
Mitel – Includes Ericsson & Aastra
Unify – includes Siemens
ALE – Is Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
Most of these vendors do not service their clients directly and use local service providers. The knowledge and skills of these local partners will strongly influence your experience with implementing and supporting a new enterprise solution.
In addition to these on premise solutions many of these vendors and local service providers are offering Cloud PABX or telephony/UC as a service options that should be considered, including those from other local vendors.
Hopefully this information highlights which technologies are available to you if you are looking at upgrading or replacing your corporate telephony platforms and moving to unified communications.
Each organisation is different and the benefits available from these technologies will vary from one to another. Communication is key to any organisation and spend in this area of ICT can be significant.
TeleConsultants has extensive knowledge of these technologies, vendors, service providers and individuals that deliver and manage these solutions. We are keen to help you understand your options and ensure you maximise the benefits from your investment.
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