7 Habits of Highly Effective UC Vendors

Here are seven things Microsoft and its partners (or anyone for that matter) can do to build field credibility and grow their UC sales success.

1. Evolve the Language
"VoIP" was a popular term used in the early 2000's but it eventually faded from vocabulary. Then it was resurrected by Microsoft in 2007…why? Consider revising VoIP to "Voice" or "Telephony" as alternative terms when talking about UC.

Referring to things within Microsoft UC stack as "features" undermines the value of the platform. It directs the conversation towards comparing the hundreds of Cisco or Avaya features to dozens of Microsoft features. The Microsoft UC platform is made up of "capabilities" that create business value...not features.

Finally, Cisco is a master of marketing and they do a good job of twisting their competitors marketing messages to use it against them. Such is the case when Microsoft talks about the "desktop". The perception has been created that the desktop is just one of many environments users will work from; suggesting that Microsoft is out-of-date and lacking relevancy in UC. Terms like "workspace" better represent the flexibility of Microsoft UC.

2. Assume Customers Don't Know Anything About OCS
When asked, many prospective customers will tell you they have at least a general understanding of the capabilities of the Microsoft UC platform. The reality is that very few customers have a clear understanding...especially with respect to the Microsoft voice capabilities and strategy. The lesson in this is to assume that NOBODY knows enough about the Microsoft UC story.

3. Voice Pilots are Sales Tools
Voice pilots are important in helping seed the Microsoft UC solution into the market. However, the challenge is that there can be too much focus on selling the voice pilot rather than the solution. The voice pilot has a key role in the sales process - as a tool, not as the final state.

4. Interop is Not a Strategy
Microsoft and Cisco are not UC partners. Both want as much of the $45B UC market as they can get. Interoperability, especially PBX interoperability, is a short term method for introducing Microsoft UC into an existing environment with the ultimate goal of replacing the PBX. Interoperability is the first step towards that end. Customers need to know that Microsoft has no intention of being positioned as a "feature server" add-on to an existing telephony environment.

5. Familiar User Experience = Adoption
Users spend hours each day interacting with Microsoft applications. There is a unique opportunity to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft UC by leveraging the familiar user interface.

6. Microsoft has Greater Business Relevancy and Visibility
Don't over estimate Cisco's relevance with both users and line of business leadership. Cisco dominates the network and IP Telephony but both are often considered commodities. Microsoft has more visibility and business relevance outside of core IT.

7. Surround The Solution to Win
Extend the core Microsoft UC story to include strategic partners like Tandberg, Genesys (with GETS), Aspect and LG/Nortel. Doing so strengthens the competitive position against Cisco and gives implementation partners the opportunity to make more money on both services, software and hardware.