A Voice From Redmond Means Opportunity For The Channel

Whether you like the company or not, Microsoft's big-splash entrance into the unified communications market earlier this month is one of the most significant launches the channel has seen in years.

Microsoft's detractors are going to poke fun at the software giant's failures and its dismal record of getting it right the first time. Or they may deride Microsoft's lackluster attempts at competing in some markets while it dominates in others. And they might be proven right, at first.

LARRY HOOPER Can be reached via e-mail at lrhooper@cmp.com.

But the scale of Microsoft's VoIP and unified communications launch here in San Francisco made one thing clear: This is not a me-too game for Microsoft. When it comes to VoIP and unified communications, at least, Microsoft is jumping in to change, and yes, dominate, the market. Declaring that the end of the PBX is near, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates outlined his view of the market when he launched the product line earlier this month. "The transformation to software-based communications is going to be as profound as the shift from the typewriter to word-processing software," Gates said at the launch. And we all know who won that battle.

Microsoft has been working on its VoIP and unified communications technology for the past five years, Gates said in an interview with CMP Channel's Jennifer Hagendorf Follett. "As we looked at a scenario that we could improve dramatically, the telephone just kept coming up," Gates said. No doubt, the company that controls the desktops, e-mail and directories of the masses can have a significant impact on both the technology and the market for voice communication. And it plans to do so with its channel, Gates said.

"Our channel has done a fantastic job with not just Office but also with SharePoint and Exchange," he said, adding that those skill sets should help them succeed in the voice space.

That's why it's so interesting for the channel. A largely channel-friendly company with tens of thousands of partners is entering a market on the verge of being dominated by Cisco Systems, another company with thousands of partners and a fairly good record with the channel over the past few years.

Add just a small fraction of the vast Microsoft partner network to the current cadre of solution providers in the voice space and you have a massive army of VARs taking the message of VoIP to the masses.

So, while I admit that I have been saying this is the year of voice for the past five years, I am saying it again. Can anyone argue with that now?

Who will you place your voice bets on?
Comment below or let me know via e-mail at lrhooper@cmp.com.