What’s the ROI of TADS?

A common question I’m asked about TADHack and TADSummit is, “What’s the ROI of TADS?” Return on Investment. In other words, how many relevant leads, which we can convert into sales, will TADS deliver. My response if always the same. There is no ROI for TADS, measured in those terms. I’ve had people close down the […]

What is it that you do?

I’m asked this question surprisingly often, “Alan, what is it that you do?” My stock answer is, “I wander the world helping people.” Which generally results in a wry smile from those who know me; else a questioning or annoyed look from someone who was expecting a straightforward answer to a straightforward question. When I […]

Hackathon Evolution

Hackathons are just one of many ways technologists get to the information / communities they need. In this weblog I’m not covering all the online resources and communities such as Github, StackOverflow, etc. GitHub reported last April having almost 20 million users and 57 million repositories, making it the largest host of source code in the […]

UCaaS is a subset of CPaaS

Its always before Enterprise Connect the confusion on CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) and UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) rises. Here are two simple definitions: UCaaS is a PBX in the cloud, its a telecom application (granted a complex one, but a telecom app nonetheless). CPaaS is a telecom application server in the […]

Linkedin’s broken Copyright Infringement Process, Treating its Customers Like Criminals

UPDATE: As of today (7th February) the Claim of Copyright Infringement has been revoked. My Slideshare account is reinstated. No apology, no explanation on how this came to pass, nor consideration of how this could be avoided in the future. As a paying Linkedin customer its an extremely poor experience. This weblog spans both personal […]

UC in Europe; It’s Complicated

UC in Europe is complicated. When I use the acronym UC (Unified Communications) I’m taking a broad definition encompassing vPBX, hosted UC, UCaaS, and all the IVR, contact center, and web widget features that are used. The reason for such a broad definition is because enterprises use UC is so many ways, there’s a laundry […]

PSTN SPAM and its impact on Enterprise Communications

PSTN SPAM is on the rise in the US. A simple survey of my US-based friends shows those with iPhones, that lack the filtering provided by Android, are suffering multiple calls per day. My Nexus 5X has some nice filtering tools, I’m seeing 3 or 4 per week. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans made […]

Interesting Times in Telecoms

Its interesting times to review quarterly financial performance of a number of telecom companies. Firstly, examining the large established ones focused on telco: Ericsson revenue fell 6% year over year during the third quarter to $5.9 billion Nokia fell 9% year-on-year to around $5.7B in Q3, and said conditions will continue to be difficult into […]

Shooting from the Hip

I thought I’d keep this article punchy as I’m full of a cold, so would rather just shoot from the hip than think too much on some of the topics I’ve discussed on my calls this week 🙂 There are some numbers in here, so its not just rambling opinion. Cisco bought market share, all the […]

Fake News in Telecoms

There are 3 principle reasons why analysts are wrong on many aspects of telecoms, because they: Believe the AR (Analyst Relations) / CFO (Chief Financial Officer) spin on the numbers and happily repeat them in their research notes. Its reportage and linear prediction on the story / spin given. Many industry analysts are ex-reporters, the trade […]