By 2007, 80 percent of enterprise communications purchase decisions will require support for unified communications (0.6 probability).

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1 Page 1 of 5 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, February 2005 Bern Elliot Steve Blood Drew Kraus Source: Gartner Note Number: G Unified communications technology and applications have matured considerably during the past year. When properly employed, these products offer companies significant value. What You Need to Know Unified communications is rapidly maturing, and additional product announcements are expected from leading vendors throughout Managers and planners must review these emerging products to understand the vendors' vision for converged communications. This technology has the potential to significantly alter and improve the ways that individuals, groups and companies interact and perform. Pilots are critical, because many of the solutions offer radical alternatives to established styles of communications and may require changes to existing interaction practice operations. Despite the progress and promise of these products, they are still emerging. They lack broad market acceptance and continue to pose integration challenges to companies. Companies should plan extended evaluation periods to understand how to best use UC products. Strategic Planning Assumption(s) By 2007, 80 percent of enterprise communications purchase decisions will require support for unified communications (0.6 probability). Analysis Unified communications (UC) products matured significantly during the past 12 months as the key concepts and functions became better defined in the European and North American markets. Most major communication vendors now have one or more products targeted at the UC market. These products enhance individual and group productivity by enabling and facilitating the use and management of communications. They also enhance productivity by integrating communication channels with each other and with key business processes. Despite their progress and promise, these products lack broad market acceptance and continue to pose integration challenges. When considering a UC product, plan extended evaluation periods and resist vendor hype. Two general strategies apply to the current generation of products, with a few technology providers pursuing both. One strategy is to offer a strong communication solution in a core technology area, and to partner with other vendors to provide a complete portfolio. Examples of companies pursuing this approach are Polycom and Interwise, which focus on conferencing and collaboration, and Applied Voice & Speech Technologies (AVST), which focuses on unified messaging. The second product strategy is to offer a complete and integrated solution. Examples of this approach include Siemens' HiPath OpenScape and Nortel's Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) IBM and Microsoft are using a combination of these strategies by leveraging their strong desktop and developing partnerships for integrated solutions addressing the other key functions. Several companies offer a complete solution, as well as a stand-alone product that functions as telephony application middleware. A few vendors have many individual components but have no comprehensive approach to offering them as a UC product. These vendors are at risk of missing the market opportunity when their standalone products are forced to compete with integrated solutions.

2 Page 2 of 5 The five key communication markets that are converging to form UC are: Voice messaging and unified messaging Live voice, such as private branch exchanges (PBXs) call handling Voice, Web and video conferencing, and collaboration Instant messaging (IM) and live-presence indicator Stand-alone products in each of these markets will increasingly compete with solutions that bundle the capabilities of all five. Criteria for Inclusion Many vendors provide parts of a UC portfolio. However, to be included in the Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, a vendor's products must include multiple communication channels and be sufficiently scalable to be competitive. The products must offer contact management and control tools extensible across multiple channels and applications. The vendor must have market share and "mind share" in its core areas of competency. Finally, the product must be intended for deployment on company premises (as opposed to being a service provider product or a product for consumer markets). For a detailed discussion of the evaluation criteria used in this research, see "Criteria for Unified Communications Magic, 2004." This Magic Quadrant (see Figure 1) is a snapshot that changes over time. Managers should use this evaluation in terms of their business' environmental constraints and objectives. Figure 1. Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2005

3 Page 3 of 5 Source: Gartner Research (January 2005) Leaders The Leaders quadrant contains vendors that are selling specific, comprehensive UC products that address a range of market needs. These vendors have defined migration plans and products for all five of the core UC markets defined above. Planners looking at these products and vendors should understand the significant technical and strategic differences between them. Siemens' HiPath OpenScape product was an early entry into the nascent UC market. It is the most mature and open of the products in the market, with its second generation now in preparation. OpenScape offers a desktop communications interface with presence and conferencing, and works in multiple PBX environments. It also integrates with Microsoft's Live Communication Server (LCS) and with third-party conferencing and collaboration solutions. Related modules are Xpressions for unified messaging; CommAssistant for computertelephony integration (CTI), routing and application integration; and HiPath CorporateConnect to support mobile and remote users. Companies reviewing UC solutions should consider the Siemens option because it provides a good example of how presence and applications are integrated into a comprehensive communications solution. Alcatel's OmniTouch Unified Communication software suite, which currently only works with the OmniPCX, is based on a common Java framework that provides common directory, Web service and presence information. This is used by four applications: MyPhone provides softphone capabilities. MyMessaging provides unified messaging integration with leading systems, including speech access. It also integrates with Alcatel voice mail products. MyAssistant provides flexible personal call routing. MyTeamwork is based on the edial acquisition and provides conferencing, IM and presence capabilities but is not yet fully integrated into the suite. Alcatel subsidiary Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories also has announced the Genesys Enterprise Telephony Server (GETS) product, which leverages the Genesys CTI as middleware between desktop applications, such as Microsoft's LCS and a wide range of PBXs. Companies using the Alcatel OmniPCX should consider deploying the OmniTouch Suite, which scales to 5,000 users. Nortel's UC solution is based on the MCS It provides a complete platform and solution for conferencing, collaboration, presence, call control and IM services. Partner products for many of these functions can also be integrated. This product can be coupled with CallPilot for unified messaging and multiple vendor switches for live voice, including the Communication Server 1000 (CS 1000) for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and IP telephony. A set of application programming interfaces is offered in several configurations to provide flexible third-party application integration. The product is highly scalable and comes in an enterprise and a service provider configuration. Companies looking for a complete UC platform should consider the Nortel application. Challengers The vendors in the Challengers quadrant offer products that are not yet fully mature or that remain narrowly focused on an installed base but that have the potential to improve. Microsoft's UC solution is based on LCS and its Istanbul client, which offers presence and IM functions. These integrate with Exchange to unify IM, presence and messaging. Live Meeting, currently offered only as a service, not a premise solution, offers conferencing and collaboration; these functions are also available from Microsoft's partners. Microsoft is developing partnerships to enable live voice integration, including traditional PBXs, as well as SIP-based voice solutions. Although Microsoft's LCS UC products are at an early stage and will not be in general release until mid-2005, they should be on the shortlists of companies considering UC. IBM's UC solution is based on the broad set of capabilities delivered via WebSphere middleware. Most applicable are those solutions in IBM Workplace Collaboration Services (formerly Lotus Workplace), which includes messaging and same-time collaboration applications for IM and conferencing. IBM also has several emerging partnerships for voice, although this portion of the portfolio needs to be strengthened. IBM has a clear

4 Page 4 of 5 model for UC, although the integration of some of its components is immature. Companies can start to plan for how IBM UC solutions will improve their effectiveness. NEC's OpenWorX Communications Portal provides Web access to NEC PBX/IPPBX, unified messaging and conferencing functions. Within this context, NEC offers presence information, call routing, conferencing and collaboration. Scalability is limited to 1,000 users. Enhanced functionality and Microsoft LCS integrations are planned. Consider this product if you have a NEC switch and want to expand communications to the desktop. Mitel Networks' solution is based on the Your Assistant collaboration application, which delivers IM, presence, softphone and conferencing. This solution works with Mitel and Nortel PBXs and can integrate with Microsoft LCS as a media server. The solution is integrated with the Mitel Messaging Server for unified messaging functionality, which can support Outlook and Notes integrations. Consider the Mitel solution if your company is midsize. Visionaries Vendors in the Visionaries quadrant demonstrate a clear understanding of the UC market and offer a strong technical approach to one or two core areas. However, these vendors have limited ability to execute across the entire set of communication requirements. Interactive Intelligence's UC solution is based on its Communite product, which offers a scalable migration from voice mail to unified messaging based on Exchange or Notes. It also offers real-time call routing controls, such as "find-me follow-me." It works with a broad range of and PBX environments, and offers built-in PBX functionality. Three-party conferencing and basic collaboration features are included. Consider this product if you are looking for voice mail and unified messaging functionality that can be extended to a complete UC solution. Interwise's enterprise communications platform ECP Connect offers an all-ip integrated data, video, voice conferencing solution. ECP Connect integrates with leading desktop and application environments. This allsoftware collaboration and conferencing solution is highly scalable (50,000 and more users) and is offered at a fixed price for unlimited usage site licensing. Consider this solution for integrated enterprise conferencing and collaboration. AVST's CallXpress product offers vendor-independent voice mail and unified messaging. The Seneca speech assistant product provides real-time voice control and access to live calls, as well as access to Exchange or Lotus Notes functions such as calendaring, directory and alerts. Consider this solution if you are looking for a platformindependent migration path for voice mail to unified messaging and third-party UC solutions that scale to 10,000 subscribers. Polycom offers its own UC solution, and also partners to provide the conferencing and device portion in other portfolios. Polycom's solution is based on its MGC server and the WebOffice product, which incorporates the conference portal and the Web collaboration clients. It also offers a wide range of management and video devices. Consider the Polycom UC solution if you have broad video conferencing and collaboration requirements. Niche Players Vendors in the Niche Players quadrant offer individual, stand-alone components in many areas but have not yet defined a consolidated product. Avaya's approach to UC is fragmented; its individual products are not fully integrated. Its Unified Communication Center provides voice portal access to voice mail, and conferencing functions. Its IP softphone provides access to calling, conferencing, Avaya-provided IM and presence, as well as to desktop

5 Page 5 of 5 video. Avaya Meeting Exchange (formerly Spectel) offers audio conferencing and includes Web conferencing and conference management functions. Avaya has strong communication capabilities overall, a broad set of partnerships and a large client base. It must increase the level of integration across its product line to offer a unified solution. Cisco Systems bases its solution on its stand-alone products: MeetingPlace for audio, video, and Web conferencing and collaboration, Unity for unified messaging, Cisco CallManager for live voice, and Cisco Personal Assistant for call control and some presence information. These fit into a broader portfolio of solutions that Cisco calls IP Communications. Cisco expects to deliver a unified application to bring these and other elements together on the desktop during 2005, but does not yet have public information on this product. Key Issues How will unified communications address knowledge workers' multimedia demands? Acronym Key AVST Applied Voice & Speech Technologies PBX private branch exchanges CTI computer-telephony integration GETS Genesys Enterprise Telephony Server IM instant messaging LCS Live Communication Server MCS Multimedia Communication Server SIP Session Initiation Protocol UC unified communications Return to Top The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 14 February 2005 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the Leaders quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.