Avaya needs to communicate its cloud strategy
Given the current buzz about cloud, we got the impression that partners expected to hear more about Avaya’s strategy of migrating its unified communications (UC) and collaboration solutions to the cloud, and how it will support them during this transition.
Avaya has several “cloud-ready” products and solutions, but needs to glue these pieces and parts into a consolidated strategy. Its core UC platform Avaya Aura is based on IMS, which is “telco-friendly” and could play an important role in the strategy of service providers. It offers a relatively open multimedia communication platform that could be integrated with telcos’ IMS cores and offer a hosted solution in a more seamless way than its competitors. But Avaya has to move faster. We are aware of several service providers in the region piloting cloud-based UC solutions for enterprises, and Avaya does not yet figure on their list.
The flip side of this could be Avaya offering its own cloud solutions, although this would require a significant investment. Realtime applications (voice and video) need to be hosted in data centers close to the customer to avoid latency issues, and have to be managed across the network for end-to-end SLAs. Facing these challenges on a regional level will be much easier with the involvement of a telco.
Other cloud elements would include its private data center solution, VENA, which launched in November last year, and its session border controller solution. The latter came from the recently-acquired Sipera Systems, and can enable users to securely access cloud-based applications from any device, any location, and without the need to create a VPN. The potential is considerable, but Avaya has to explore and communicate what this means to customers and, most importantly, its partners.
Claudio Castelli is senior analyst for enterprise telecom in Asia-Pacific at Ovum. For more information go to www.ovum.com/