What Occurred in October?
I post a newsletter every month, but that content is not surfaced on the website. I am working to fix this in 2020. The November news report went out yesterday. IF you are curious what’s in a newsletter, below is…
Avaya Engage Dubai
Last week I attended Avaya Engage in Dubai. This was the third Engage for me this year (Austin, Singapore, and Dubai). With each event (or interaction or engagement), I leave with something new. This event took place at the Atlantis…
Cisco Brings Innovation to Rooms, Desks With Latest Devices
It’s a phone; it’s a video solution – wait no, it’s Cisco’s new Desk Pro!
A Tale of Two Messaging Apps
With Yammer and Teams, Microsoft has two competent messaging apps. But is two too many?
Introducing Avaya IX Onespace
Avaya’s Onespace app is streamlining how employees interact, use, and manage enterprise applications – all from a single interface.
VonageAR19
Here is my at-site Video from the Vonage Analyst Relations Event and Vonage Campus User Conference in San Francisco. Vonage Campus 2019 from Dave Michels on Vimeo. A few additional considerations. Vonage is a profitable provider that is in the…
Humanizing Collaboration: AI’s Next Frontier?
While AI promises a world of sci-fi wonder, a new paradigm based on blending machine and human capabilities might be the key to the future of enterprise communication.
Will Google Acquire Slack?
I just spent a few days with team Slack at its Spec conference. I’ve had pleasant conversations with both of its founders. They seem sincere to me, that is not a lot of spin. Everyone has heard the story that…
TalkingHeadz with Julien at Workplace by Facebook
A dirty secret about enterprise communications is that it’s rarely the same thing as “enterprise-wide” communications. That’s because most enterprise communications solutions don’t include all of the employees. It has not been practical to include all employees — at least…
SlackSpec19
Slack continues its role as workstream collaboration pioneer. I don’t typically attend developer conferences, but this was a great opportunity to catch up with Slack. Slack Spec 2019 from Dave Michels on Vimeo. I wanted to clarify a point…
Zoomtopia19
I thought Zoomtopia was a great event this year. A nice mix of announcements, entertainment, and education (good food too). The main take-away is cloud-speed. Zoom grabbed a space theme this year, but it’s not in orbit — it’s at…
TalkingHeadz Podcast with Nidal of Avaya International
I have known Nidal for about three years, and have come to admire his relationship-first approach to business. To Nidal, the sale of products and technology are a means to his real goal: a satisfied customer. Technology may perpetually change,…
Poly Analyst Day and Studio X Appliances (video)
Poly hosted its first analyst day. Well, first as a Poly, the result of the merger between Polycom and Plantronics. At this event, they introduced a new appliance – two actually – called the Studio X Series. Here’s my update…
GITEX 2019 (Video)
This is video from the GITEX 2019 show floor (Avaya booth) in Dubai. Unfortunately, I had some trouble with the audio. I am puzzled as to why. I used to have audio problems all the time because Bluetooth is so…
Cisco Retools Leadership Team, Embraces CC Changes
With a series of recent executive appointments, Cisco is gearing up for radical changes to the CCaaS industry.
Mitel Summit 2019
Mitel hosted a summit for analysts and consultants in Dallas in September 2019. A packed full day of overviews, roadmaps, demos, and a 9 innings of MLB. Here’s my thoughts from the road. There is a ton going on at…
World <> Flat
For most of my life, I’ve been hearing about (and actually witnessing) the world getting smaller. Smaller, flatter, whatever the term. The basic idea is that we are now more interconnected and more global than ever before, but the trend…
Huawei Connect 2019 (Video)
It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a Huawei event, and boy a lot has changed. Here’s my onsite video from Huawei Connect, followed by a few photos below. Huawei Connect 2019 from Dave Michels on Vimeo. The…
6 Trends to Watch Out for in Online Meetings
As online meetings become ubiquitous, conferencing providers will need to focus on innovation, price point, and other factors to succeed in the future.
Genesys: Try This App for Free
With single-click free trials for premium applications, Genesys is hoping to shake up the procurement model — lowering the barrier to test and buy software.