eZuce

BYOD and Workplace-as-a-Service: The Opportunity for IT Teams

2013-05-20T19:25:21Z

We hear a lot in the industry news these days about BYOD. There’s little surprise, since managing the BYOD tsunami is among the top concerns of IT teams. It’s touted as everything from a cost-saver to the way to keep employees happy, but for IT, supporting scores of devices and patching security holes is creating a lot of challenges. On top of this come “shadow IT”—the tendency of employees to use their own web apps, and you have a perfect storm of security and support issues, all in the name of flexibility. But now, the phenomenon of Workplace-as-a-Service promises to put IT back in the center of managing employees’ use of technology—if it’s rolled out right.

So what is Workplace-as-a-Service? In a world where everything is now a service, WaaS is the radical idea that you can provide robust employee infrastructure as a service, anywhere, any time, any place. It means providing the productivity stack, such as voice, chat, file-sharing, and email, as a cloud-based solution that employees tap into from wherever, at all hours, and in ways that are customizable to their job functions and work styles.

For IT teams, it means that flexibility and adaptability are built into the technologies that you provide employees, so they are less tempted to stray and create their own IT solutions. After all, the reasons people go out and get their own software is that they want to work in the way that makes the most sense for them. With WaaS, IT now helps employees do just that, making “shadow IT” less necessary in the eyes of the people you support. It also smoothes over some of the issues with BYOD, since many WaaS applications, including eZuce’s openUC and Unite, are hardware-agnostic and thus reduce the amount of support hours needed, since you aren’t supporting multiple applications for different devices. And when you use platforms with standardized, best-practices security, you spend less of your day putting out fires.

How does WaaS work in real life? It means putting together an “app store” of applications that accomplish anything an employee might need, within reason, to get their job done, and making sure all the functionalities and apps integrate as seamlessly as possible—for instance, integrating communications features with email and your CRM. Then, making these available to your employees.

Communications Still the Top Use for Mobile Devices and Remote Work

2013-05-09T20:16:09Z

It’s no secret that the level of remote work is increasing across all sectors, from the 3-person startups to SMBs to large enterprise. And at the same time, that more and more work is getting done on mobile devices, not just as a result of working remotely, but also simply because they’re more convenient. And now a recent Sage SMB Study on Mobile has quantified exactly what kinds of work we’re all getting done on our mobile devices. Which helps companies predict what they need to do to support mobile work and make it efficient.

Sage, a company that provides business management software, surveyed small to midsize businesses for this study, but it’s fairly safe to guess from the results that the same practices can apply at even the largest enterprises. First off, the obvious: though we’re using tablets more and more, the gold standards for getting work done remotely are still the smartphone and the laptop. Tablets are still not laptop replacements, and they lack the portable form factor of the phone in your bag, but they are coming along: 52% of companies already have at least one employee working on a tablet, and over 70% say they anticipate increasing their use of tablets. Though we’re not quite at the point where you can turn in an entire workday on your iPad for most workers, we seem to be heading there pretty quickly. The combination of more people getting used to tablet work, and the near-laptop-like tablets with snap-on keyboards on the market are blurring the tablet/laptop line. Watch for more and more remote work—and work onsite—to be done on tablets in the near future.

When it comes to what people get done on mobile devices, any apps related to communications or collaboration come out on top. Hardly surprising, given the near ubiquity of people emailing from their phones in every location—not to mention the fact that the average worker, remote or not, spends an alarmingly large part of their day on emails.

Next up are document programs, again, showing that the mobile worker probably has a workday not very dissimilar to that of the on-site ones. Rounding out the list are some surprises: 14% of companies are conducting online meetings on mobile devices, 37% do their social media this way, and 21% use mobile time-management. Managing contacts and scheduling are among the other popular mobile work applications.

What this means for companies is that they really need to make sure that mobile workers, and this includes people who are often on-site, have the right tools on their mobile devices to efficiently handle communications and document management. Taking into account screen size, bandwidth, and the proliferation of apps people are likely to install by themselves straight out of the App Store or Google Play, it’s vital that BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) policies take into account not just the devices themselves, but the most common productivity apps needed to get work done.

Apps need to work on any device, have a fast learning curve, and work well enough that employees use them. The most important functions that people accomplish on mobile—messaging, scheduling, accessing files, and communication—have to be simple and intuitive. As the mobile worker becomes a dominant consumer of enterprise apps, these concerns will remain top of mind for IT departments for years to come.

ProductCamp Boston: Creating an InCredible Product Brand and User Adoption

2013-05-08T20:17:29Z

This weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at ProductCamp Boston, one of the region's leading unconferences for product managers. In front of an audience of mostly technical marketing and product development professionals from around the northeast on a sunny Saturday morning, I was able to share some of the good work we're doing here at eZuce in bringing the gospel of open standards communication to the enterprise.

Based on a case study of building out our own brand, I looked at ways that tech companies can educate users, rather than aggressively "sell" to them in their marketing. It's a strong part of the open source ethos, that puts the customers and the company on a par to collaborate, rather than just purchase a pre-packaged solution. And I firmly believe it's the way all companies need to relate to their customers--in a way that's open, collaborative, and education-based. Open source may not be the way everywhere, but the "open source" philosophy of working together with stakeholders, and talking with, rather than at, your community is alive and well, as the open source movement spreads.

Whether you're a MSP or reseller looking to market to your customers, or a CIO looking to "sell" a new way of using technology internally, there's a lot you can learn from the open source philosophy of marketing, to grow user adoption of new technologies:

Go into more detail, honestly, rather than use catchphrases. End users are smart, and they're more likely to buy into new solutions if you explain them rationally and in just the right amount of detail, rather than just saying something's the latest and greatest.
Focus on the users' problems you are trying to solve. A lot of times, when a new solution is about to be rolled out, the temptation is to detail the features or the timeline. Instead, address the ways in which, say, a new collaboration platform is going to make users' jobs easier. Focus on their need, rather than on internal process.
Listen to and take on board feedback. Users like to know that their concerns have been met, their "must-have" list has been listened to, and what they want taken into account.

Learning to educate end users in a way that's respectful, substantial, and collaborative is one of the most useful skills you can have, whether you're managing marketing or IT. At the end of the day, it's the customer--or end user--that counts.

Creating an InCredible Product Brand from eZuce Inc.

Case Studies From EDU to Consulting Show How to Streamline IT Operations

2013-05-01T20:13:56Z

On day two of CoLab, after a long day of keynotes, presentations, meet-ups, and

demos, four company representatives gave their testimonials on their experience with

eZuce. At least a year ago, all of them had made the bold decision to virtualize their

communications and all of them had transitioned to eZuce’s UC infrastructure. Were I to

summarize all of their case studies, I would say that their general sentiment was one of

relief and gratitude.

The companies covered a wide spectrum of fields: IT, education, and healthcare.

That said, they all came to eZuce with the same problem. Their legacy systems

were no longer serving the IT department’s needs. The only other things they had in

common was this: After comparing different possible providers, they all chose eZuce.

As John Fulton, representative of Lafayette College, explained, this was because

eZuce had greater feature quality and lower cost than its competitors. Skip Bachman,

IT administrator at Francis Tuttle Technology Center, discussed the challenge of

replacing an enormous amount of communications hardware (e.g. one hundred multi-

line phones). After such a massive system overhaul, his conclusion was this: “You guys

deserve a huge round of applause.” Indeed, the overwhelming consensus was that

eZuce had drastically improved their IT operations. Perhaps Shawn Billings, director

of IT at Pythian, said it best when he remarked, “we can sleep at night, now.” Mission

accomplished.

eZuce Supports the Future of Open Source Study

2013-04-03T12:21:45Z

The seventh annual Future of Open Source Survey closed on March 28th and, for the first time ever, the results will be revealed during a live webinar panel discussion! Tune in on April 17th to hear the survey’s sponsors discuss the outcome. The panel will feature such experts as Tim Yeaton, CEO and president of Black Duck, Michael Skok, general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners, and Jeffrey Hammond, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

eZuce is proud to be one of almost thirty organizations collaborating to make this event an even bigger success than last year. We believe it is vitally important to hear the voice of the open source community. Last year, there were over 740 responses and, this year, the organizers hope to reach 1,000. One thing is certain, the survey has been a reflection of the enthusiasm and continued growth of the OSS market. Not only has it shed light on key issues in open source adoption, it has fueled the conversation about how to continually move it forward. We are eager to hear the results!

WebRTC A "Game Changer" At CoLab 2013

2013-03-25T18:53:03Z

From Martin Steinman’s opening keynote to the public demos on day two, the general consensus at CoLab was that WebRTC would revolutionize the communications industry. Blair Pleasent, principal analyst at COMMfusion, called WebRTC a “huge game changer” and predicted that it would not only have an impact on the consumer market but would also enormously effect the enterprise. She projected that it could lead to the extinction of desk phones and the rise of mobile devices. Bring your own device would become choose your own device as the physical workplace became increasingly virtual and presence became ubiquitous.

When a panel of experts were asked how WebRTC would transform the industry, they agreed on one thing: it would be gradual but tremendous. Erik Linask, editorial director at TMCnet, said that it “absolutely will change the landscape” and Bill Haskins, senior analyst at Wainhouse Research, added that “a lot of layers have to come in line for WebRTC to have a material impact.” With an eye to the future, our eZuce engineers are working to make that material impact today. Always at the forefront of innovation, they have already developed a soft phone directly in the browser. Appropriately, they call it, “the next generation phone network,” is it already operates on technology that will be serving the next generation of end users.

A Global Audience Makes Communications Relevant at CoLab 2013

2013-03-21T20:44:06Z

It was so inspiring to have such an international turnout at CoLab this year! eZuce engineers flew in from Romania, the Philipines, and around the US to show demos of their work. Even a group of French software engineers came from Paris to learn about the latest communications innovations. We were joined by folks from nearly a dozen countries overall. When some of our engineering teams got the chance to publicly demo their projects, I had never been more convinced that

globalization and innovation go hand in hand.

It is always exhilarating to watch a public demo of eZuce software. For one thing, it’s a

way to draw the curtain on some of our new innovations and, for another, it’s a chance to show how the UC philosophy can be practically applied. Take openACD. The members of its engineering team stood at the podium to show different features of an open source, user friendly call center application. In so doing, they not only showed a new, elegant way to route calls, they also showed how great minds could make open standards functional. Perhaps most importantly, they proved the eZuce philosophy right: recruitment of talent should never be limited by location. After all, how could openACD, or any of the other cutting edge demos, have been conceived without the sharpest engineering minds around the world?

Unified Message-Industry Consensus at CoLab

2013-03-20T12:47:06Z

From the beginning to the end of CoLab 2013, the attendees livened the conference rooms with animated debates, enthusiastic speeches, interactive demos and remote control helicopters. Martin Steinman, founder and CEO of eZuce, made a Keynote speech that paid tribute to this camaraderie when he said that all the attendees had been brought together by “a shared vision of where the IT industry is headed,” namely in an interoperable, horizontally integrated direction.

Indeed, all throughout the conference, many agreed with the core values Martin laid out in this keynote. One attendee raised his hand to say, “it’s all about breaking down the siloes.” Someone else announced he had come because he was “a believer in the open source community.” Still another person chimed in with, “the need for integration will always be there.” Meanwhile, someone else declared that UC architecture needed to be “virtual environment agnostic.” It seemed that everyone’s points and opinions were different notes on the same piano. Played together, they sounded the call for
an unrestricted, fully integrated, open source UC environment. To be sure, such an evolution in enterprise communications would have to happen in incremental steps, especially within the enterprise. At Sunday night's media panel, industry luminaries Tessa Parmenter of SearchUnifiedCommunications, Erik Linask of TMC, and Bill Haskins of Wainhouse reflected on the necessary steps for enterprise evolution. It's happening now, as organizations look at the drawbacks of vertical integration and the promise of the cloud. With a little luck, and a lot of hard work, CoLab 2013 could be remembered as another step in that direction. And we had a blast.

eZuce partners with voipsupply

2013-02-26T23:14:18Z

VoipSupply and the new eZuceStore (www.ezucestore.com)

Each year, eZuce customers buy millions of dollars of standards based hardware to fulfill their Unified Communications needs. There are many ways to secure the right standards based hardware for an openUC solution, and one leading trend is the use of on line supply chain retailers who specialize in voice over IP fullfillment. Along with having just in time inventory for End Users and Partners alike, these vendors provide value added services like provisioning solutions, bundle prices and volume discounts.

Today, eZuce is pleased to announce a Partnership with VoIPSupply one of the leaders in on line retail fulfillment in the VoIP marketplace. The eZuceStore (www.ezucestore.com) powered by VoIPSupply, presents a convenient place to get Certified and Supported standards based hardware and services compatible with the eZuce openUC software solution.

eZuce does not sell hardware and the eZuceStore does not sell openUC licenses. Rather the eZuceStore promotes and sells all the hardware that surrounds the openUC software application, from core switch switching, edge gateways, desktop VoIP phones and the latest headsets and accessories. eZuceStore taps into a wide variety of hardware choices from major manufacturers like Polycom, AudioCodes, Sennheiser, Netgear, Grandstream, Cisco and Plantronics. Volume discounts are available along with access to a dedicated voipsupply sales resource who will work with customers to create the right hardware configuration to support their communications needs. In the future the eZuceStore will offer special offers like “Test Lab Starter Kits” and new hardware promotions.

So bookmark this new site and stay tuned for more exciting solutions.

Join Us for a Join sipXecs User Group Gathering with MongoDB Boston Meetup

2013-02-05T15:31:22Z

In preparation for CoLab 2013, we're holding our first User Group Meetup of 2013 jointly with the Boston MongoDB User Group. There are some interesting synergies between our two groups, as sipXecs is now build with MongoDB as the database at its core.

If you're in the Boston area, we hope you'll join MongoDB and sipXecs users for this joint meetup for the two user groups. We'll discuss the application of MongoDB to communications infrastructure, looking at how it's made a SIP communications backbone more reliable and flexible. One of the lesser-known ways to leverage the flexibility of MongoDB is in managing user credentials over far-flung communications and collaboration networks. Though far from Big Data, this use of Small Data transformed the management of our SIP-based communications platform, making it easier to house, retrieve, and manage the user credentials that are at the heart of enterprise voice and chat infrastructure, making it easier for global workers to access Workplace-as-a-Service applications.

We'll share delve deep into a case study in how MongoDB works in making a credentialing system faster to administer and more flexible for multiple types of users and scenarios.

The User Group meetup will take place February 26, starting at 5:45 pm. We'll update the site closer to the time with details on location and parking. To register, visit: http://www.meetup.com/sipXecs-User-Group/

Tessa Parmenter Joins Industry Panel at CoLab 2013 in March

2013-02-05T17:00:01Z

Adding to an industry-star-studded panel that already includes Erik Linask and Paula Bernier, Editorial Director and Executive Editor of TMCnet, which includes INTERNET TELEPHONY and Cloud Computing magazines, Tessa Parmenter, Editor of SearchUnifiedCommunications.com will be joining an industry panel on the future of enterprise communications.

Tessa Parmenter is the site editor of SearchUnifiedCommunications.com and SearchEnterpriseWAN.com. In these roles she speaks with many users, vendors and industry analysts on the state of the industry. She reports on UC&C and WAN technologies, keeps up with industry trends and develops editorial plans and content for her websites. Tessa has been covering computer networking technology as part of TechTarget's Networking Media Group since 2006. Her coverage areas have included network administration and management, network security, network virtualization, WAN optimization, cloud services, mobility, IPv6 and video conferencing. Prior to TechTarget, Tessa worked as an editor for Hewlett-Packard's C&I division and was a published author in a cumulative work about women business owners of Western Maine. She was recently awarded the 2012 American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Young Leaders scholarship and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Maine at Farmington.

Tessa, Erik, and Paula will be discussing "Virtualized Communications Transforming the Enterprise". Today's enterprise is connected, always-on, and social. IT is leading the charge towards the social enterprise by providing the communications backbone for mobile, social, and collaboration--the cornerstones of what today's workers need to do their jobs. Join a panel of leading media professionals who cover the UC and virtualized communications every day for their insights on where communications is heading. Learn about cloud, WebRTC, BYOD, and social from these industry luminaries.

Agenda Announced for CoLab 2013

2013-01-17T20:50:32Z

We are very excited to announce that we have a complete agenda now for CoLab 2013 at Bentley University--and it is a great agenda, packed with the informative sessions you've been asking for.

CoLab is expanded this year to three days of learning on both the strategy and the practical tactics of implementing a virtualized communication system. From sessions on managing the consumerization of IT, to a hands-on demo of how to install sipXecs, we're brining together a comprehensive package of learning for IT professionals looking to get a handle on managing communications needs.

Day 1 starts off with technical demos of everything from the latest phones to the newest in security and virtualization. We then kick off in earnest Sunday evening, with a star-studded panel of IT media luminaries weighing in on the future of the communications industry. Tessa Parmenter of SearchUnifiedCommunications joins Erik Linask of TMCnet and Paula Bernier, editor at INTERNET TELEPHONY to give you the scoop on where UC is heading.

After breakfast on Monday morning, join us in the main hall for case studies on how to save costs in enterprise implementations, followed by sessions on virtualization, BYOD, WebRTC, and all the newest trends in virtualized communications. Lunch brings a keynote from Blair Pleasant, President of COMMfusion and a frequent UC Strategies contributor, on the growth of UC. Exclusive afternoon breakouts feature the latest on implementing video, enterprise instant messaging, and contact center infrastructure, as well as an overview of the new openUC architecture.

In addition to learning opportunities, networking and making new business connections are also on the agenda, with networking receptions throughout Sunday, and an evening reception with Bill Haskins, analyst at Wainhouse Research. Bill will share in-depth research on measuring the total cost of ownership for UC and overcoming barriers to UC adoption at our Networking Evening in Boston's IT innovation district.

Day 3 brings a full day of training on implementing and managing the openUC platform, taught by the eZuce and SIPfoundry engineering teams. If training is not in your budget, you can stay for the sipXecs Hackathon, or take part in CloudCamp, the industry's largest Cloud unconference, co-located this year with CoLab. Taking part in training will earn a certificate of completion to take home.

CoLab this year promises to be more exciting than ever. Join us in Boston in just a few weeks to learn about BYOD, WebRTC, and the future of communications.

Early Bird Discount Available Until January 31

To register for CoLab at the Early Bird discount rate available through January 31, visit colabconference.com

Erik Linask and Paula Bernier of INTERNET TELEPHONY to Speak at CoLab 2013

2013-01-07T18:24:54Z

We're very excited to announce that Erik Linask, Group Editorial Director of TMC, which includes Cloud Computing and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazines, and Paula Bernier, Executive Editor and TMC, will be a featured speaker at CoLab 2013.

During his tenure at TMC, Erik Linask has supported the productionand development of its print publications and, most recently, managed the day-to-day operations of the industry's leading Web site, TMCnet, which currently serves nearly 3 million unique monthly visitors. Currently, he oversees TMC's four print publications as well as TMCnet, and covers a wide range of topics in the IP Communications and Information Technology arenas, including his blog, Convergence Corner, on TMCnet. Prior to joining TMC, Erik was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, an international securities services publication, where he also managed the magazine's survey research. Erik began his professional career at management consulting firm Leadership Research Institute

Paula Bernier writes, edits and manages editorial content for the print versions of INTERNET TELEPHONY, Next Gen Mobility magazine and Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. Bernier was formerly editor in chief of xchange magazine, where she worked for more than 11 years. She's also acted as a senior writer for Inter@ctive Week. Bernier got her start in telecom at Telephony magazine, where she spent nearly five years. Paula will join other industry analysts and journalists on the future of the UC industry, sharing her wide expertise in communications and WebRTC.

Erik and Paula join an all-star lineup of communications industry leaders, including keynote Blair Pleasant, author of the UC Industry Outlook report, and Buffalo Wings-N-Beer Networking with Bill Haskins, Wainhouse Research Principal Analyst.

What's Hot in 2013

2013-02-21T08:38:37Z

Blair Pleasant is President & Principal Analyst at COMMfusion, and a co-founder of ucstrategies.com, an industry resource on the growing UC arena. She provides consulting and market research analysis on voice/data convergence markets, applications, and technologies, aimed at helping end-user and vendor clients both strategically and tactically. She will be a keynote speaker at CoLab 2013 in March. Here, she shares predictions for 2013 exclusively with the eZuce and SIPfoundry communities.

As we begin the new year, here are some things I expect to see in 2013 in the world of unified communications.

Cloud and Hosted Services: There’s no denying that more and more customers of all sizes will be evaluating cloud offerings and will opt for hosted services rather than traditional premise-based solutions. 2012 was the year many companies started seriously thinking about hosted services, and 2013 will the be year that more companies start actually using hosted services as add-ons to their existing premise solutions and as replacements when it’s time for a new communication solution.

We’ll see small- and mid-sized businesses, as well as larger organizations, start ramping up the transition to hosted services that can be deployed quickly, enabling companies to focus on their core business rather than on their communication technologies. Many customers will opt for a hybrid of premises telephony and CaaS peripheral application solutions, and these hybrid solutions where premise and cloud solutions co-exist will be the norm for the foreseeable future.

The BYOD trend: It’s clear that more and more companies will implement BYOD strategies in 2013. However, there are many issues that organizations need to consider, and companies will have to implement their BYOD strategies carefully. Mobile device management will be key, and companies will have to develop policies regarding who owns the information on the mobile device, who is responsible for the device, how will security be ensured, and so on. There’ll be lots of talk about BYOD, and many companies will actually go that route, but the majority of organizations will instead provide their users with a larger mix of devices that IT will support and allow employees to use on the corporate network. I expect that instead of just letting workers bring in whatever device they want, IT departments will let workers choose from several approved devices. Companies will expand the types of devices that workers can use, creating a happy medium between “just bring anything,” and “just use what the organization provides.”

Video: Video usage will increase in 2013, as we experience a shift from specialized rooms with expensive room-based devices to video on the desktop. Desktop video will be used more frequently, and it will become a more natural experience that more people will embrace. The biggest challenge to video usage in 2013 will be bad hair days.

Reseller Channel: Not all reseller partners will be able to evolve to the changing market, requiring new skills on the part of the resellers. Not all resellers will be willing to get the education and certifications required, such as becoming VMware or Citrix certified. Similarly, not all resellers welcome the move from selling premise-based solutions to selling hosted services on a recurring revenue model, or have the working capital to finance the transition, and will be left out in the cold as their customers move to hosted or hybrid solutions. Expect to see a significant shakeout of reseller partners that cannot adapt to the new world of cloud services, virtualization, and other changes in the industry.

WebRTC: This is the big game changer for 2013. WebRTC will become more common this year as the standard is released and supported on several web browsers, including Chrome and Firefox. WebRTC lets two computers communicate via video or telephony using only a browser, without having to install anything on your computer beyond FireFox or Chrome. Capabilities such as click-to-call from a web browser, as well as communications-enabled business processes will be much simpler to deploy and access, making the promise of UC a reality.

2013 will be an exciting year, as we see the continuation of some current trends, and hopefully some unexpected surprises.

CEO Martin Steinmann to Speak at Enterprise Connect

2013-01-04T17:27:42Z

eZuce CEO and Co-Founder Martin Steinmann is slated to speak on a panel later this winter at Enterprise Connect, the leading enterprise communications three-day conference, taking place March 18-21 in Orlando. Martin will join other industry leaders, from Cisco and Avaya, on a panel discussing UC as a Platform for Videoconferencing, an emerging issue on many UC pro's minds. As video becomes another popular way for teams to collaborate across the globe, leveraging UC to create an integrated approach to video, rather than relying on an ad-hoc or standalone solution, is becoming critical. Martin and the panel will share technical and strategic insights on how to improve user adoption, implement video solutions, and build out video as a part of unified communications infrastructure.

Enterprise Connect is the premier event for professionals across all fields in the communications industry. Every year, thousands of comms professionals convene at EC to discuss trends, network, and learn the latest technologies in UC, VOiP, communication, and collaboration. We're excited to participate this year on a key panel at this great industry event.

Happy Holidays from eZuce

2012-12-19T18:48:43Z

On behalf of the eZuce team I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday season. 2012 has been a great year for eZuce as we've seen a lot of expansion and growth in our openUC user and EZ Partner communities. Our openUC customers have readily embraced our new V4.6 release which features global load sharing clusters serving up to 100,000 users, cloud deployment options, Active Directory and LDAP integration supporting single sign on (SSO), as well as the ability to communications-enable key enterprise applications such as email and CRM. This has been an exciting time for eZuce as the market continues to readily adopt open source technologies and all of the benefits of a standards based solution such as openUC. We appreciate your continued support of eZuce and look forward to 2013 as we prepare for our latest product updates and technology innovations.

Happy holidays everyone and may next year bring you all the comforts of a hassle free communications experience.

What Are CIOs Doing in 2013? Building the Social Organization, Leveraging the Cloud, and Spearheading Cost Savings Top Forbes’ List

2012-12-06T22:04:59Z

Recently, Forbes magazine released an online article on the top ten priorities for CIOs come 2013. Not surprisingly, cost savings, BYOD, and social media were top of mind for today’s CIO as we move into the next year. But was surprising was the level and order of those priorities.

Job number one this upcoming year is to reduce costs, but not with simple budget-slashing. Instead, CIOs cited the need to cut costs as part of an overall simplification of IT processes. Streamlining operations, rather than sacrificing services, is the order of the day, as we move cautiously beyond recession. Easy to install, easy to admin applications reduce the burden of spending 80% of your IT budget just to maintain existing operations, saving costs or freeing up more budget for staff development and IT innovation. Moving to the cloud, another big priority on the list, helps, but running a streamlined operation by reducing admin time and effort will be the #1 priority for CIOs in the new year.

What was job number two? Spearheading the growth of the social organization. Marketing already gets it strategically, with HR and customer support also understanding the vital importance of social collaboration to getting things done in the modern organization. But the glue underlying the social organization needs to be enabled by IT, or else it all fails. Simple, intuitive collaboration and social tools, all within the secure province of IT, are what will help organizations go social in 2013—which they must do to survive.

So how do today’s CIOs’ make the transition to the new IT organization of the future? By staying on top of the research, being proactive in promoting IT best practices to their colleagues in the C-suite, and selecting vendors who get it and support their top priorities of simplified IT and secure social collaboration.

Welcome Rob Scott Our Newest Board Member

2012-11-28T17:57:20Z

I'm pleased to introduce to our eZuce openUC community the newest member of our Board of Directors- Rob Scott. Rob brings a proven track record of helping early stage companies achieve their market potential by delivering a healthy industry network to build strategic alliances and meet capital requirements for growth. Rob is currently Vice President and Worldwide General Manager for Hewlett Packard's Energy and Sustainability business unit having held several executive management positions within HP. Under Rob’s leadership as worldwide general manager, the HP Halo Video Collaboration business unit was sold to Polycom in 2011.

We strongly believe that Rob’s successes in his leadership roles will serve to enhance our efforts in delivering one of the first Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offerings powered by today’s virtualization technology leaders: VMware and Amazon Web Services.

Accomplished High Tech Leader Rob Scott Joins eZuce Board of Directors

2013-03-25T08:18:53Z

Seasoned and Proven Executive Brings Successful Entrepreneurial Experience

For Immediate Release

Andover, MA. November 28, 2012— eZuce Inc., the leading global provider of cloud based communications and collaboration solutions for large enterprises, announces that Rob Scott has joined as Director on the eZuce Board of Directors. Rob brings a proven track record of helping early stage companies achieve their market potential by delivering a healthy industry network to build strategic alliances and meet capital requirements for growth. Rob is currently Vice President and Worldwide General Manager for Hewlett Packard's Energy and Sustainability business unit having held several executive management positions within HP. Under Rob’s leadership as worldwide general manager, the HP Halo Video Collaboration business unit was sold to Polycom in 2011.

Rob has amassed his entrepreneurial experience during his tenure over the past twenty years holding CEO positions with several industry-leading technology providers including Colubris Networks, Xelor Software, Multilink, Ornet Data Communications, along with being the crediting founder of Octave Communications- the first unattended conference platform ever made. Rob is currently serving as Board Director for Bradford Networks and Square 1 Bank, as Board Chairman for Exinda Networks, and sits on the Advisory Boards of Windspeed Ventures and White Glove Healthcare. Rob’s successes in his leadership roles will serve to enhance eZuce’s efforts in delivering one of the first Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offerings powered by today’s virtualization technology leaders: VMware and Amazon Web Services.

eZuce’s user community features several leading enterprises with multiple global sites and thousands of users deployed on the openUC platform including Red Hat, Realogy, QAD, Timco Aviation Services, Colorado State University, Lafayette College, Holy Cross University, Cedarville University, and Washington & Lee University. The eZuce openUC software suite is currently installed by more than 100,000 users worldwide and expanding each month. In support of this growing user population, the company is hosting the second annual CoLab 2013 users conference next March at Bentley University.

“I’m glad to be joining eZuce’s Board of Directors as I strongly endorse eZuce’s go to market strategy and vision for delivering affordable virtualized communications. As Director I can leverage my prior experiences in guiding eZuce’s efforts to establish a leading and industry recognized enterprise. With their powerful openUC solution and technology innovations, eZuce has a distinct market advantage that I believe will enable them to achieve a sustainable leadership position in the emerging virtualized communications marketplace.”
Rob Scott, VP and WW General Manager, Hewlett-Packard

About eZuce, Inc.

eZuce delivers an open source platform designed to provide virtualized communications. For companies looking for an IT and cloud solution to fulfill all their communications and collaboration needs, eZuce provides users the ability to communicate openly and globally in the most cost-effective way available. And, because eZuce is a software solution built for the cloud, IT best practices apply, making this the easiest platform to operate available today. The company also built the largest and most successful open source unified communication community known as the sipXecs solution from SIPfoundry, underlining its commitment to open standards. eZuce counts as its customers some of the largest and innovative Fortune 500 companies as well as leading system integrators and partners. For more information about eZuce please visit our website at www.ezuce.com.

Easing the Barriers to UC Adoption

2012-11-21T16:50:57Z

We've met with several Enterprises over the past few years and one of the common themes that we've heard is how companies are being challenged to address the need for unified communications. It's one thing to conduct the research on UC solutions and identify a vendor that can satisfy your requirements but that's only the beginning. There are several factors that can influence your decision and selection criteria not only during the initial research phase but also impact bottom line savings in successive years.

Overall platform costs
Infrastructure costs
Expertise gaps
Feature gaps

It's important to note that even though more companies are starting to deploy UC solutions the market adoption continues to increase as we haven't witnessed market saturation by any means. IT leaders continue to question the ROI associated with UC solutions and address issues involved in the integration of these products within their overall IT environment; it's no simple task.

eZuce has partnered with Wainhouse Research to further investigate how Enterprises can 'crack the code' when it comes to leveraging solutions like openUC to address these common barriers and hurdles. If you find yourself in this predicament we have some interesting news and recommendations that could prove to be advantageous for your company.

Check out the recent eZuce TCO white paper commissioned by Wainhouse Research that identifies the key barriers to UC adoption with suggestions on how you can address these challenges and make the right decision for your IT infrastructure and users.

Visit https://www.ezuce.com/overcoming-barriers-to-uc-adoption for more details.