Thrupoint at the Enterprise Connect event introduced the latest additions to its Thrupoint Fusion framework, designed to enable enterprises to leverage multiple UC platforms.
Thrupoint
officials are looking to fix what they say is a broken model for unified
communications, where there is little interoperability as the major players
push to build up their platforms without giving enough thought to how they work
with those from other vendors.
UC
applications from traditional vendors, such as Cisco Systems and Avaya, work
well within their own collaboration platforms, according to Sajeel Hussain,
vice president of product marketing for Thrupoint, which makes UC applications
than can run on multiple platforms. However, problems arise when users try to
bring in outside applications.
When you
start mixing it up, [the UC model] starts breaking down, Hussain said in an
interview with week.
The
introduction of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was expected to solve
problems of interoperability. It was supposed to be the great equalizer, he
said. However, vendors desire to work within their own platforms has tripped
up that idea, leading to what Hussain said is so-so interoperability.
Thrupoint is
taking another approach, he said. Using its Thrupoint Application Server, the
company through its Fusion framework offers a number of applications designed
to manage UC applications across multiple platforms. Those applications include
Fusion Mobility, Fusion Click2Connect and Fusion Creator.
At the Enterprise
Connect 2012 show in Orlando, Fla., March 26, Thrupoint officials introduced a
new application aimed at the burgeoning tablet market and a service broker
product that offers session management capabilities between disparate UC
platforms.
Thrupoint
Fusion UC for tablets, including Apples popular iPod, offers video
collaboration, voice, instant messaging and presence capabilities on the
devices. Through the app, businesses can offer secure client registration,
communication transport and policies over how external and internal users
interact. These are important features given the rising bring-your-own-device
(BYOD) trend, where employees are looking to use their personal
devicesincluding smartphones and tabletsat work, Hussain said.
Thrupoint
Fusion Service Broker, which Hussain said offers session management 2.0
capabilities, provides greater interoperability between various UC platforms.
The technology also lets users bring applications into a communication session
at any point, as long as they meet predefined criteria. Businesses also can
quickly deploy new services that bring together collaboration business
processes, and work across various mobile and desktop devices.
Interoperability
among UC platforms will continue to be crucial to enterprises, and vendors do
not seem to be in enough of a hurry to address the issues, according to Gartner
analyst Ken Agress. In a March 27 blog post, Agress said that the message
he took away from a panel discussion among UC vendors at Enterprise Connect was
that interoperability was difficult, and that the burden was going to be
carried by resellers.
This is
ludicrous, Agress wrote. SIP was introduced in 2000, and a dozen years later,
the discussion is still around how difficult interoperability is. He wrote:
The trends in
the market are toward greater and greater use of virtualized, software-based,
cloud-enabled platforms for communications. Enterprises need the
flexibility of these platforms to meet the growing demand for "bring your own
device" approaches to mobility, leveraging cloud-based services effectively,
and connecting directly to business partners, clients, suppliers or other third
parties. But what the "Interoperability comes through your VAR" answer
means is that we shouldnt expect significant developments that make such
environments truly possible. Since each vendors focus will be on their
products, their clients, their services and their communications channels, how
can an enterprise reasonably expect to connect to a carrier service, cloud
provider or external entity that uses solutions from a different vendor?
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