I noticed several unique posts this week that seemed to come together in my mind. First, Voxeo made yet another strategic partnership announcement with Motorola and their VXML broswer. Secondly, Google and Verizon announced a strategic partnership. Third, Amazon payments api went mobile. Finally, my friend, Tom Howe started posting again with some comments about what he calls the Telco API problem.
Here is my answer to the "Telco API" problem posed by Tom.
In my CEBP status report,I compared ( with Alan Quayle) the success of the CEBP application vendors to the api/platform vendors. Tom reiterates the report's findings in that it is clear the application vendors as a group have been much more successful. VoiceSage is just my latest example of a CEBP application company driving real revenue, fantastic product innovation, and seeing crazy growth.
It is also clear to me that the Telco API/Platform opportunity is a classic example of a 2 sided network or 2 sided market. According to Harvard Business School research, one of the defining characteristics of two-sided markets is they tend to quickly evolve into winner take all competitive environments.
Now, the world of Telco is huge. So, the winner take all competitive environment may ultimately mean there are 2 or 3 dominant market leaders globally in the Telco API/Platform space. Here is the problem. One of those spots has been nailed down already by Voxeo.
Another winner's position may have just been nailed down by Google Voice if they can leverage the Verizon/Google partnership just announced. While this may fail due to egos, when it gets down to execution, the Google Android Verizon announcement gets my early bet for the second platform/api winner. Google is a platform. Verizon is a platform. Combining the two of them makes THE global platform. Google Voice is just one of many CEBP style solutions to come. Click to connect advertising and real time lead generation is being tested now.
In terms of who might be the final api/platform winner I am keeping my eyes open for the first player who wakes up and proactively integrates with mobile payment players especially Amazon. Will Ribbit/BT get there first? Adobe Flash ( a Ribbit tool set) is certainly pushing towards mobile.
So, this is the beginning of a debate. I say the Telco API/Platform winners have basically been decided. My guess is Thomas Howe believes otherwise. We both agree there is plenty of opportunity left in the CEBP application space. I've kept some of my powder dry to respond to Tom's arguments.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
CEBP status report update= 4500 downloads and counting
With a little help from colleagues across our CEBP industry my own minor concerns related to the CEBP Status report have all been addressed.
1. Distribution of the report
Alan Quayle's blog has some serious reach across the industry. He sent me an update that the report has been downloaded over 4500 times already. I was expecting less than 5% of that number...after a year.
2. Market Valuation
I was very hesitant to calculate a market value for CEBP. Eventually,I settled on an estimate from a very conservative perspective. I simply aggregated how much of the core communication functionality of CEBP is being used right now. However, the other side of the CEBP market valuation is, of course, the business process component. In a recent conversation with our CEBP colleague at Voice Sage, Paul Sweeney mentioned that he independently had taken that approach. His conservative estimate was based on business process solutions that CEBP is successfully addressing right now. By definition, these are the early adopters. The good news is that Paul's numbers and my numbers match. Contact VoiceSage and encourage Paul to blog about his findings.
3.Go-To Market tactics and adoption.
I just found out that a recent Gartner report states that CEBP applications and functionality are expected to be commonly found within the platforms/ecosystems of the Big 4 vendors(IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP). This clearly says that TELCO API functionality will start to get embedded in many, many premise based offerings let along SaaS solutions. More importantly, the leading consulting firms and integrators will begin to create CEBP practice areas as an extension of their current software practice areas.
4. Telco attention to CEBP
At the recent VON show, Thomas Howe blogged about a talk from Verizon that mentioned the importance of CEBP. My guess is that Verizon is starting to see the value add opportunities from the perspective of their largest clients. Selling CEBP's ROI, especially in this economy, is one way to get out of the commodity business.
It is certainly nice to receive validation from multiple sources. Maybe now I will admit to myself that I really do know what I'm talking about across the CEBP space.
Patrick Murphy
1. Distribution of the report
Alan Quayle's blog has some serious reach across the industry. He sent me an update that the report has been downloaded over 4500 times already. I was expecting less than 5% of that number...after a year.
2. Market Valuation
I was very hesitant to calculate a market value for CEBP. Eventually,I settled on an estimate from a very conservative perspective. I simply aggregated how much of the core communication functionality of CEBP is being used right now. However, the other side of the CEBP market valuation is, of course, the business process component. In a recent conversation with our CEBP colleague at Voice Sage, Paul Sweeney mentioned that he independently had taken that approach. His conservative estimate was based on business process solutions that CEBP is successfully addressing right now. By definition, these are the early adopters. The good news is that Paul's numbers and my numbers match. Contact VoiceSage and encourage Paul to blog about his findings.
3.Go-To Market tactics and adoption.
I just found out that a recent Gartner report states that CEBP applications and functionality are expected to be commonly found within the platforms/ecosystems of the Big 4 vendors(IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP). This clearly says that TELCO API functionality will start to get embedded in many, many premise based offerings let along SaaS solutions. More importantly, the leading consulting firms and integrators will begin to create CEBP practice areas as an extension of their current software practice areas.
4. Telco attention to CEBP
At the recent VON show, Thomas Howe blogged about a talk from Verizon that mentioned the importance of CEBP. My guess is that Verizon is starting to see the value add opportunities from the perspective of their largest clients. Selling CEBP's ROI, especially in this economy, is one way to get out of the commodity business.
It is certainly nice to receive validation from multiple sources. Maybe now I will admit to myself that I really do know what I'm talking about across the CEBP space.
Patrick Murphy
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