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Plantronics recently reported earnings for its third quarter ending 12/31/08 and from the call there is a good amount you can learn about what is happening in communications. It should be noted that entire markets cannot be judged by a single company but since they play in so many markets, it is worth analyzing what they see happening to their business.

On the call, the company mentioned net revenues were down year over year for the quarter at $182.8 million compared with $232.8. The company says office, audio/entertainment and contact center sales were at the low end of expectations.

The company sees unified communications as a bright spot and they expect softphone growth to drive demand for more headsets.

Here is an important quote from Ken Kannappan, President and CEO:

We expect that the current environment will delay widespread implementations, with virtually all communication infrastructure players committed to UC, we believe that most IT organizations have embraced UC in their long-term planning.

Our headsets play a critical role in the successful deployment of UC, as the PC has no effective audio I/O. The built-in microphone and speaker are not private in an open plan office in the notebook for an office environment and don't offer good audio quality. This forces a choice of purchasing a headset like a USB and handset for the PC or using an IP phone for voice calls.

Clearly, the second and third options do provide the benefits, familiarity in a hand set and key pad. But the headset is more portable, hygienic, ergonomic and a practical solution for mobile usage. Furthermore, the headset allows someone to listen to streaming media for training and other growing received applications where holding a handset to listen would be absurd.

The company further expects the office and contact center to slow by 35-40% with wireless products experiencing a greater decline. According to Kannappan , "In difficult economic times, voluntary turnover declines amongst the businesses and financial professionals who are the greatest adopters of our wireless products. This dramatically reduces replacement sales. In addition, heightened budget scrutiny is extending cost controls all the way to headset purchases."

After reading through the transcript and a Q&A session with analysts there seem to be two positives here. The first is the UC/softphone market where Plantronics looks to increasing sales in the future. In addition, the company thinks it is taking share from the competition but this may be a subjective observation by management as no independent analyst firm has a complete handle on all channels of headset distribution according to management.

I find it tough to disagree with Kannappan. As we get a sense of normalcy in business - and I am not even sure how this is to be defined anymore, companies will look to improve productivity and efficiency and you just can't imagine a world of communications which is state of the art with video, IM sessions and avatars - with end-users on handsets. It just seems beyond obvious that headsets will become the rule not the exception in the global corporate and consumer world.

Until then, the companies who do adopt UC early will have a tremendous productivity and efficiency advantage over the slow-movers. And in such competitive markets a slight increase in productivity can make a huge financial difference.

Last week I posted some links to interviews which I did with various thought leaders who will be participating at ITEXPO next week in Miami.  Since the last post I had a chance to conduct a few more which are worth sharing.

I find interviews are a useful way to get a feel for the people I will run into at events. In addition, by reading through them you get a sense for where people think things are going in the market. Those who follow closely will spot trends which they may be able to use to launch a new business or product.

Or you may just be able to determine something simple like SIP trunking is a logical service for your SMB to consider - or perhaps you may learn you need a security device such as an SBC for your wireless service provider business as you migrate to IP.

Whatever you learn from these links I hope it is useful and I look forward to discussing the state of the industry with you next week in Miami at ITEXPO.

Yesterday, a number of people blogged about ITEXPO and discussed what they will be doing at the show. It seemed like a good weekend project to assemble some of these posts in one place so you can join in the conversation or just keep track of some of the happenings from various points of view.

Dan York mentions on his Disruptive Telephony blog that he is looking to connect with people at the show. Here is what he has to say:

I'll be arriving Monday afternoon and then on Tuesday, February 3rd, I'll be donning my VOIPSA VoIP Security hat to participate in a SIP Trunking Workshop sponsored by Ingate Systems on "SIP Trunking And Security". These workshops are always fun to do and as they are free to anyone attending ITEXPO (even just with an exhibit pass), they are usually well-attended. I'll be bringing my recording gear, too, and the talk will eventually go out in my Blue Box Podcast feed so you will be able to hear it later.

David Byrd will also be at the show and has the following to say on his SIP and Serve by a Foodie blog:

This week we announced interoperability with Panasonic's new NCP IP PBX and we released the new IP MAN Adventure featuring AudioCodes, episode 5. The new villainess, Echo, is scheduled for launch during the week of IT Expo. It's a fun story with an exciting storyline featuring Panasonic. Like the duck paddling on a pond, our calm exterior hides the furious effort below the water line.

This year you will see new messaging, new booth skins, ads, collateral and other still secret stuff.

Why are we doing all of this?

For one thing, SIP Trunking is still the lesser-known stepsister to VoIP. Additionally, it is really unknown compared to the TDM/legacy network offerings. We have to blow our/the IP community horn loudly and often.

 No you are not dreaming, I was immortalized in the latest IP Man episode. Hint -- I am not wearing the cape.

As you may recall, IP Man was highlighted at the keynote at ITEXPO in LA -- This super hero works tirelessly with his simian companion to fight the enemies of VoIP which in past episodes were identified as noise and jitter. Future villains could even include complacency.

Here is the IP Man site for your viewing pleasure. It contains comics and videos.

Microsoft's Richard Sprague has some great comments about the show as well:

One more week and I'll be off to Miami for ITExpo East.  I don't usually look forward to trade shows, but I really enjoyed the last one and we have so many cool things planned that I can't wait to get there. 

The organizer, Rich Tehrani, wrote a nice summary of what we'll be doing there publicly, but it's actually the behind-the-scenes parts that have me interested.

There are plenty of good reasons to visit South Florida in February, but if you need another one, this is it.  Let me know, and I'll get you a free pass.

IP communications analyst Jon Arnold has some detailed comments on the show - here is a short excerpt:

TMC's ITExpo East 2009 event is quickly approaching, and I wanted to provide some updates.

First, I wanted to mention a nice gesture TMC is doing to help out those who been recently impacted by our weak economy. Rich Tehrani posted about this last week, and it's worth repeating here. TMC is offering free conference passes to industry people who are recently out of work. If this speaks to you or someone you know, please have a look at Rich's post for the details. Nicely done, TMC!

On my front, I'll be quite busy at the Expo. First off, I'll be moderating two sessions:

•  Service Provider IP Telephony: Considerations
•  Driving Benefits Through Analytics

One of TMCnet's newest bloggers Allen Miller had this to say - pretty funny guy -- can't wait to read more from him.

I don't know if associating with me will hurt their credibility but - www.TMCnet.com, the Web Publishing organization that is putting on IT EXPO in two weeks in Miami, invited me to write a blog there. It's supposed to be a pretty busy site - I'm going to give it a try - we'll see if anyone can find me there.

Regards,
Allen

I am certainly looking forward to this event and moreover I am excited to learn how the nimble communications professionals who come to this show are navigating the current financial situation. I hope to learn more about communications opportunities. What are customers saying these days? What are the hot buttons? What does the rural telco need to keep them competitive? What does the Latin American wireless service provider need? What about the SMB in Georgia - the state and country or the enterprise in NYC?

There is just so much I want to get out of this show and the excitement is mounting. As always I will keep you posted from the event but to really understand the opportunities at hand and most importantly the pitfalls to avoid, you have to come to ITEXPO yourself Feb 2-4, 2009 in Miami.

You may have heard Intel and Microsoft missed their numbers but Google, Apple and IBM did well. Most people are trying to make sense of what is happening here. After all, to most financial analysts, these are all tech companies and subsequently they should all do the same.

Here is the real story.

If you remember the last downturn, in 2001-2002 a great deal of tech people started to experiment with free Linux solutions when budgets were slashed. The move to Linux had started years earlier but the accelerant was a lack of budgets.

In the last 12 months we have seen the slowing economy act as an accelerant as well but in this case it increased adoption rates of virtualization and SaaS/cloud computing. And the kicker is you can try either of these for free to get the ball rolling.

Server chips and software are expensive and both of the above technologies reduce cost with little to no downside. I spoke with the TMCnet webmaster before I wrote this article and he informs me it takes about 30 servers to run TMCnet and most are running at a few percent of capacity. In fact, most servers are run at minimal capacity with a few spikes from time to time.

But if we were to take these thirty servers and condense them to a handful and use virtualization, Microsoft and Intel both lose out. And they lose out on lucrative products with fat margins. Multicore chips and a host of server software run on many of these computers. I should point out we run a mixed Microsoft/Linux environment.

In fact we did begin to use cloud computing for some of our media delivery and it has been a tremendous win for the site and no additional servers were required... just a low monthly fee.

Then there is the whole Vista fiasco - the OS equivalent of the Edsel. People love to hate this operating system. I use Vista on three different computers and happen to think it works fine most of the time but somehow the rest of the world seems to hate it. It is for this reason people are more likely to switch to a Mac - especially after they find them in the Apple store while buying the gadgets the Cupertino company sells.

Then there is the netbook threat. This one hurts Microsoft and Intel equally as netbooks are cheap, use processers with lower margins and XP which brings in less revenue than Vista And since people don't like Vista anyway, they are getting a financial incentive to us an OS which they probably think is superior. Windows 7 is supposed to be the Linux on netbook killer but the jury is still out.

I heard Bill Gates speak at a Software Publishers Association meeting in May of 1989 at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and he told the audience people don't remember if your product is late but they remember if it doesn't work right. Sadly, Vista was late and is being criticized for working poorly. What will "7" be like?

IBM of course did well in part due to the services business which many companies say are doing well - in part because these services obviate the need for full-time workers.

Google is a different animal as it is in the web advertising market and did well because companies are looking to cost-justify every cent of their budgets and clicks are a metric which make many CXOs happy (for now anyway).

The point here is there is pressure on Intel and Microsoft other companies in this story do not have to deal with.

In fact, it could get worse since more hosted applications means less of a need to upgrade PCs.

Perhaps an even bigger threat to Intel and Microsoft is mobile devices which are getting better meaning more and more people I know are not traveling with laptops but instead a simple Blackberry or iPhone.

These factors are part of the problems at Microsoft and Intel. Sure the economy stinks. Who can deny that? But it is important to see there are other crucial trends forming in the market and most analysts have missed every point above.

I don't expect this pressure to let up by the way and I expect Apple to get hurt soon if they don't take netbooks more seriously. Admob data led some to insinuate the iPhone and iPod Touch are the netbooks from Apple but the reality is the company will get hurt if they don't come out with an entry-level netbook with a keyboard at some point soon.

One of the most important parts of any conference is the networking... The potential to meet and speak with thought leaders in numerous markets at one time in one place. This year's ITEXPO has more thought leaders than any prior TMC event I can remember.

Although I cannot duplicate the actual conversations you might want to have with people at the show, I did try to come up with a way for you to get a feel for many of the speakers and exhibitors at the show by asking them questions I think are of interest.

It is my hope you will find the people you want to interact with, read these interviews and then take the conversation from there when you are live.

There are numerous networking events at the show as well as meals, etc. I hope you use these times productively and make this ITEXPO an extremely productive one. I can't wait to see you at the show Feb 2-4 in Miami.

Updated January 22, 2009 5:04 PM

It is a foregone conclusion that the open source market will benefit as companies look to take advantage of the lower costs and productivity benefits of IP communications and collaboration while holding the line on costs. If you are a reseller, VAR, interconnect, etc and you aren't looking to sell these systems you are at a tremendous disadvantage.

If I am a VAR, I walk into a customer and say here is what IP can do for you and here are low cost solutions which can help you while saving you a boatload of cash. In this economic climate, this pitch resonates - does yours?

It is for this reason the interest in open source and more specifically open source certifications continues to grow. After all, being certified in a hot and emerging area of communications means you are more likely to get hired by a company as an employee or as an installer of  their phone system.

In response to the needs of the market TMC is proud to have a collocated Asterisk World event at ITEXPO in 13 days in Miami. In addition, we are thrilled to be the only place in the world where you can get training on Digium-based products and also those from Fonality.

If you are looking to save money while boosting sales and your resume, you simply have to be at this show.

Here is the schedule of training events and this represents only a small part of the overall open source communications content at the show.

• Switchvox, Tuesday  Feb 3, 8:30-5:00
• Asterisk 123, Wednesday Feb 4, 8:30-5:00 (This is the first time this course has ever been available)
• Trixbox FtOCC Technician, Feb 2-4

I look forward to seeing you soon in Miami.

Throughout past recessions, call centers picked up the slack and hired what amounted to millions of Americans to make and take calls. In 1990 and onward economic development agencies worldwide began to court contact centers to help them solve their job loss problems.

Now 20 years later, the call center climate has changed dramatically. IP communications allows agents to be located anywhere - even outside our borders. In addition the internet (email, etc) is a viable marketing alternative to speaking on the phone.

In addition, outbound telemarketing which employed millions has been wiped out and with it billions in commerce and millions of jobs.

Remember - there will always be the need to speak over the phone when buying products - regardless of whether these calls are going over IP or not.

Moreover the inbound side of the contact center industry continues to grow and although there are obviously layoffs in the contact center space, I have seen precious little hiring anywhere besides this recent announcement that IBM will hire 1,300 support center agents in Iowa.

Economic development agencies - it is time to start looking at contact centers again as a growth area in your regions.

Reports are circulating that Nortel has declared bankruptcy and pieces will be sold off to foreign firms. Company sources say this is untrue. Here is the complete story.

In the past 24 months, global financial markets have gone from encouraging companies and individuals to take on as much debt as they can to abruptly stopping all financing and debt renegotiation. During the dotcom/telecom bubble, VCs poured money into companies, forced them to spend it rapidly and then evaporated, leaving the companies dead on the vine. Similarly, one day we all woke up and found out debt was bad and if we have it, we are in trouble.

How did Nortel get into this situation?

Remember the heady dotcom days when people made a year's worth of mortgage payments on a week's worth of optical stock gains. This is when Nortel was acquiring companies. They certainly weren't alone but when they should have been recovering from this overvaluation feast a few years later, CEO Frank Dunn and other corporate executives who were compensated by increasing stock valuation cooked the books.

The company has struggled since and depending on what numbers you want to use - taking into account leases, etc they have up to six billion dollars of debt which means they pay hundreds of millions of dollars of interest. Couple this with pension liabilities of a company which is over 100 years old and add a dash of really tough economy, tough Asian competitors and an aversion to marketing and you have an extreme challenge in front of you. Call it a business Rubik's Cube but with 100 squares on each of six sides.

All of these problems coupled with bad earnings and reports Nortel was consulting with bankruptcy firms started a firestorm of discussion online and the business media about Nortel's fate.

With an interest payment of $107 million due soon the company took the opportunity to reorganize their global enterprise in a manner in which they will likely retain control over the process.

I should mention that the nuances of bankruptcy code are not my area of expertise but given the direction of the global markets I do fully expect to be well-versed on the topic by the end of this year. In Nortel's case, as a multinational company they have to deal with different terms and codes in various countries.

In researching this post I spent a good deal of time reading about US and Canadian bankruptcy law, articles from trustworthy sources, a news release with a quote from the Canadian ministry of Industry, a voluminous statement from the company  and I spent a good deal of time picking the brain of the President of the Enterprise Solutions Division of Joel Hackney.

In the company's statement they mentioned they are seeking creditor protection under the companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") in Canada. They further explain certain of the company's U.S. subsidiaries, including Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks Capital Corporation, have filed voluntary petitions in the United States under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and certain of the Company's EMEA subsidiaries are expected to make consequential filings in Europe. The statement further explains the company's normal day-to-day operations are expected to continue without interruption. Another important statement is Nortel remains 100% focused on serving customers worldwide through continued R&D investments and support of its product portfolio to fulfill customer needs.

Since Nortel is a Canadian company it is worth looking at what experts like PwC say about the CCAA. According to the company, financially troubled companies owing creditors in excess of $5 million are eligible for court assistance in restructuring their affairs.

The following are the details according to PwC:

The process begins in the Court system when the company applies to the Court for protection under the CCAA. The Court will issue an Order giving the company 30 days of protection (often referred to as the "Stay") from its creditors to allow for the preparation of the Plan of Arrangement. The Court can extend the Stay against the creditors upon further application to the Court by the company. Typically, the Court will continue the protection beyond the initial 30-day period if the company can demonstrate that it is likely that it will file a Plan of Arrangement and an extension of the Stay is not prejudicial to the creditors, as a whole. There is no time limit on how long the Stay can be extended. During the Stay period, the company will often continue operating, although it may commence restructuring activities at any time.

A Monitor is an independent third party who is appointed by the Court to monitor the company's ongoing operations and assist with the filing and voting on the Plan of Arrangement. It is not uncommon to see a company's auditors acting as the Monitor. The Monitor's duties include monitoring the business, reporting to the Court on any major events that might impact the viability of the company, assisting the company in the preparation of the Plan of Arrangement, notifying the creditors (and shareholders) of any meetings and tabulating the votes at these meetings. The Monitor prepares a report on the Plan of Arrangement that is usually included in the mailing of the Plan.

The Plan of Arrangement is the proposal that the company is presenting to its creditors on how it intends to deal with debt it owes at the time of the initial filing with the Court. There are no restrictions on what the Plan can entail. It is not uncommon to see offers to pay a percentage on the dollar of debt, either as a lump sum or over a period of time. Plans can include an offer of shares of the company in exchange for the debt outstanding or a combination of cash and shares. The debtor can identify a particular creditor or group of creditors as "unaffected." Unaffected creditors are included in the Plan and are not to be paid in the normal course. One of the benefits of the CCAA is that it allows for this flexibility when trying to put together a Plan.

In order to be able to vote on the Plan and receive any distribution under it, a creditor must file a Proof of Claim with the Monitor. The Proof of Claim sets out what is owed to the creditor and is reviewed by the Monitor and the company. Any discrepancies between the creditor's Proof of Claim and the company's records are investigated by the company. The Plan will outline the procedures for dealing with disputed claims.

Ultimately, the company files its Plan of Arrangement and forwards it to the creditors/shareholders. A meeting of the creditors (and shareholders, if applicable) is called to vote on the Plan. For the Plan to be binding on each class of creditors, a majority of the proven creditors in that class, by number, together with 2/3 of the proven creditors in that class, by dollar value, must approve of the Plan presented to them. If a class of creditors approves the Plan, it is binding on all creditors within the class, subject to the Court's approval of the Plan. If all of the classes of creditors (and shareholders, if applicable) approve the Plan, the Court must then approve the Plan as a final step. Upon Court approval, the company continues forward as outlined under the Plan until it has satisfied the requirements under the Plan.

If a class of creditors or the Court does not approve the Plan, the company does not automatically go into bankruptcy, but the Stay is lifted. However, once the Stay has been lifted, the pressures that caused the company to initially file for CCAA protection from its creditors will likely return and, accordingly, it is quite likely that the company will be placed into receivership or bankruptcy.

US bankruptcy law is similar (at least to me) and if you have morbid curiosity, knock yourself out.

Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said in a prepared statement, "These actions are imperative so that Nortel can build on its core strengths and become the highly focused and financially sound leader in the communications industry that its people, technology and customer relationships show it ought to be. I am confident that the actions we're announcing today will be the fastest, most effective means to translate our improved operational efficiency, double-digit productivity, focused R&D and technology leadership into long-term success. I want to reaffirm Nortel's dedication to delivering world-class solutions and services to customers."

It is also worth mentioning the company's affiliates in Asia, including LG Nortel and in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as the Nortel Government Solutions business, are not included in these proceedings and are expected to continue to operate normally.

Nortel is a huge Canadian employer and a tremendous source of pride for Canada. One would expect the Canadian courts to look to Nortel as favorably as possible.

In my conversation with Hackney he confirmed that a number of acquisitions at premiums contributed to the company's woes. Moreover, he reiterated the prepared statement that the company has 2.4 mbillion dollars of cash on hand.

According to Hackney, "Nortel is still very much in business." He went on to say they continue to be 100% focused on driving results for their customers. To understand why I can say this confidentially, you have to understand some of the details according to Hackney. He mentioned they announced a comprehensive financial restructuring of the organization to address significant liabilities which have been plaguing the corporation and are now compounded by the current economic environment.

This process which has different names in different jurisdictions allows them to address the debt load and pension liabilities which have been built up over the years. Hackney mentioned this restructuring is a decisive move by the board of directors to deal with the cost and debt burden and effectively restructure its operations.

Hackney reiterated the $2.4 billion allows the company to stay in business and support customers while restructuring the capital structure of the corporation. "This move keeps customers from further risk" he said.

Hackney also reiterated the company has struck a deal with Flextronics, the company who makes much of Nortel's gear. This was done to ensure continuity of products to Nortel's customers. Hackney concluded by saying, "While this is a difficult decision, it is the right decision and the best chance for Nortel to come out of this process much more focused, financially sound and competitive."

In response to an article in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail mentioning Nortel will be chopped up and sold to international competitors Hackney said, "We will not speak to rumors and the Globe and Mail is very effective at selling newspapers."

He further went on to say the strategy he has discussed with me in the past is still the company's strategy and this [action] is the best way of delivering upon that.

We spent some time on our call going over the nuances of what is bankruptcy and what is not and it seems to me more important to point out that through this process it seems likely the company will be in control of its destiny and I further I expect Canadian law to be quite flexible with Nortel. It remains to be seen what happens in other parts of the world.

Obviously there is increased risk in such a process but we have seen companies enter bankruptcy before and emerge stronger while doing so in a fairly seamless way to customers.

A point worth making is if the company is about to divide into 10 pieces and sell them, he can't legally tell me. But realistically, Nortel itself is the result of various mergers with companies such as Bay Networks who were substantial equipment manufacturers at one time as well.

Point being, product lines with customer bases almost always find buyers who want to keep customers happy and will continue to support and improve these products over time.

So regardless of what we call this - creditor protection, Chapter 11 protection, bankruptcy protection etc - what is happening behind the scenes is the company running today the same way it did yesterday.

The next obvious question is the company's burn rate because $2.4 billion in cash on-hand seems like nothing in these days of TARP funds and frequent industry-wide bailouts. To this Hackney mentions that the major items contributing to burn rate will now be reduced or go away and this is the most effective way to address it [the debt load].

Hackney says he spoke with five large CIOs of multi-billion dollar companies before our conversation today and he says these are savvy businesspeople who understand the need to restructure Nortel's capital structure. These customers said they need Nortel and were appreciative of being advised of the situation. They further requested to know what they can expect going forward.

Hackney says all earlier commitments to the partner and customer base will continue. He says this with confidence because they were doing these things with the significant debt burden they previously had. The issue for Nortel of course is does the stigma of Chapter 11 reorganization scare customers away or not. Obviously competitors love this sort of news but in today's environment, having financial difficulties and needing billions of dollars you don't have seems to be a common theme across many industries.

Hackney couldn't comment on what he thought this news would do to sales and mentioned forward visibility in this economic environment is uncertain.

When asked about how new customers should look at Nortel, Hackney replied, "We have always sold customers on the product capability, our technical support capabilities and our ability to save them money and make their companies more competitive." Hackney says this will continue to be the message and he is confident he can continue to demonstrate this fact.

He reiterates in a tough financial climate this will be a challenging objective but says his capabilities to add value to customers are as strong as they ever have been.

It is obvious Nortel will lose sales and share as a result of this news. That is a dead easy one to predict. How will the company respond? In the future, if sales do drop off more than expected we will see more job cuts and even salary reductions which we have already seen in the communications and automotive spaces.

Hackney assures me there won't be any more big announcements in the next few days (referring to negative news I am sure). He also wants to reassure customers again - it is business as usual.

In summary, I am comfortable with what Hackney is saying and am shocked there are no layoff or salary reduction announcements as part of this news. Nortel has done lots of things wrong and right over the years. What is important to keep in mind is they still have a huge line of products and customers, suppliers and partners who depend on them. The company will not evaporate overnight. Expect me to be keeping in touch with Nortel and passing along whatever I find out.

Bill Miller recently blogged 5 reasons to attend Digium Asterisk World in Miami in just under three weeks - Feb 2-4 to be specific. Tom Keating - the consummate competitor had to add one more reason but Bill and Tom don't know I have a secret competitive streak as well.

So I am going to add a few more... Sorry guys.

7) One of you who is present at 2:20pm on Wednesday Feb 4^th is winning a new Jeep.

8) There is a conference guarantee.

9) You get to sample collocated events ITEXPO and 4GWE.

10) You get to come to an event where Carl Ford and the TMC team have come together to educate the market (this doesn't happen every day mind you  )

11) You get to see the entire communications market in one place - you meet people from around the world. Generally over 110 countries have participation at ITEXPOs each year.

12) You get to see the best from not only the open source community - you also get to see leading-edge solutions from Microsoft.

13) You get conferences and products for VARs, enterprises, SMBs, service providers and developers - all under one roof - a mix of people who show up nowhere else.

14) You can learn how to best navigate a tough economy by speaking with others who are dealing with the same issues as you.

15) You can save your company money and/or make it money by deploying the latest in communications technology.

16) You can increase your marketability and chance for your company to prosper by growing your inner-circle and/or getting certified in a number of areas.

17) You can gauge the hot areas of the market based on exhibit hall and conference buzz - this is an invaluable opportunity which can help save tens of millions of wasted development dollars.

There are more but I really don't want to anger Tom (did I mention he controls the passwords on the blog server?  ) or Bill (Did I mention the man is a Twitter legend and with a single tweet from any of a number of accounts he could put me in my place?  ).