Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com - ITEXPO Archives

Is Yahoo Just Doomed?

2012-05-16T18:35:19Z

Years back I was at a conference with a consultant who worked at Yahoo and told them they need to take on Google more directly and he was told, “That is not the Yahoo way.” I still remember the dumfounded feeling I had when I heard this ridiculous comment. We all know that Yahoo is a company with outstanding assets but with major internal problems. CEOs seem to be ousted annually, the company is behind in just about every market it invented and even with all its traffic, it seems to be all about yesterday’s Internet.

There are lots of stories about the company’s incompetence – one past high-level exec detailed the situation at a TMC conference (at the person’s request I won’t share more detail) and his explanation of the corporate politics remind me more of a sitcom than a company looking to win.

Politics are nothing new… Every company has them. Egos are fragile things and people want to amass more power. But when a company lets ego and politics trump winning, they are in for trouble. Moreover, when that trouble comes from Google, Facebook and a slew of new startups and your company is rowing with one oar, you are essentially screwed.

And then there are acquisitions. Yahoo made a bunch of them about a decade ago getting ready to position itself as the leader of the next generation of internet technology. But the company so screwed this up that you could write a business encyclopedia about what you shouldn’t do in an M&A situation.

Nadji Tehrani, my father and founder of the company where I am CEO – TMC often says it is better to be first than best. His premise is no one remembers the second person to cross the Atlantic Ocean or to win the Triple Crown, etc. And because Yahoo was the first company to index the Internet they are still with us. Otherwise it would have likely become Pets.com 2.0.

While much of the world is focused on the company’s ouster of its CEO over resume-gate what they should be reading is about how the company took the last eight years or so to purchase an awesome company Flickr and then absolutely destroyed it. Matt Honan details how the leading web portal company did virtually everything it could to ensure they weren’t successful as the web became social.

First of all Yahoo continued to buy products built by user communities without caring about the actual communities. User-generated content is a treasure. The cost to the hosting company is merely storage and if you can monetize this content– and certainly this was very possible in the middle of the last decade, you ideally want to keep the flow going by keeping users happy. But Yahoo made changes to Flickr which infuriated users causing them to flee.

Shockingly (assuming you are new to Yahoo horror stories) when Yahoo managers were told about this potential problem they seemed to not care.

Moreover, because Flickr didn’t generate tremendous revenue compared to other Yahoo divisions, it was starved of resources and instead of being allowed to focus on innovation it was forced to concentrate of getting its service to work better with Yahoo. In other words innovation was trumped by integration.

And as a result, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are the leading photo sharing sites and apps now. Flickr could have become YouTube. Flickr could have morphed into Facebook. But in order for this to have happened, it would have required vision among the entire Yahoo management team to understand where the market potential was.

In the article there is also much talk regarding specific personalities who were impossible to work with and much blame for Yahoo’s failed integration strategy and its terrible Flickr mobile app.

It is just so damning you have to wonder how the company is actually able to function each day.

But still, the potential exists for Yahoo to integrate its products more effectively to become the Facebook competitor the market likely wants. But this would require the company to divide up into smaller teams with some sort of integration strategy which is loosely coupled.

Moreover, Yahoo needs more engineering control – this is something I have never written – I am an engineer and putting most of us in charge of product design/execution is a disaster waiting to happen. But in Yahoo’s case the situation is so pathetic, having more of a techie-led approach to products and innovation would likely be far more successful than what is happening now.

Finally, what is the company’s mission – its raison d'être? We know it is a hodgepodge of sites which allow you to compare cars, check email and news, etc. but they need a mission – not so much for the outside as the inside.

Even a generic tagline like “Making the web better” would help discourage a manager who wants to use his power to kill mobile app features which users would appreciate.

Yahoo, is not unlike a company such as Nortel who also had a dominant position and made acquisitions which helped sink it. Purchasing companies is very difficult to do correctly and requires resources to ensure you understand not just the integration of the business but how to have it grow potentially larger than the parent.

In other words if you swallow a team of developers, marketers and product people and then remove their oxygen, how will you ever allow this team to achieve its full potential? You can’t invent the next big thing if you are scrambling to find an oxygen tank after all.

In closing, when you make an acquisition, be sure you understand what you are buying and why it is successful. If you are buying a user-generated database, how do you ensure the users will continue to generate the database? After all, that is where the growth comes from. Moreover, if you see mobile is the future and so is social, and you are the world’s largest web portal, for Heaven’s sake – be sure you tie into these trends before you become disintermediated.

In January of this year I suggested 11 things Yahoo needed to do now after Jerry Yang departed – Marketing, Social, Mobile, Cloud, Music, Movies, Be Cool, Expand, Partner, Behavioral Targeting and Election. It would appear the company hasn’t made progress on many of these fronts – but then again, there has been lots of change at the top during this time.

But the competition isn’t slowing down so if Yahoo doesn’t get its act together soon, it may just become too late for them to turn the ship around and yes the company could just be doomed. For the sake of the company they better hope the Nortel comparison ends here.

GM to Facebook: Your ads Don't Work

2012-05-16T09:46:37Z

When you are about to have one of the largest public offerings in the world - north of $100 billion and much of the reason for the size of your IPO has to do with advertising revenue, there is nothing worse than having one of the world's largest and most sophisticated advertisers telling you your ads don't work. And that is exactly what just happened to Facebook when GM pulled the plug on a $10 million dollar ad deal.
To put this in perspective, GM is the third largest advertiser in the US and its budget is absolutely huge. Last year in fact it was $1.8B. The interesting part of the situation is that even though GM won't be continuing its ad spend this year it plans on continuing to spend $30M or so for Facebook content.
What this tells us is Facebook is just becoming a driver of the Splinternet or another Internet which advertisers and developers need to take into account. While having free content is great for Facebook and moreover GM will no doubt continue to drive massive web traffic Zuckerberg's way, the challenge becomes how to monetize it all.
Now one could argue that Facebook can just show ads from other companies on all the content GM creates and they currently do this. The issue worth wondering about is what if other advertisers come to the same conclusion and there are no ads from major companies like Ford or Toyota to show on all the GM content.
Let's further consider GM wastes massive amounts of its ad budget on TV. By waste I mean branding is a very tough business in that it is tough to target branding ads directly to your audience. In other words when you see an ad on TV for a Chevy truck - a category which only a percentage of the population would buy, the rest of the ad spend could be considered wasted.
So GM is comfortable with wasted ad spend - most companies realize this is just the way branding works.
But on the web there is more measurability meaning that GM likely compared its click through rates on Facebook with other sites like Google, etc and decided there weren't enough people clicking to keep the ad campaign running. Typically the online advertising division of companies is more results oriented than those in the TV or radio areas.
Let's remember people have likened advertising on social networks to an interuption of a conversation between friends and this GM news seems to echo the sentiment.
And perhaps most importantly if you had to surmise what sort of ad would be most successful on Facebook you would no doubt say those targeting consumers - and automobiles would likely be at the top of the list. And here we have this massive consumer automobile advertising company complaining about advertising effectiveness.
Now it is worth pointing out that advertisers use different metrics to measure ad effectiveness. In my career I have seen one company decide an advertising product isn't for them and their direct competitor loves the exact same product. This happens at trade shows as well where the booth of company A does poorly but company B competes directly with company A and has a full booth of people and signs up for a larger booth at the next event.
So this could be an issue of a single company using measurement tools which put a poor spotlight on Facebook's results.
But it could also be the equivalent of IBM pulling out of COMDEX and subsequently sinking the largest trade show in the US virtually overnight.
Now I am not trying to be over-dramatic here - Facebook isn't going to go away any time soon but if this example becomes a trend it may have to refocus its ad push on advertising outside its network using the rich targeting data it continues to amass.
And while the Facebook IPO seems to be the hottest thing since the launch of the iPhone it remains to be seen if in one year the stock becomes more like high flyer Google or sinking ship Vonage.
See Henry Blodget's take and the original article in the Wall Street Journal.

At Utah Olympic Park

2012-04-09T20:59:05Z

I stopped by the Utah Olympic Park in Park City and took the tour which was very informative. Sadly, I didn't get to see any athletes training. I did notice AT&T had very fast service here with full bars throughout my tour. I felt like I was in a commercial actually because I had to download a presentation of about 4 MB while here for proofing purposes. Verizon only had a 3G connection with three out of four bars on my MiFi device. BTW, athletes train here all year long but sadly I didn't get to see any. This trip reminded me of the Vancouver Winter Olympics I was lucky enough to witness as a VIP thanks to Avaya.

At Moabcon 2012

2012-04-09T00:25:06Z

I am at Adaptive Computing's 2012 user conference in beautiful Park City, Utah. The Hyatt Escala Resort is the host of the conference and is located on a ski slope in Park City, Utah. The air is fresh, the weather is good and I am looking forward to some awesome education on HPC and cloud computing. I speak on cloud computing trends this Wednesday and am looking forward to it. The photo of the lake below is one of the more beautiful sites I have seen so far but this is gorgeous country even if you don't ski. It is worth a trip.

ITEXPO Miami 2012 Day 1 Analysis

2012-02-02T14:31:40Z

Trade shows are in fact barometers of industry sentiment and mood and to gauge what the feeling is in the technology and communications spaces I turn to Jon Arnold's blog post about the first day here at ITEXPO.
First off Jon is about as balanced as they come - even his compliments come with room for improvement weaved in. So I invite you to read his full post about the show so far - which again says a lot about where the rest of 2012 will be heading in our spaces.

Across the board, I think most people will tell you the event is working really well. The hallways are full with activity, the sessions are well attended, the content is great, and the breadth of subject matter is far too great for any human to consume.
My day was spent either in briefings or moderating, so I didn't have a chance to see any other sessions. It's too bad, since there's really strong content for me in tracks such as Cloud Communications, SIP Trunking, 4GWE, M2M - and others. Not to mention today's must-see event later on - the Sir Terry Matthews keynote followed by StartupCamp5 Comms Edition, hosted by Embrase. I'll be there.
Well, I think you get the idea. There's a lot of great content here, and that probably helps explain why attendance is so strong. Lots of people here all day long, and you could really see it when the show floor opened late in the afternoon. Not only was the traffic active, but the exhibitor hall was pretty big. Am told there are 200+ exhibitors here, and the range is pretty impressive. Having walked the floor, there's something for everyone here, with all kinds of VoIP providers, SIP trunking offerings, telecom systems, contact centers and cloud. Not that much video, social media or mobility, but a pretty rich pallette nonetheless.
I should add that my two sessions were totally full, and I heard the turnout for other sessions was strong as well. My panels has strong speakers, and I think the time was well spent for attendees. TMC is providing its own coverage of the sessions, and you can follow that on their site. Here's their coverage of our UC Business Case session.
Overall, I think TMC will be pleased with how the sessions are going, and if this continues, I'd say the odds are good that a lot of attendees will be back. That's pretty important, as turnover is a fact of life in this business. For both of my panels, I was very suprised to learn that the vast majority of the audience were first-timers. I think it's great that TMC is attracting new blood, but it also makes me wonder where all the regulars have gone. I'm sure the weak economy has taken its toll, but am not sure if some people have moved on to other events, or simply dropped out of this space completely.
Regardless, the news from Miami so far is very good, and I'm looking for more of the same on Day 2.

So there you have it - lets hope the momentum continues - certainly the Facebook IPO news doesn't hurt, and here is to a few years of solid tech and telecom growth free from geopolitical and/or financial shocks to the market.

The Crowd Gathers to Enter ITEXPO Exhibit Floor

2012-02-01T23:09:11Z

Good crowd entering the show floor as it opens.

Win this Mustang at ITEXPO Miami 2012

2012-02-01T22:11:12Z

One of you will walk away with this shiny new Ford Mustang.

The details are below and it looks stunning in person. Good luck! Remember, you have to be present at 1:45, Feb 3rd this Friday to win.

ShoreTel Acquires M5 for Cloud Communications

2012-02-01T21:22:10Z

ShoreTel just announced they are purchasing M5 Networks - both companies have been past participants in ITEXPO - I happen to be here at ITEXPO Miami where we have record crowds. And cloud communications is a hot space as evidenced by the interest in the technology by purchasing conferees here at the show.

And this is the reason for the acquisition. Many will credit the simplicity of ShoreTel PBXs as well as their "networking" based approach to design and deployment for some of their success. Obviously they are better at marketing and PR than most communication companies as well.

But the future is the cloud and M5 has been a regional player for a long time and although they have expanded their footprint they don't have a strong enough brand to be the cloud-communications alternative to a strong brand like Cisco or Avaya. Now with ShoreTel behind them they have the money and the marketing expertise to be a serious player.

The biggest hit will likely be felt by 8x8 as they are a pure-play cloud communications company who has been getting a lot of investor love lately due to their great earnings announcements.

Cisco may now be forced to buy 8x8 and Avaya will likely make a move as well. This move could even push Vonage to go after the SMB space. Mitel is an interesting question - they have leading edge tech but a troubled stock to use as currency.

One thing is for sure - it will be an interesting time for M&A this year in cloud communications. And if companies don't act fast they may not get a chance to compete in the cloud because the cable companies are not sitting still.

Update 2/16/12: Doug Mohney has some predictions about who will buy and who will sell in the cloud communications space over on TMCnet. Here is an excerpt:

You can put into the “buyers” category Avaya (News - Alert), Cisco, Digium, and maybe Microsoft. Avaya talked a lot about the cloud at ITEXPO East earlier this month, so it can't be totally clueless to the fact that businesses are going to turn more to hosted services. Cisco has some cloud-based services already along with joint offerings with service providers. Digium (News - Alert) is likely looking around at this point because it may find that it needs to provide a hosted solution to its reseller base. Microsoft has been promoting hosted everything by everyone, so it may not want to upset its current relationships and offer its own-branded service to compete against its channels.

Sprint's Michael A. Rouleau Kicks off ITEXPO Keynotes

2012-02-01T20:59:16Z

The keynotes have started with Michael Rouleau telling the story of a company that has invented a flying car. It can travel 65mph on the ground and I think he said 115mph or 150mph in the air with a range of 450 miles. Hit traffic on I-95? Fly over it! He went onto explain all the issues this great idea has - $200,000 price tag, certified for both flight and ground, need for pilot's license, etc. Now he's discussing M2M examples. He said customers want something unique that solves problems. They want Sprint to invent things to hold costs down, increase multimedia capabilities, and improve communications leveraging the cloud.

Great Article on Bob Metcalfe's StartupCamp Keynote in Austin

2012-02-01T18:44:46Z

The PR Vibes newsletters are a great place to catch up on the news and gossip on industry events such as CTIA, MWC and ITEXPO. We are here at ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami and the good people at PR Vibes were nice enough to cover the last major keynote at the collocated StartupCamp which took place in Austin, Texas last fall.

Our keynoter at that show was Bob Metcalfe - a legend and a great speaker whose oratory skills are only outweighed by his massive contributions to tech and networking.

I don't want to steal thunder from Laura Borgstede and her crew so by all means check out the post right now - it is educational and informative and worth a read.

Think of it as an MBA course from a person who really knows how to start and run successful companies. Moreover - it is information from a visionary and executor - we know how rare this combo is not only in tech but in any space.

By the same token you must be at StartupCamp here at ITEXPO at 4:00 pm in room B217 of the Miami Beach Convention Center to hear Sir Terry Matthews speak on Thursday, February 2nd. Sir Terry is an awesome speaker as well - he is the perfectly blend of entrepreneur and visionary having been involved in over 70 companies.

StartupCamp has a lot of energy (maybe not as much as Sir Terry - that is a high standard after all) and is a "can't miss."

Location:Jackie Gleason Dr,Miami Beach,United States

ITEXPO East 2012 Exhibit Hall Coming Together

2012-02-01T17:32:07Z

The exhibit hall is coming together nicely here at ITEXPO in Miami. It opens in a few hours. We hope to see you here soon.

Digium Has New Phones. Now an Ecosystem Play

2012-02-01T17:16:06Z

Today at ITEXPO Digium announced three new phones and Tom Keating is really impressed based on his post today. But what really caught my attention is not the obvious - which is that companies are increasingly expanding into new markets. Its that Digium is adding custom features to their phones which can access core PBX functions for not only Asterisk but Switchvox.

So what we have here ladies and gentlemen is an ecosystem play - like the Apple app store or Facebook apps, etc. Open APIs are allowing companies to leverage the development efforts of a community for mutual benefit.

And boy is this great news for Digium - after all don't the developers LOVE Digium? Yes they do.

So the question is how closed will the D40, D50 and D70 phones be? And will other phones just pale in comparison or have equal access? We will have to wait and see if the community warms up to the D series of IP-phones or not. Then again, Digium needs to generate revenue and any developers questioning the move should realize that while open is great, generating increased revenues is better if long-term viability of your phone-system partner is important. And it is.

I look forward to seeing the phones in action on the show floor here at ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami.

Notification if in Bluetooth Range

2012-01-31T23:44:05Z

A great idea was just shared here at the Avaya Tech on Tap Event at

ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami. Imagine an app which notifies you if someone you met is within bluetooth range. This could be very helpful for a salesperson at an event like ITEXPO for example.

It would also be useful at a retail store - a gym, department store, restaurant, etc. Lots of possibilities and like with just about everything else - privacy issues.

Take it to the next level - this could be hooked in with Chemistry.com or eHarmony so if a compatible person is nearby you can both be notified. Services like this have been in place in Asia (sans bluetooth) where the carriers are on the leading edge.

Credit goes to Nick Jensen at Dialogic who shared this info with me years ago.

Enjoying New E-Mail to Blog Capability

2012-01-31T21:34:05Z

Hats off to TMC’s Tom Keating – in addition to his successful blogging and CTO duties at TMC he found time to program a more sophisticated email to blog script which supports categories and tags. The benefit for readers is that TMC bloggers will now be able to post more easily without needing to deal with cumbersome web forms. There may be many more short posts which based on the success of Twitter should make TMC blogs even more helpful for you.

Vertical Communications Speaks Up

2012-01-31T20:51:05Z

Vertical communications has been pretty quiet for a long while so I am happy they will be at ITEXPO in Miami this week. I am looking forward to catching up with the IP-PBX company which picked up Comdial, Vodavi and other big names from the past. Check out Vertical Communications at ITEXPO This Week for more.