Prognostications

I had the opportunity to brief an analyst for one of the better known firms this week. In the interest of discretion, I will name neither the person nor the firm, but the conversation ran over an hour, was broad ranging, and I believe intellectually honest on both sides.

One thing that comes strikingly through in my conversations with analysts is how opaque the entire Hosted VoIP category (CaaS, UCaaS -pick your term) is to both those of us "in it" and those of us "watching it". This analyst, who I considered very knowledgeable and had been an observer of this market for quite some time, openly admitted that their predictions about its growth rate and size to this point have been off - and clearly on the low side.

Based on that history, their forecast for the upcoming year was shaping up to be - shall we say - grim.

When asked my view on that outlook, my perspective was (as it often is) contrarian. My case is simple. In a capital-constrained market, the only projects that are likely to move forward are those that first, don't require incremental funding and secondly, those that offer immediate operational savings. That describes the hosted model to a tee - at least in my mind.

Evidence for the case - we just completed an RFP for a large firm that is considering a move to UC, but is constrained by the exact limitations I outlined above.  Our proposal will result in an immediate 20% reduction in monthly operating expenses, and an upfront six-figure cash rebate and brand new VoIP equipment without the outlay of a single capital dollar on their part. All with the addition of some of the most advanced Unified Communications functionality available today.

What reason could there be for not moving forward with that project? More capability, more functionality, new equipment, less expense and cash back now.

So there is the reason for my contrarian thinking about our prospects in these difficult economic times. Contrary to this particular analyst's predictions, I believe that the hosted unified communications model that Cypress offers represents exactly the kind of IT projects that are being considered and done right now. The financial imperatives of the day may give rise to folks who would not normally consider hosted as an option, taking a long hard look at it.

Then again, I tear up every time I read "Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus". So never trust an incurable optimist.