<p>Providing reliable line of sight guidance on the Unified Communications market and the mindshare Microsoft Lync's adoption rate is easier to predict than a year ago. We've witnessed most IT departments assuming more responsibility and control for the communications/collaboration strategy across the enterprise. In fact, most IT executives recognize VoIP is only one component of an overall UC strategy and require an architecture that can easily integrate with their existing IT infrastructure like Exchange, SharePoint, and video conferencing. Moreover, the UC solution must offer the capability to integrate with back office business process applications. As such, the telecom manager is becoming less relevant every day when influencing a VoIP buying decision. In general, IT executives are expecting potential vendors to offer a comprehensive UC architecture that addresses IM, Presence, Mobility, Desktop Sharing, Web/Audio/Video conferencing and persistent chat sessions. Usually, the final vetting process comes down to Cisco and Microsoft and whether to go on-premise, cloud, or hybrid architecture. SIP Trunking is a critical component in how the UC infrastructure will integrate outside the enterprise's internal network.</p><p>Over the past 12 months, most enterprises see the competitive landscape as a two horse race when selecting a UC solution. While Cisco remains the dominant force for VoIP today by mid-size and large organizations, Microsoft Lync market share has grown steadily by co-existing with the legacy telephony platform. By not forcing the "all or nothing" approach on customers, Microsoft has been able to establish a solid beachhead with Lync and gradually move the client into enterprise voice. While on the other hand, Avaya with a large installed base, continue to lose market share to Cisco and Microsoft. IBM's Sametime product rarely ever comes up in the discussion as a competitive threat. I predict this trend will continue as businesses and organizations want to hedge their IT investments on safer bets like Microsoft and Cisco.</p><p>Integrating with Office, mobility devices, Outlook and Exchange is a must for today's enterprise. The move to Office 365 for Exchange/SharePoint/Lync coupled with on-premise Lync enterprise voice is in full swing. The compelling ROI and client reference case studies are too numerous to ignore any longer. Managed services for handling the day-to-day system administration is growing steadily as IT departments focus on supporting business applications and as they turnover communications/collaborationresponsibilities to the systems integrator, i.e. such Enabling Technologies.</p><p>Overall, UC is viewed as an integral communications/collaboration platform for integrating with CEBP applications to meet the functionality requirements of the users. Without question Lync offers the most open platform for developing CEBP applications.</p><p><a href="http://www.telecomreseller.com/2013/01/04/lync-thought-leadership-line-of-sight-provides-insight-by-bill-vollerthum-ceo-enabling-technologies-corp/">Keep reading...</a></p>