Setting the record straight on VCX, VoIP and UC&C

[#1]

By Mark Hilton, Product Line Manager LAN Edge Solutions, HP Networking

Last week, I read a CRN article by Chad Berndtson that may have caused some confusion over the direction of HP’s VoIP telephony product line. It takes some time to adapt to any shift in direction. Misunderstandings can occur. This said, I want to offer up some clarifying points.

At HP, we see VoIP as just one of the components in an overall UC&C solution. Our strategy in this space is to be the preferred networking infrastructure provider by providing market leading, integrated solutions with industry leading UC&C application providers.

Commitment to VCX and resellers

I want emphasize that we are fully committed to our reseller base that are key to our success in the market. This includes the segment of our resellers who have been successfully selling VCX.  

VCX is a great product—and we believe it can continue to have a successful impact on its targeted market. The VCX is a solid IP telephony offering that is most successful in the SMB space.

AllianceONE partners

So far, we have been doing joint UC&C development with Microsoft, Avaya and Aastra as part of our AllianceONE program. In the case of Microsoft and Avaya, we’ve developed unique products based on our zl services module. You can find more information on these products here.

We leave it to our resellers to chart the best course for their business. We then support them through interoperability, open standards and migration guides if that course takes them away from VCX over time. Our networking programs are currently deployed worldwide supporting VoIP & UC&C solutions from Mitel, Shortel, Aastra, Microsoft, Avaya, Alcatel Lucent and Cisco, to mention just a few.

VCX future

We will continue to sell the full VCX portfolio and will provide any updates necessary to keep its quality high and ensure its continued availability as long as we see demand for the product. We believe this demand can continue on for years into the future. The term” maintenance” mode as used in the CRN article does not mean we are shutting down the product line.       

After the upcoming spring release, we will have completed the features that we originally set out to provide for the target market. This will allow us to divert some of our R&D resources to other areas of our business to help us to drive further growth. We strongly believe this shift is not only in the best interest of HP but also our resellers and end customers as the market trends toward UC&C and cloud solutions.

As with all products, the VCX will eventually reach the end of its useful life just as the NBX did. At that time we will announce our intention to end the sale of VCX. That time is not now. Even after an eventual end of sale, we will offer continued hardware and software maintenance to support the installed base as well as support for migration to other market leading solutions.

» VCX Unified Communications Platforms 

» HP Networking: The Rules Have Changed 

» HP Instant-On Enterprise

[#2]

You guys might want to reach out to your resellers and reassure them that HP is still behind the VCX platform.

I've talked with two resellers, one of which is CDW and they were up in arms about what happened when HP took over 3Com's telephony line.

My local reseller waited almost a year before he had to drop from the 3Com/HP reseller program because he had no clear path or answers from HP.

I love the 3Com products, I've worked with the NBX 100, NBX 3000 and VCX 7000's They all kick everyone else's butts out there. I"ve used Avaya, Shoretel, Switchvox and Cisco. I wanted to dump them all for 3com.

[#3]

Leo, thanks for the comment.  We also feel the VCX is a solid product line and  are currently working closely with our reseller community so they fully understand our position and commitment to their businesses and the VCX line.

[#4]

Our company was a 3Com VCX IP Telephony Elite partner. with the new HP plan for voice solution, how can we recover this status?
regarding the HP Certification Program the IP Telephony Integration certification is reserved only for USA and as...ia region?
Actaully we have a need to migration our old 3Com certifications to a new HP Label? please do you have any clarification about this point?

Our local HP channel in morocco is not yet updated about this change.

[#5]

Adil,

Probably best to contact me directly via email and will get you a regional contact.

hilton@hp.com

[#6]

VCX is the only rock-solid, survivable IP-PBX in the market today and many customers value that highly. In addition, it is very high function and as SIP-compliant as the current standards permit. I really think HP is missing a trick in not singing its praises more highly and in converting the remaining modules (Conferencing, Telecommuting) to HP hardware. By all means team with Microsoft at the high (and complex) end but if ever there was an opportunity to take on Cisco at their own game in SMB then this is it.

[#7]

For a fresh opinion on the importance of Microsoft and other AllianceONE partners to HP's strategy, you might want to check out the etherealmind posting here: 

http://etherealmind.com/hp-closing-vcx-ip-telephony-microsoft/

[#8]

Mark - Could you provide a roadmap for the VCX? When would the VCX go EOS and EOL? The VCX plays a very serious and important role for us as a social service agency. Our VCX serves 1000 users in various administraive and residential settings. For budget strapped organizations that are NOT looking to change their telephony infrastructure, I do not want to be in a position to make a very expensive and complex change.

[#9]

Hi Ron,

To address your question on the VCX roadmap and future.   HPN will continue to sell and support the VCX portfolio for the foreseeable future. VCX software releases including  IP Conferencing 9.0 and VCX 9.8 are planned for the first half of 2011 and will complete the intended VCX feature set. Future releases will focus on maintaining product quality and we believe the offering will continue to be competitive for some time into the future for the intended market.

While we do not expect any need to end the sale (EOS) of VCX for some time, should that need arise in the future due to market conditions, HP Networking will continue to support the VCX product portfolio with bug fixes in the form of maintenance releases well beyond the actual EOS date.

HP's UC&C objective is to offer the industry’s best infrastructure to support a broad range of standards based solutions optimized for our customers business needs. For this reason HP has established strategic alliances with market leading UC&C vendors through the HP AllianceONE program. VCX's standard-based capabilities will hopefully allow for integration with HPN partner solutions.  Since the 3Com acquisition, HP Networking has targeted SMB customers with the VCX,  these typically include education and local/state governments without overly complex enterprise requirements.  

Let me add some more details what we are launching,  IPC 9.0 will give customers the option to buy an HP ProLiant DL conferencing server platform along with some new conferencing features.  VCX9.8 will provide MS OCS and MS Lync 2010 mediation server interoperability using Direct SIP along with Exchange UM integration and support for HP DL360G7 V7205 servers.  Some interesting features we'll bring to market with VCX 9.8 include Simultaneous Ring, Scheduled VCX Backups, MIB enhancements for IMC VSM and several other features.   I provided a brief demo at the Enterprise Connect event in Orlando, Florida and thats posted on the HP Networking Blog.    The intent of the demo I gave was to show that customers need not do a forklift upgrade or migration to MS Lync, they can augment their existing VCX deployment and have somewhat of a 'hybrid' solution allowing VCX customers to maintain their investments in IP Phone technology and the VCX servers and at the same time take advantage of MS Lync, and also MS Exchange UM (not demo'd).  Furthermore, VCX 9.8 will be a free upgrade for VCX customers running VCX9.0+ and will be supported on most prior VCX IBM server platforms. 

Ron, hope this helps, for any other questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly by email.

[#10]

Would it be fair to say that if an enterprise size customer approached HP now with a requirement for an IP telephony solution for 500+ users, you would recommend using Microsoft OCS and Polycom SIP handsets?

http://grahamsblog4444.blogspot.com/

[#11]

If an enterprise approached us today with this need, and didn’t already have a VCX solution – we’d work with them to understand their business needs, and after that might propose a Microsoft OCS/Lync based solution with Polycom handsets; or perhaps an Aastra, Avaya or Alcatel-Lucent based solution.

HP’s TS group have a number of services that can help determine the best fit, and work with all of the above mentioned telephony vendors. HP’s services team can also offer UC&C as a managed service.

[#12]

I would definitely appreciate the business model these guys have adopted. Let me know if these devices are compatible with voip providers like axvoice, vonage etc. 

[#13]

HP's TS organization can provide design and implementation services to service providers such as axvoice and vonage and would be able to propose an optimal solution leveraging the broad portfolio from HP and our AllianceONE partners such as Microsoft, Avaya or Alcatel Lucent.

[#14]

In an ever-evolving market it's good to see some commitment to the reseller.

Whether or not the resellers will be convinced by these pledges remains to be seen, but they definitely seem to me to be honest commitments.

Technology like this looks like a big risk to some people; it can be seen as a gimmick by end-users (even by end-users who should know better), by the middle-men, and by the company making it if it's not their primary focus. And of course it can also be seen as being seen as a gimmick by end-users and the manufacturer, even if it is not, which throws up its own problems.

Thanks for the clarification,

Yours sincerely,

Peter.

[#15]

Thanks for your note Peter. We are committed to our reseller base as stated in my blog. We just launched a new partner program enhancement as evidence of that durint our HP Discover event in Vienna. During this past year we released Microsoft Lync compatible phones which work with our Microsoft Lync Survivable Gateway offering. The VCX is continuing to sell worldwide and we have solid transition strategies for those customers desiring to move to one of our partner-based solutions such as Microsoft's Lync solution which provides a more robust future roadmap than VCX.