8/7/2006 -- Cisco Systems Inc. might not be as long in the tooth as some of its competitors in the enterprise contact center market, but industry watchers nevertheless like its odds -- thanks in part to the changing nature of the contact center market itself.

"Although some of its primary competitors have been in the market 20 years longer, two shifts in market demand are playing into Cisco's hands. First, with enterprises increasingly looking to converge and standardize their voice and data networks on IP technology, Cisco's reputation as the leader in IP networking is a powerful advantage for at least getting its contact center products on short lists for new needs as well as for the replacement of competitors' installed contact center systems," writes Joe Outlaw, a principal analyst for contact centers with Current Analysis. "Second, Cisco is one of only a handful of vendors able to address both large segments of the contact center market: those seeking standalone contact centers solutions and those seeking full-suite communications solutions, including contact centers, to support their emerging unified enterprise communications strategies."

To date, Cisco has had some considerable success in the contact center space, primarily among small business and large enterprise customers. The mid-market remains an as-yet-untapped reserve for the networking giant. Cisco's association with all things IP, and the attendant association of many of its competitors with non-IP solutions, have helped to make it the go-to vendor for small companies that are just wading into the contact center waters, Outlaw says.

"The IP solution is seen as the future and TDM solutions are seen as the past, based on soon-to-be-obsolete technology. In addition, Cisco is so closely associated with IP that it is also seen as the future, while the traditional contact center vendors are seen as the past," he notes.

The challenge for Cisco is that while IP is the future, it's not necessarily the present, Outlaw notes. And in this respect, Cisco's close association with all things IP might actually redound to its disadvantage. "[W]hile it is likely enterprise contact centers will eventually move to IP transport, most companies with successfully operating contact centers are not ready or able to justify moving today. Cisco has been so vocal about the future of IP that it is widely perceived Cisco contact center products are IP-only. As enterprises do find value in adding point solutions based on IP, such as to support remote contact center agents, Cisco's products are not always considered," Outlaw argues.

And while Cisco's relative newness to call center competition hasn't prevented it from establishing a comfortable market foothold, product saturation could stymie its efforts going forward. "[T]he markets for large or sophisticated mid-size contact centers in North America and Western Europe are fully penetrated. Cisco is in the unenviable position of having to displace competitors' products to gain market share in these regions. Compounding the challenge is the traditional reluctance, even in good economic times, to spend money on contact centers, which many enterprises view as cost centers," Outlaw concludes. -Stephen Swoyer