The Jeff Pulver Blog: December 2001 Archives

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December 17, 2001

The Pulver Report - December 17, 2001

THE PULVER REPORT(TM)

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Hi All,

As I hope everyone is getting ready to focus on the holiday season,
I wanted to wish all the readers of the Pulver Report a happy, healthy
and prosperous New Year.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2002.

Warm Regards,

Jeff

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In this Issue:

- 2001 VON Industry Year End Closing Comments
- Spring 2002 VON: Registration is now Open
- Winter 2002 VON Developers Conference: January 21-24, 2002
- 5th Annual IP Communications Industry Executive Summit: February 5-7
- pulver.com 2002 Conference Calendar

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2001 VON Industry Year End Closing Comments

Prior to September 11th, the VON Industry was feeling the effects of
the telecom economy and I was keeping a score sheet of the domain
names which became available due to the lack of venture capital
available to continue the funding and vision of some of our friends.

A year ago it was clear to me that consolidation was going to happen,
mostly due to the number of companies playing in the same space,
going after the same customers. But watching it happen was harder
than expected. If there is good news, is that it looks to me that
the true bottom has been reached and since early October 2001, the
currency of the public companies in the VON space has started to
rebound and by the end of Q1 2002, the effects of this bounceback
should start to be seen. With some luck, we may actually see some
VON related IPOs again by the end of Q3 and during Q4 of 2002.

Post September 11th, with the announced commitments of both Sprint and
Qwest to support end-to-end IP Communications and purchase related
equipment, our industry was once again validated as a place to focus
on and as a channel which represented true sales opportunities.

While the number of active companies playing in this space will continue
to shrink until the next batch of startups become seeded, 2002 looks to
be the year that Enterprise telephony will become IP based in a more
visible manner. As a result, the opportunity for Communication
Application Service Providers (CASPs), who have staying power and who can
execute continues to look positive.

Venture funds will start to come back into our space in a limited
basis during 2002, and those friends of ours who are fortunate
enough to suck it up for a downround during the past few months
should also be around. Look for an increased activity of mergers
and acquisitions during the first half of 2002.

2002 will be a very interesting year to track since it is my belief
that by 2004 IP Communications will become the established technology
that is used for communications inside the Enterprise. During 2002 we
will continue to see purchasing commitments from MIS / Telecom/Datacom
buyers. As an industry we now have to worry about also being
the "establishment" and not becoming disrupted ourselves.
No longer should we be talking about "the future when". We just have to
learn how to deal with the fact the future has come and this has issues
all to itself. Like it or not voice is becoming a feature of
IP Communications, and will not be a service by itself any more.

One of the "costs" of becoming real and part of the establishment is
regulation. While the industry has been mostly fortunate to date,
and just last week we breezed by HR 1542 in Congress, the stage is
set for regulatory battles in Washington DC and in Geneva during
2002.

2001 will be known as the year that the IP Communications Industry
became the "establishment". Interoperability started to happen. At
Fall 2001 we had a successful SIPop! and plans are now in place to
hold the next SIPop! at Spring 2002 VON in Seattle. The Standards
Detente which appeared back in March 2000 has held throughout
the year. SIP has seen tremendous gains and I'm confident that
sometime in 2002 the commercial implementations will start to match up
with the vision and promise.

VON Trends

As the VON Industry continued to grow in 2001, it came as little surprise
to see the rise in the amount of consolidation which took place.
Look for this to continue at an accelerated pace in 2002. Given
current stock market conditions, pulverAID will be continued thru
Spring 2002 VON.

Top Fourteen 2002 Opportunities

The VON industry remains fertile ground for companies and people who can
execute, have vision and can provide solutions. Of course, the biggest
opportunity will be to be acquired. The VCs and Industry titans have
their wallets open and are always looking for companies that can execute.
Here are my picks on what are executable opportunities in 2002:

1. Solutions which help IP Communications traverse NATs and Firewalls
2. CALEA consulting inside of the IP Communications Industry
3. Mergers and Acquisitions Groups - but only those with an intimate
understanding and knowledge of the IP Communications Industry
4. IP based PBXs, NextGen Call centers and other Enterprise applications
which support voice.
5. SIP Application Development, Consulting and Integration Services Companies
6. Innovative "Applications" which take advantage of end-to-end IP networks
(Not sure if this is an ASP or a systems integrator for service
providers.)
7. Presence Management and Instant Messaging Solutions
8. SIP support in IP Telephony Billing Systems
9. The Class Six Distributed Call Agent
10. Voice XML tools & services
11. Broadband Home appliances that work (including Home Gateways)
12. Products that bridge together Mobile Networks, the PSTN and the Net.
13. VoIP Directory Services
14. VoIP Management Tools with QoS measurements.

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Spring 2002 VON: Registration is now Open

Spring 2002 VON ( http://pulver.com/von ) will be taking place
April 8-11, 2002 in Seattle, WA at the Washington State Convention Center.

"Early Bird" Registration ( http://pulver.com/von/register.html ) is now
open for Spring 2002 VON.

An updated conference schedule has been posted
to: ( http://pulver.com/von/schedule.html )

Note: pulverAID is available for Spring 2002 VON to past VON Conference
delegates which have attended our events since January, 1999 and who find
themselves gainfully unemployed on April 7, 2002. Past conference
delegates who were downsized and need to network in the physical sense
can apply for free admission to Spring 2002 VON via email. To apply,
email to: pulverAID@pulver.com.

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Winter 2002 VON Developers Conference: January 21-24, 2002

The Winter 2002 VON Developers(TM) Conference will be taking place
January 21-24, 2002 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel near the San Francisco
Airport in Burlingame, CA. in Burlingame, CA USA.

In addition we are introducing a new conference called: "Java in
Communications" for the Java developer community. This conference will
look at how Java can be applied to develop next generation networks,
interface them to legacy and back end systems.

Please visit: ( http://pulver.com/developers/register.html ) to details
and to register.

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5th Annual IP Communications Industry Executive Summit

Our 5th Annual IP Communications Industry Executive Summit will be taking
place February 5-7, 2002 in Maui, Hawaii. An updated
schedule for this event is posted to:
( http://pulver.com/execsummit2002/schedule.html )

To date over 65 industry executives have registered, meaning that there is
a limited amount of space for others who may wish to join us.

Please visit: ( http://pulver.com/execsummit2002/register.html ) to register
for this event.

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pulver.com 2002 Conference Calendar
( http://pulver.com/conference )

Events for the IP Communications Industry(sm)

- 2002 -

Jan 21-24 - Winter 2002 VON Developers Conference, Burlingame, CA
Jan 21-23 - Java In Communications 2002, Burlingame, CA
Feb 5-7 - 5th Annual IP Communications Industry Executive Summit,
Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii
Mar 19-21 - Spring 2002 PIM Summit - Sophia Antipolis, France
Apr 8-11 - Spring 2002 VON, Seattle, WA
Apr 8-10 - Spring 2002 Location Based Services Summit, Seattle, WA
May 7-9 - Spring 2002 SIP Summit, Las Vegas, NV
May 29-31 - EAT'M 2002, Las Vegas, NV
Jun 10-13 - VON Europe 2002, Helsinki, Finland
July 1-3 - VON Asia 2002, Tokyo, Japan
July 22-25 - Summer 2002 VON Developers Conference, Boston, MA
Sep 10-12 - Fall 2002 SIP Summit, Atlanta, GA
Sep 10-12 - Fall 2002 Presence and Instant Messaging, Atlanta, GA
Oct 7-10 - Fall 2002 VON, Atlanta, GA
Oct 7-9 - Fall 2002 Location Based Services Summit, Atlanta, GA
Dec 3-5 - Softswitch Expo & Conference 2002, San Diego, CA

- 2003 -
Mar 31 - Apr 3 - Spring 2003 VON, San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA
Sep 8-11 - Fall 2003 VON, Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA

Please visit: ( http://pulver.com/speak/submit.html ) for an
updated list of deadlines for speaking proposals at all our future
events.

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Please send your comments and feedback regarding this issue of
The Pulver Report to: jeff@pulver.com.

Jeff Pulver Tel. +1.631.547.0800
The Pulver Report Fax. +1.631.396.3996
December 17, 2001 http://pulver.com/reports

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