I actually first thought of the scenario described below some years ago and shared it with some friends. The thought was that if anyone could pull this off and realize the full value from the acquisition, it would be Steve Jobs. The problem with this idea at the time was the company I believed they should acquire was riding a very hot product cycle and had seen their shares rise dramatically. There was also the issue of whether or not Apple was really committed to their TV strategy. As with every good deal, it’s always about timing. And I believe the timing is finally right.

So what do mushrooms have to do with apples? If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about Nintendo. And in the event you haven’t checked in on Nintendo in awhile, here’s a quick rundown. It’s currently in a product transition period. After scoring a runaway hit with the DS and Wii, the company is currently searching for and working to develop its “next big thing”. I believe this has positioned the company in a timeframe where a deal could be done. Nintendo’s market cap is currently around $17 billion and shrinking by the day. In a couple more trading sessions, the stock could be trading at book, which isn’t too far away. But the story gets better. The company is sitting on over $11.5B in cash and no debt to speak of.

The first part of this acquisition is easy to understand—Apple would pick up some great intellectual property and potential protection around the world. There is also the potential benefit of having access to new technology that Nintendo is currently developing in their R&D facilities that could be integrated into future versions of the Apple TV. Based on this piece alone I don’t know that the stock is cheap enough to do the deal, but there’s still more to factor.

Now here’s where I thought Steve Job’s connections, experience with Pixar, Disney and licensing would have culminated perfectly. Just think about the game libraries, characters and licensing that Apple would acquire. Apple could do one of two things with this: 1) They could swallow it whole and have a real game development arm or, 2) these characters could be easily licensed to any number of media studios creating an endless supply of royalties and a kick to Apple earnings for years to come. Who wouldn’t want to license this library? Do you think Disney, Dreamworks, Marvel, EA and others would be interested? Kids are already fascinated with Apple and this would only give them further reach and branding opportunities.

I am reminded of what Paul McCartney once told Michael Jackson. Michael asked Paul what was the best thing he could do with his money? Paul told him he had regretted not owning 100% of the Beatle’s catalog and that he wanted to acquire the 50% of it, held in ATV at the time. Paul said that owning the rights to great music was a good investment. Did Michael heed Paul’s advice? You bet he did. He went on to outbid Paul and others by buying the ATV library which brought with it a 50% interest in the vast majority of the Beatle’s library! I’m uncertain how this affected their friendship, but given Michael’s spending habits this was probably one of his best purchases ever.

While the Nintendo library doesn’t get you John, Paul, George or Ringo, it could net you Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach and much more. If you like this strategy (though the chart is ugly), you should keep an eye on Nintendo. This stock could still go quite a bit lower but there is major support around $10 per share. And I think anywhere around book is a good place to begin building a position regardless of whether a buyout ever occurs.

So Tim, if you are reading this, give me a ring and we can plot the takeover of Nintendo together.

* I currently do not own any shares of Nintendo at this time but may purchase some in the future.

Of the 8 companies I mentioned that were likely to be acquired 5 had either been acquired, merged or signed agreements to be acquired before the end of 2011.  One company split itself in to two pieces and I believe the other two are still in play to be acquired.  If you would have purchased this basket of stocks you would have scored a 21.3% gain easily beating the market in general by a wide margin.  If you could have somehow purchased shares of Skype or MySpace on the secondary market or simply avoided Sprint which was the real stinker of the group you could have done much better.  Take a look at how the M&A list performed below:

So to recap the highlights of last year’s forecasts M&A was definitely hot in 2011, the economy muddled along with uncertainty being a dominant theme, Apple did obtain the largest cap in the world shortly before the passing of Steve Jobs, smart phones and tablets continued to invade corporations at a rapid pace and Microsoft got it right with Lync being a breakout product for them.

So what about 2012?  Here we go beginning with M&A.

1)      M&A – I think M&A will cool down some after the blistering pace of 2011.  Most likely we will see smaller deals done as tuck-ins to round out the portfolios of larger entities.  The market is definitely ripe for IT service provider consolidation, security related entities, wireless players and for some more strategic cloud acquisitions where I expect the carriers to be active.

• IDCC – If you haven’t heard of InterDigital before don’t feel bad as they are not a household name, however, many of the brands you know and love have to utilize their patents.  With so many companies being taken off the board in 2011 including the acquisition of Motorola by Google the InterDigital wireless portfolio looks might impressive and the stock is trading just a little above its lows for the year.
• NOK – See a pattern beginning to emerge here?  Here is another undervalued wireless play.  This is also a major partner of Microsoft trying to compete with the market leaders Apple and Google.  This stock is trading close to or slightly below book value.  I think this stock could head lower first since Lumia has not done well but keep an eye on them.
• RIMM – I will not stoop to insulting die hard Blackberry users as I still have one or two friends that love them.  The problem for RIM is that one or two die hard customers here or there is not going to help them recover quickly enough.  But there is some good news.  Even though Apple and Google have been declared winners of the smartphone wars this will not stop Microsoft and others from continuing to try.  The market is just too big for them to walk away from.  Just look at HP’s ill-advised purchase of Palm not so long ago.  Sooner or later Microsoft, HP, Oracle, IBM, Amazon, Dell or someone else will decide that the market is just too big not to have a player in the game and with the market cap getting smaller by the day and no debt there is a good possibility that someone finally makes a play for the company this year.
• Here are a few more names that have good potential to be taken over in 2012:  InterNAP, Netflix, Sprint, Riverbed, Zix and Tekelec.

2)      Dot Com Implosion 2.0? – Though having real products, many of the Web 2.0 companies we know, love and hate have seen stratospheric growth and valuations.  While these are real companies unlike what we saw 10 years ago we now have some very big expectations to fill.  There are a number of high profile companies readying to come public and one has to wonder if the valuations that are being thrown around are realistic.   Just looking at the performance of recent IPOs in this space has to make one cautious at this point.  Perhaps the Facebook IPO will tell the story.

3)      Voice Recognition goes Mainstream – I know you have already heard more than enough about Siri but the bottom line is that everyone has been playing with this technology for years.  Microsoft has made huge investment along with a number of other companies and yet none of them has had the success that Apple has in such a short time.  This consumer driven technology will now find its way through every business.

4)      Windows 8 – Given that enterprises are still upgrading to Windows 7 the biggest impact of Windows 8 may be on either side of the desktop.

• Since it will enable PCs and Tablets to turn on instantly and potentially run all day, finally the Mac Air will have some legitimate competition.  I have also heard developer chatter about a number of Windows 8 powered tablets that have the power of a PC inside enabling a much wider range of applications than current tablets.  Look for Windows 8 to drive Ultrabook and sophisticated tablet sales.
• The Server side of the house will also benefit as Microsoft is boasting a greatly upgraded hypervisor.  While Hyper V3 will probably not match everything vmWare can do it should pressure pricing and provide end-users with more options.

5)      iTV – When was the last time you were really excited about a television?  I think there are legs to the iTV story in 2012.  Just look at Jobs own words on this the television experience as penned by Walter Isaacson in his biography of Steve Jobs.  Here’s what Jobs said: “I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synched with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”  I am willing to believe he cracked it and that the first product ships before year-end.

6)      M2M – While Machine 2 Machine (M2M) potential has been discussed for some time we are finally seeing a number of products begin to enter the market and fill a niche.  Even more interesting is that these offerings are beginning to be integrated with other multi-function devices meaning that this technology is about ready to go mainstream.  Look for a wide variety of products to deliver additional value to businesses across the marketplace but beginning with verticals.

7)      Smart Wallet – Mobile enabled payment solutions definitely have interest.  With both Android and iOS devices expected to come with Near Field Communications (NFC) chips built-in we could this technology gain momentum in the US very shortly.

8)      HTML 5 – With Flash biting the dust there will be a mad rush to HTML 5.  This will make many websites much more friendly to end-users.  The prediction is that the HTML 5 will cut down on the need to design customer downloadable apps.  This could make it easier for enterprises to deploy solutions but I don’t see the app store going away anytime soon.  There is too much profit motive and the benefit of control for it to disappear.

9)      Education – Will be greatly impacted  by the tablet explosion – look no further than our local librarians giving lessons on how to utilize your tablet with the public library system.   Even more amazing than the technology itself is the incredible amount of talent that can be pooled and captured on a single platform to make learning easier.  If you haven’t watched a Khan Academy lesson with your children or for your own benefit you just don’t know what you are missing.  http://www.khanacademy.org/ – They have topics on anything you could imagine including math, science, history and art with more lessons being added all of the time.

10)    Security – 2011 got us talking about custom malware attacks that seemed almost like something out of a spy thriller.  Expect even more custom attempts in 2012.  PII also will gain increased visibility as states, companies and consumers all become more concerned.

What do you see happening in 2012?

1. Overuse of “Visionary” –  If you have to describe yourself on LinkedIn as a “visionary” you are most likely not one. Let someone else call you this, and don’t post it on your profile. 
2. Bad Photo Selection – Because it’s your professional profile, don’t post a picture of your child, car or some other confusing image. The imagesize is small to begin with, and if I’m trying to remember who you are (especially if I only recently met you),  I’d prefer to see a picture of good enough quality that I can actually recognize you.
3. Self-Aggrandizing Thought Leaders – See “visionary” above.
4. Unsuitable Recommendations Requests –  Don’t ask for undeserved recommendations, particularly when a) you barely know them, b) they really didn’t do anything with you worth recommending, or even worse c) when they actually have a poor opinion of your work product.  Talk about an awkward request!
5. Connection Collectors – People who connect to people they have never met and have nothing to share are far too common. They often send a connection request with no explanation whatsoever or even worse they claim to have worked with you previously while you have no clue who they are.

What are your top 5 things not to do with LinkedIn or social media in general?

This year I will stick my neck out a bit further and get a little more specific with some additional themes and predictions.  I look forward to your feedback.

 1)      M&A Continues – Though I mentioned this last year, there are still some really interesting pieces on the board throughout technology in general and in the telecom space.  Most of the companies mentioned below will, in my opinion, either need to acquire someone or be acquired to stay viable. 

• XO –  Icahn tried to take it private a while back and does have majority control. They have some nice assets especially in some of their fiber-rich markets.  The question is what does Icahn want to do with this? 
• Global Crossing – Some of the best international assets and routes are held inside this company.  Keep in mind they have had a ton of financial issues in the past but have had the benefit of bankruptcy to clean some of this up.  On the downside, this company is still losing money and sports a negative book value.  Global Crossing would be a great asset for a number of companies trying to move upstream in the Global Enterprise space.
• Sprint – After completing what is perhaps one of the worst mergers of all time, the acquisition of Nextel wiped out billions of dollars of equity, added to debt, brought on a string of losses, caused additional customer support problems, destroyed employee morale, diverted investment from other key aspects of their business, and I could go on.  However, you can see that there are improvements being made and even with the $15 billion in debt (if you subtract cash on the books) this company still trades at less than book value.  Given that they are one of the major wireless players, would it really be surprising for the company to be reunited with Embarq at CenturyLink at some point or perhaps acquired by Google (which has been floated a couple of times)?
• Here are a few more names that I think are likely plays due to growth in the cloud, fiber assets or just ripe for consolidation:  Blue Coat Systems, Tekelec, NTELOS, Skype and MySpace.

 2)      Continued Uncertainty – As the recession rolls on (or at least its close cousin, the jobless recovery), it will begin to alter purchasing and business decisions differently even than previous years.  Companies will begin taking gambles they would not have even considered three to five years ago.  As companies are already operating very lean due to the recession, IT and other leadership will be pressed to continue to find ways to cut cost.  This will lead to opportunity for some but also cause many businesses to make risky choices that may not have been thoroughly vetted.

 3)      Microsoft Goes Three for Four –  After scoring hits with Kinect and Windows 7 in 2010, Microsoft finally makes inroads on the Telecom side. Though Windows 7 Mobile may be a bust, some studies have shown that up to 30 percent of Enterprises plan to deploy Lync server in some form or fashion.  There are still issues to be addressed but Microsoft appears to have finally gotten many things right.

• Virtualization supported in Lync Server
• Requires fewer physical servers (many configurations will need only one server compared to four in OCS 2007)
• Lync will provide single client instant messaging, web conferencing, presence, voice, voice mail, etc. vs. having separate clients in OCS 2007

 4)      Smartphones and Tablets Outsell Notebooks and Desktops – This isn’t the demise  of the desktop as we happen to be in a major upgrade cycle due to Windows 7.  However, phone upgrades are happening at a much more rapid pace than desktops and laptop replacements.  Pricing and ease of use makes smartphones and tablets available to a huge audience.  Almost every manufacturer has added some form of a smartphone to their line ups and there are very few plain phones left that can even be purchased today.  In talking with several customers, I have noted that many executives are planning to purchase large numbers of tablets for their organizations in 2011.  This makes me believe that we will see a slew of mobile computing applications for business on tablets by the end of 2011.  I don’t think there is any doubt why RIM and others are rushing to get their tablets out.  The question is whether they are too late with Apple already having first-mover advantage.

 5)      Security – Security will continue to be move up the IT agenda as general socioeconomic strains expose additional needs and requirements.  Mobile security breaches and management will become a major focus. 

 6)      Compliance – Look for compliance and standards to be a major cloud driver in 2011.  Many players are working as hard as they can to achieve multiple levels as quickly as possible. 

 7)      New addictions and ailments will be linked to high social media and mobile device usage.

 8)      Apple obtains largest market cap of any company in the world during 2011.  How does this happen, even with Exxon potentially having much higher oil as a tailwind?  We’ll see iPad momentum with new models, Verizon and potentially other carriers get the iPhone soon, a continued Mac-Halo Effect and the sleek Mac Air.  You never can discount what Apple might have coming down the pipeline.  Even from a valuation standpoint, when you subtract Apple’s cash from the stock price, you get a very low PEG ratio.

 9)      Mobile Photo Sharing – Social media photo sharing gains momentum in 2011 with almost every device coming with a camera. Timing couldn’t be better for applications like Instagram http://instagr.am/.

 10)   Crowdsourcing – Continues and gains major momentum crimping traditional agencies and attracting considerable talent from a large talent pool of disenchanted and displaced workers.

Let me know what think will happen in 2011 or if there are any additional technologies that are especially interesting. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I do own shares in some of the companies mentioned in this BLOG.

Solar

We are currently evaluating a solar system which would help offset peak utilization. Solar energy systems are particularly beneficial during times of peak electrical demand when powering, heating and cooling is at its highest and most expensive (in most cities this occurs at the hottest time of the day normally in the late afternoon). Utilizing solar photovoltaics (PV) to provide a percentage of our electrical generation will reduce our electrical requirement from the utility. While this is useful, we are also designing the system to provide shading for the rooftop A/C unites thereby creating an additional benefit through cooling and energy savings. Though the pricing and energy yield is still not where I would like to see it for PV, there are some decent subsidies and credits available which can greatly reduce the payback period. Now is a good time to investigate what incentives are available in your geographic region.

Warmer Datacenters

Network equipment continues to improve. The average operating temperature on new gear averages 81 degrees which is up from the average of 72 degrees in 2004. Once you get to warmer temperatures, you have many more options to cool your equipment and reduce the number of chillers.  However, you still need to move air, so a reduction in cooling offsets some of the benefit  as you will end up losing some density. You must realize that running at higher temperatures also causes your equipment to work harder. Fans must run faster and will negate a portion of your overall savings. In this case, power consumption increases as the cube of the fan speed. Say the fan speed increases by 10%; that could mean an increase of power usage of more than 30%. This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker.  Higher temperatures have other advantages–such as limiting the need to build extra CRAC capacity for redundancy since the equipment can run at a higher temperature in the case of a failure– just realize that as with anything – there are always unintended consequences.

Liquid cooling on the chip is an interesting technology but this technology is not mature and is out of the price range to gain widespread adoption at this time. For now, the deployment of this technology will be limited to supercomputing. Today, density is no longer the only driver. As you double the computer density, you also greatly enlarge the footprint of the equipment to support it.

Hot and Cold Aisle Containment

In this configuration, drapes, partitions and/or doors are used to seal off hot or cold aisles [PC4] in an effort to better control airflow and temperature. Many data centers are looking at containment which allows about 25kw to be used per rack.

Energy Saving Tips

1)  Look for hot/cold aisle designs

2)  Review equipment specs when making new purchases. It’s amazing how different, though similar, a product can be in terms of power consumption from one vendor to another.

              a.  Variable speed fans

              b.  Energy savings power supplies

              c.  Power management

3)  Review equipment to see if you can operate in a warmer environment.

4)  Consider replacing aging hardware.

As opportunities arise to change and upgrade your equipment or make modifications to your infrastructure, consider doing so with an eye towards energy efficiency, energy innovation and cost savings. The changes and investments you make today can be the subtle differences that translate into greater productivity and competitiveness tomorrow.

Rex Robo Legs – How about an advancement that could greatly increase the mobility of persons confined to a wheelchair? The Rex was designed so the user can transfer from the wheelchair into the robo legs, strap in and go. The robo legs are powered by battery and “driven” by a control pad and joystick. http://singularityhub.com/2010/07/23/new-zealands-robot-legs-let-paraplegics-walk-for-150000-video/

FireSheep – Have you heard how even the novice can easily capture social media credentials over WiFi through Firefox using an add-on called Firesheep? This proves the industry still has a long way to go in protecting the use of data. This type of tool creates a number of ramifications for companies and individuals alike. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/oct/25/firefox-extension-firesheep-wi-fi

Maintenance Debt – According to a recent Gartner study, companies are incurring an “IT Debt” totaling $500 billion this year. This debt is compiled due to tight budgets which have kept companies from upgrading their software. The report goes on to state that the debt could rise to $1 trillion by 2015. Besides the long-term debt, which may need to be paid later when upgrades are needed, there is an associated risk of letting the software get so out of date that tax, legal and various bugs and other security concerns result from the unaddressed issues and unaware IT staffs.

Canon Wonder Camera – “Never take a picture the same way again.” Should I shoot a still picture or a video? How about both, and never have to choose which one you want to take? This concept camera is something Canon thinks is possible to bring to market within the next 20 years with many elements of it making it to market even sooner. http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/07/06/canon.wonder.would.have.instant.focus.huge.zoom/

InteraXon Thought Controlled Computing – Look mom no hands! Though this technology holds potential for many applications, the company is focusing on deploying into the video game market first. http://www.slashgear.com/interaxon-shows-off-thought-controlled-in-flight-entertainment-system-0692861/

What have you seen lately that has you thinking about the future?

Definitions:

SIP, in itself, refers to the Session Initiation Protocol, which was developed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). SIP is a text-based protocol similar to HTTP and SMTP, which allows users to initiate interactive communications sessions. In this case, SIP is used to set up and terminate VOIP calls. The goal of this protocol is to be very simple and solve only a few problems while allowing other protocols to still do their thing. That means that SIP works well with HTTP, XML, VXML and even overlapping protocols with large market share such as H.323 and MGCP. SIP, though easy to work with, is not a magic bullet and still requires that the network be designed and implemented with proper QoS (quality of service) in order to achieve good voice quality.

What is SIP Trunk or SIP Trunking? The term “Trunk” has long been popularized by the TDM world as a circuit between telephone switching equipment which normally denoted a physical connection. In the SIP world, people use this term a little more loosely but normally it is meant to denote an interconnection to the PSTN, a SIP-based interconnection between IP PBXs (to replace tie lines), or a SIP port on an enterprise server (to support additional functionality such as voice mail).

Show Me the Money

Many customers have been promised large savings by migrating to SIP, and while this can be the case, it is not always a given. Personally, I am also interested in SIP due to the enhanced features and capabilities it affords, but the promise of cost savings often gets people more excited. The vendors know this, and often lead with this line of reasoning. One of the benefits of SIP is that you can move multiple data types including voice, video and data all down a single IP trunk. This often allows users to consolidate or eliminate traditional TDM connectivity. We have seen costs savings from 10 to well over 50 percent when customers properly implement this technology. Your overall savings will depend greatly on your need for redundancy, call traffic, number of locations, geographical footprint, hardware upgrades and the vendor integration required.

Is it for Everyone?

There are downsides to SIP such as limited vendor interoperability and testing. You will also find some carriers will only support hardware from a small number of manufacturers. Depending on how the solution is engineered, a company can inadvertently create a single point of failure which may not have existed with their previous TDM configuration. Companies with heavy regulatory considerations such as healthcare should also move cautiously to limit risk.

One of the simplest forms of Unified Communication is the function that allows us to click to dial a phone number from our CRM system or directly from Outlook. As in this example, the functionality is triggered by user interaction. CEBP surpasses this by allowing a series of simple or complex steps and processes to be completed without any human interaction, potentially reducing errors and latency. This is useful as traditional phone interaction often leaves users on hold for frustrating and extended periods of time, or with no choice but to leave pertinent information as a voice mail, suspended in time awaiting a decision maker to act upon it. CEBP applications can bypass these issues and can be used across almost all industries and verticals.

Let’s look at some the simple and more complex ways CEBP is being used today.

• Loan Application – Anyone who has applied for a loan knows that the process can often be tedious. By utilizing CEBP, the customer can be informed of their loan status at regular intervals and easily informed if additional information is required. Should additional information be required or data is found missing, CEBP can assist in collecting by providing an audit trail in the process.

 • Staffing – Any number of industries can benefit from notifications and coordinating flexible staffing needs. Think nursing, schools, or any number of service industries where staffing is often in flux due to occupancy or workload requirements. CEBP can analyze scheduling needs, contact employees, confirm scheduling, request additional shifts and notify management if potential issues are developing.

• Package Delivery – Deliveries requiring a signature often frustrate delivery personnel and recipients as well. Using CEBP, an automatic notification can be made announcing the package is within 1 hour of delivery, allowing the recipient to be in position to receive it. This saves both parties time and money.

 • Overdraft Prediction – Customers hate overdraft fees and by using CEBP, financial institutions can alert customers of the impending danger before it occurs. By implementing simple analysis, banks can notify customers that they are in risk of overdraft by notifying them via email, cell and sms.

As you can see, CEBP takes UC to an entirely different level and affords organizations opportunities to improve customer interaction to a degree not previously possible. What do you think of CEBP? Is your organization looking at ways to use it today? What is the best application you have seen? I look forward to your comments and what you think about CEBP’s impact in the marketplace.

I do think I have a bit of a unique perspective in that we currently own and operate a colocation facility, which offers customers the opportunity to assist in offsetting their carbon footprint with the use of Windtricity and have spent some time picking the brains of industry leaders at the forefront of the carbon war. Additionally, we consult with medium to large corporations on a daily basis so we know what they are willing to spend on, and we have our own discretionary budget which can be analyzed. We are presented with a variety of products and solutions that claim to be green from a number of angles. There are products with high recycled content, renewable energy options such as solar panels, energy efficient equipment, equipment with zero hazardous materials, and so on. How does a company filter through all of the offerings without a highly skilled electrical engineering team (who all happen to be environmentalists), for example, and still make sound financial decisions? To this point, our company’s strategy has been to focus on practical steps that are oftentimes good for both the environment and for our budget. Let’s take a look at some of the more practical things we have done and why.

Travel / Mobile Team Members – We have encouraged everyone who is mobile to have a GPS. While this is not often mentioned as a green strategy, it is very simple and offers time and gas-reducing benefits to the company and to the environment. To foster the use of these devices we have given away portable units to our employees and purchased mobile phones that often have this technology available. These devices not only save time, but according to study by Navteq, drivers with navigation systems use 12% less fuel and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 21%. With the prices of GPS devices plummeting, encouraging the use of them in our organization is a no-brainer.

Mobility / Telework / Telecommuting – Throughout my career, I have seen various managers struggle with mobility programs. Some have issues because they are used to micro-managing people. Others struggle with how to support an employee who may not have an ideal home office, and some are just not used to it. I once worked for an organization where I was one of their most productive people, yet often struggled with my boss over my official physical office hours, and how my physical absence might look to others. The company had international locations, so I often conferenced with our organizations from home late at night instead of sending impersonal emails. This resulted in stronger business relationships. I also found I was extremely productive working late at night because there were minimal distractions. Unfortunately, the quantity of work and quality I produced didn’t seem as important as the daily appearance at the office from 8 to 5. This is not to say that everyone should abandon the office, but there are many roles to play and people that can benefit from working at home at least a couple days a week. The main benefits of telecommuting and why we embrace it are:

1) Environmental – Reduces carbon emissions, reduces traffic, limits wear and tear on vehicles.

2) Cost Reduction – Take advantage of reduced corporate facilities, reduced travel time and general office overhead.

3) Staffing – Recruit the best and brightest. With multiple positions does it really matter where they reside? This is a big benefit for many employees who would not be able to relocate or have special family needs. This flexibility often increases loyalty and reduces turnover.

4) Increased Productivity – By simply reducing or eliminating travel time, there is a major boost in productivity. Many companies have also reported the benefit of reduced absenteeism. As I stated in the intro to this section, I actually found myself working much longer hours which served as an additional boost to productivity.

5) Disaster Preparedness – Allowing telecommuting also protects your organization by having a ready-made plan in place should H1N1 or some other unexpected event take place that forces key employees to stay home.

6) Find Out More About Your Team Members – Telework is not for everyone. Some people cannot manage their time properly and some roles are just not suited for it. There are also some beneficial social dynamics of the office that can be lost in a telework environment. But with video conferencing, in-person team meetings and events, it is possible to overcome this drawback. Another benefit is that you can see how your team performs when someone is not looking over their shoulder throughout the day which will offer you insights into their capabilities and potential when left on their own.

In my next installment, I’ll cover other aspects of green business such as purchasing strategies, solar and wind energy, and recycling. What is your company doing in these areas? What can others learn and how can they benefit from these efforts?

1) Videoconferencing continues to gain momentum and is finding its way into almost every organization.  With Cisco and Logitech making major acquisitions in this space it is clear where these companies are placing their bets for 2010 and beyond.

2) Mobility has been trending up and continued to gain momentum throughout the financial meltdown. With almost all applications becoming mobile enabled, the workforce now has another factor working in its favor to become even more distributed.

3) Unified Communications capabilities are now shipping with almost every major phone system, and now come at a price point that should increase adoption rates.  Adtran recently began shipping their UC solutions that are also interoperable with other vendors such as Cisco, Avaya and Nortel. 

4) Cloud Computing not only expands but begins to mature.  Small business and startups will migrate to these offerings due to their convenience and pricing.  Larger organizations will  build their own secure clouds with some experimenting with the public offerings.

5) IT & Telecommunications convergence and competition will drive M&A activity.  With the networking space hot, here are a few names that might do a deal in 2010:  Adtran, Extreme, Fortinet, Juniper, F5 and Riverbed with IBM being a likely acquirer of at least one of them. 

6) Social Networking begins assault on the enterprise.  Don’t look now but vendors are already announcing new offerings to try and create a market in this space such as Salesforce’s new offering “chatter.”

 7) Augmented Reality begins to pop up in new mobile applications and becomes a major buzz before the year is over. 

 8) Virtualization trend continues with new benefits being touted such as live migration (which makes extreme high availability possible at a more affordable price).  Older themes such as the virtual desktop will continue to garner attention due to lower administration costs and increased security.

 9) LTE (Long Term Evolution) hype to begin in 2010 as AT&T and Verizon begin launching their 4G networks to compete with Clearwire/Sprint. LTE definitely has promise but limited devices and initial coverage will keep this technology from taking off for at least another year or two.

 10) New taxes on Mobile, VoIP and Internet? Maybe not all three in 2010. But since they represent a large base of subscriber growth and relative economic health, it would not be surprising to see governments around the world look to see how new taxes on these services could help them reduce their deficits.

 Global uncertainty will surely play a major role in corporate spending and streamlining in the coming new year, but technologies and companies that deliver perceived value and return on investment have an exceptional opportunity to not only innovate, but to gain market share.

 What do you see taking center stage in 2010?