Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt - Dispelled
If you are new to the Open Source market space and to "software" PBX systems, you'd likely got questions. Or worse, perhaps you have heard negative statements or opinions that give rise to feelings of fear, uncertainty or doubt about how "safe" or "real" Open Source-based IP PBX systems like Asterisk are.
Like most things, IT people have an acronym for that type of negative statement or opinion. We call it "FUD". FUD is often either misleading, or a weapon. Many times it is both.
FUD can be dangerous because it is often misleading. For example, if you felt that the only way to be "safe" with your technology investment was to spend 30% more than you really had to, that's dangerous. It negatively impacts your budgets and therefore your company's profitability.
Likewise, it can be used as a weapon. How many times has "you get what you pay for" been used to convince someone to needlessly spend more money than they had to to assuage the spectre of implied unreliability?
Let's take a few minutes to review some of the latest research from one of the most respected voices in the telecommunications industry: The Eastern Management Group.
Three decades ago, at the dawn of a highly competitive telecommunications industry, The Eastern Management Group was formed. Following a vision, they forged the first global telecommunications industry consulting services and market research firm. Since their beginning in 1979 they have experienced remarkable growth. They now have more than 450 clients. Over 2500 assignments have been performed in every region of the globe. They have played a part shaping an industry that is one of the largest in the world. They have also been recognized for our effort along the way. From the beginning, authorities like Fortune magazine called them The Leading Analyst, and numerous others have followed over the years.
“Nobody is using Asterisk”
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According to EMG research, non-traditional IP-PBX installs are growing rapidly. In 2007 – 2008, growth was a staggering 40%. In the first half of 2009 alone, another 30% surge in the Open Source PBX market was seen by EMG researchers. The Open Source PBX market is estimated at a total of 1.2 billion dollars US. In North America alone, 2.9 million new lines or station end-points were put in place with Open Source PBX systems. That gives a share of eighteen percent (18%) of the total North American telephony market alone. |
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“Well, for enterprises, its just as expensive as traditional proprietary PBX systems”
According to EMG research, not so. Per end-user seat, the price for Proprietary PBX systems falls into a window of $700 to $1000. The same feature set, delivered with Open Source systems, falls into a window of $400 to $600, per end-user seat. That means that on a typical enterprise PBX of 54 seats:
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Technology |
Seat AVG Cost, CAD |
Seat AVG Cost, USD |
PBX Cost, CAD |
PBX Cost, USD |
|
Proprietary PBX |
$944.44 |
$850.00 |
$51,000.00 |
$45,900.00 |
|
Open Source PBX |
$555.56 |
$500.00 |
$30,000.00 |
$27,000.00 |
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|
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Difference: |
$21,000.00 |
$18,900.00 |
“I thought Open Source PBX's were only for small shops that were primarily technology companies?”
Again, no. Surveys done by the Eastern Management Group show that the average customer size is fifteen (15) distinct geographic locations; that's an enterprise customer. More than forty percent (40%) of new Open Source PBX installs are going into traditional, non-technology companies around the globe.
“Those are just 'one-off' projects, though, right?”
Not at all. In fact, most of the customers surveyed by EMG reported that while the first new Open Source PBX was small, an overwhelming number of them had been so happy that they installed a second, larger system to work with/ compliment the first.
“Yes, but those are all companies that never seriously considered a conventional, proprietary PBX system”
In fact, what EMG found was just the opposite. Proprietary PBX systems were considered and in the bid list for at least half of the companies that finally went with an Open Source PBX. The losers list is a who's-who of telecommunications: Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, 3Com, Alcatel, Panasonic, ShoreTel, Siemens... and they lost to Open Source PBX systems.
Of the customers surveyed who opted for a Proprietary PBX system, more than 37% had seriously evaluated Open Source PBX systems as a viable alternative for purchase. Open Source PBX systems are seriously considered to be “in the running” almost everywhere.
“But all the features I'd get with a conventional, proprietary PBX system have to be paid for or hand-written, and that's expensive, right? Hidden costs?”
No. In fact, you may find that “out of the box” Open Source PBX systems deliver more features standard than some Proprietary PBX systems with all the options available enabled! A standard feature list with an Asterisk-based IP PBX looks like:
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Agent Call Queues Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Multiple Extensions Per Phone Paging Whisper/ Barge Call Recording FAX to Email, Print to FAX gateway services |
“Its not as reliable as a proprietary PBX system though”
If you work with a quality integration consultant such as JKL-5, who works with quality partners such as Xorcom, Indosoft, and Counterpath, we can deliver vaunted “five-nines” up time for your enterprise telecommunications. Reliability; price; exceptional support -- choose all three.
JKL-5 Group -- Providing Enterprise telephony without an Enterprise price
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