The era of software based UC is here and we should expect to see more innovation faster than we ever have before.

If WebRTC was the Day 1 theme of Enterprise Connect, it seems that “software” was the Day 2 theme. The day started off with Cisco making a number of announcements regarding its software positioning. Specifically the company announced the following:

* Software that can understand the type and the amount of resources required to support a collaborative session and then adjust those resources on the fly. This will allow customers to optimize resources, which ultimately makes collaboration more cost effective.

UC has finally reached the level of penetration where management must become a bigger part of the deployment.

I, like so many of you reading this blog, are at or heading to Orlando for the 2013 edition of Enterprise Connect. It appears we’ll have the normal hot themes such as video and Cisco versus Microsoft, but UC management should rear its head this year in a much bigger way. I’ve got a number of sessions related to UC management including Tuesday at 4:45 (UC? Mobility? FMC? BYOD? SIP Trunking? Video? WebRTC? It’s Time to Take Control), Thursday 8am (Software Defined Networks: Impact on Communications) and Thursday at 9am (UC Management: Does it Really Exist?)

Give home workers the right tools, and you’ll have a more productive workforce than ones you force to commute up and down 101 on a daily basis.

It’s been pretty widely publicized now that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer issued an internal memo that gave employees a “come into the office or quit” ultimatum. I read Mel’s blog on this topic where she questioned the wisdom of this decision, which seemed especially odd considering that many of the Yahoo tools such as chat, presence and email should actually make remote working easier.

I kind of understand where Mayer is coming from. I do believe that, if not managed correctly, remote working can be a silent killer of productivity. Remote users often feel socially isolated from the rest of the organization and don’t speak up or participate as much as individuals in the office. However, the solution to this isn’t to just cut off remote working. Instead, look for tools that can close the gap exists in the world of UC.

Breaking down the different areas of communications–voice, video, conferencing, mobile and more–and seeing how the 2 vendors stack up.

All eyes are on San Diego this week as the Microsoft Lync conference kicks off. And regarding the Cisco versus Microsoft debate that has risen over the past few years–this has become the tech industry’s version of Red Sox–Yankees.

Every survey I have seen over the past couple of years, including a Tech Target one I ran towards the end of 2012, points to Cisco being the most preferred UC solution provider, with Microsoft hot on their heels at #2. Avaya holds down with a strong #3 and then everyone else is fighting for table scraps. Understand, the surveys I have run look more at current preference than market share, as Lync is a still a minority share holder when it comes to UC.

The company now has the right products, some low hanging fruit with Lync and a channel that’s motivated to capitalize–so all it needs to do is execute.

Last week I attended Polycom’s TEAM conference, that is, its global sales and partner conference in one of my favorite cities, Vancouver, BC. In addition to being home of the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver is where many Canadians feel the sun, the sky and the earth all come together. One can golf in the morning under a beautiful sunny sky then go night skiing on one of the local mountains. It all comes together in Vancouver. So it’s fitting that this be the venue that Polycom kicks off its next chapter, as its new product, channel and go-to-market strategies come together.