THE PULVER REPORT(TM) Provided by: pulver.com, Inc. The December 17, 2001 Issue: RE-SENDING OF THIS NEWSLETTER TO ANY NUMBER OF COLLEAGUES IS ENCOURAGED PROVIDED YOU ALSO CC: REPORT@PULVER.COM; IN RETURN, WE WILL PROVIDE RECIPIENTS WITH A SUBSCRIPTION. YOU CAN ALSO VISIT http://pulver.com/reports/subscribe.html TO SUBSCRIBE. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, PLEASE VIST http://pulver.com/reports/unsubscribe.html ANY OTHER UNAUTHORIZED RE-DISTRIBUTION IS A VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are aware of others who would like to receive the Pulver Report please visit ( http://pulver.com/reports/subscribe.html ). To unsubscribe, please visit ( http://pulver.com/reports/unsubscribe.html ) 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (c) 2001 pulver.com, Inc., All Rights Reserved ========================================================================