Why Install Teams? Insider Lite | TalkingPointz

This week Google added Spaces and calling to Gmail. These capabilities are apps and services, but not clients. Google builds its apps and services to A) work in a desktop browser (clientless or thin client), and B) work in GMail. 

Microsoft is more traditional and sticks with its tried and true strategy of client/server. Microsoft-centric knowledge workers generally run two fat clients on their desktops all day: Outlook and Teams. Conversely, Google is able to roll-out new services as it pleases - Spaces will just magically appear to its users.

Google doesn’t have to create separate apps for Windows and Macs. Users (or IT) don’t have to upgrade their client to enable new services or apps. The browser-based desktop is more secure (less local data). And, the browser is easier to maintain, and requires lower spec hardware.

If Google can build and deploy advanced, UCC services without any desktop software, it makes one wonder why MS uses two fat clients. It’s not just MS, Cisco and Zoom also prefer clients. Meanwhile, 8x8, Fuze, RingCentral, Talkdesk, and Vonage (to name a few) do fine without clients. Not to mention other popular cloud services including Facebook, Amazon, Google, Salesforce, Netflix, and many more.

I give Outlook a pass. It’s been around since the 90s and client/server made sense back then. But Teams is relatively new - newer than Google and Facebook. It’s not as if software clients are inexpensive to deploy, support, and upgrade. So why does client/server still thrive in 2021?

Insider Reports are published the first week of every month to paid subscribers. They are typically about 10 skimmable pages long and contain all you need to know about UCC on a month by month basis.

Leadership changes: Sydney Carey was named as the first CFO at Talkdesk. Carey joins Talkdesk from Sumo Logic, where she successfully led the organization through an IPO. Mitel named several new executives: Carlton Geckler SVP, Global Cloud Operations, Marina de la Torre as VP Customer Success, and Mohammed Kasmi as VP R&D Service Delivery. Todd Zerbe, previously of Blackboard and ININ/Genesys, takes on the role of SVP of Engineering at Avaya. He is expected to replace Anthony Bartolo as Avaya’s Chief Product Officer. 8x8 named Alison Gleeson, former SVP of Cisco Americas, to its BoD. Dialpad named Lisa Banks, an SVP of Finance at ServiceNow, to its BoD.

Lots of channel changes this month. John DeLozier was named President of Intelisys. Bobby Hall was promoted to VP of Channel Sales at 8x8. Mitel named Daren Finney, previously COO at Citrix, as SVP of Global Channel Sales. Lumen appointed Dave Young as SVP of Strategic Services, which includes Channel now that Garrett Gee has departed. 

Voice is back and news from Google.