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FMC uses convergence to make the virtual office possible. - Hassan Hamadani , marketing manager Middle East, Nortel

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The point is adoption occurs at a natural pace. - Hisham El Amili, general manager GCC, Mitel Networks

The situation is complicated by the absence of a single, uniform, worldwide standard for ongoing FMC adoption.

"There are, at the moment, no real formal standards to FMC. There have been several flavours of these standards, and hence user adoption has been slow. The other factor is that mobile services and devices have all gone in their own directions in terms of the various operating systems and standards on the phones," says Savio Dias, converged communications manager MENA, Avaya.

Rizvon is yet to adopt an FMC solution as he believes the lack of any real standards together with the relative unavailability of FMC equipment make it, for now, a risky investment.

"Telecom companies are not pushing towards FMC as they are already making huge profits. I do, however, believe that FMC is evolving with vast research and development happening worldwide. In the year ahead, this will have a significant influence in changing the mindset of vendors and consumers alike," says Rizvon.

In spite of the low adoption levels, just as Rizvon many people in the industry remain positive about the future of FMC among enterprises in the region and world over.

Hong is one of them and he believes that the limited form of FMC adoption actually demonstrates a willingness on the part of users to embrace these solutions.

"We have seen that people are willing to go out there and spend more money on these increasingly sophisticated and expensive devices. So obviously there is a market demand for these solutions, and the global market has shown that it is willing to pay for an FMC-like device. This is even happening without providing the users all the benefits FMC promises," he notes.

"I recall when fax adoption was low in the early stages and it was the same with satellite technology, and the same hesitancy occured with the mobile phone and then the internet. The point is, technology adoption occurs at a natural pace. It is also likely that the slowness of adoption is due to the wary association and collaboration between various vendors and telecom providers," says Amili.

Making the right choice

With the region's users increasingly searching for ways to improve efficiency, vendors are being called on to offer the right tools to do business with.

"I believe that the ability to understand the enterprise environment first would be crucial. You need to understand the business you are in and what you are looking for before actually setting up a solution. For instance, if the requirement is setting up your office but you will be on the road and need access to the office our one-X mobile solution would be something we would offer from the start," says Dias.

"As a rule of thumb, I believe customers should always invest in proven technology of the day and right now that would mean VoIP. This would be a first step in the right direction in order to add to and take advantage of increased mobility," says Amili.

Meanwhile, end-users in the region are demanding more from vendors in terms of direction and effective solutions.

"Before I make an investment in FMC I am going to require vendors to come to the same party. They need to do more in terms of educating customers and solutions providers in terms of FMC. I also feel that the region needs to become a part of the broader global FMC initiatives," advises Rizvon.

FMC is clearly not a new technology and while the initial buzz around it may have died off it remains a potential gold mine of possibility. However, there is a lot more ground to be covered, in terms of the technology standard, device availability, vendor initiative and end-user willingness to create an ideal environment for FMC to deliver on its undoubted promise.

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