Although humility is an admirable trait, sometimes, if you don’t sing your own praises, no one else will.
And thus, we wanted to give our UC All Stars, the people who took the time out to help with our research, a chance to tell the world what they count as their proudest achievement in their business or work recently.
In a year marked by technological advancements and strategic growth, it seems these UC leaders across the industry have achieved remarkable milestones.
Strategic Growth and Market Expansion
For many leaders, growth and expansion was a common theme for a feeling of achievement.
Iain Smith, Practice Director at Insight, highlighted a dual achievement of:
“Seeing the growth of the UC Practice in Insight, increased 60%,” while also “being instructed by two of the UK’s largest organizations to support them in their migrations from legacy PBX solutions to Microsoft Teams Phone.”
Patrick Watson, Head of Research at Cavell, took equal satisfaction in seeing growth, saying his biggest achievement was “growing the Cavell research business to help a record number of clients.”
These messages of growth reflect a growing expansion of companies using UC services and new customers entering the arena as eligible buyers.
But for some, it’s not so much about new growth as it is about delivering for customers you already have.
Jamie Hughes, Sales Director at EvolveIP, pointed to customer satisfaction as a key metric of success, with his high being:
“Achieving an 8.83 out of 10 rating in the annual Partner Satisfaction survey.”
A sentiment Melody Brue, VP & Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, shared as she highlighted how “providing great advisory to clients and remaining a top-ranked analyst” was her crowning achievement.
Technology Deployment and Innovation
With AI having taken over almost every conversation in the tech sphere, UC included, it is no wonder that many saw technical innovations as a key indicator to be excited over.
Ilya Bukshteyn, VP at Microsoft Teams Calling, Devices, and Premium Experiences, reported a significant milestone: “Now over 1M Microsoft Teams Rooms deployed and actively being used.”
Released in 2019, Teams Rooms is part of Microsoft’s efforts to modernize conference rooms with hybrid meeting solutions designed to enhance collaboration across in-person and remote participants.
Other leaders showcased technical implementations, with Doug Schaefer, Chief Technology Officer at American Sound, highlighting his accomplishment of “deploying Pexip Infinity in Azure.”
Education and Community Engagement
With things moving fast in today’s UC sphere, several leaders emphasized achievements in education and community building, highlighting their preparedness.
Tom Arbuthnot, Co-founder at Empowering.Cloud, reported that this was through osmosis:
“Engaging with tens of thousands in the community across our events, newsletter, podcast, and briefings.”
Similarly, Neil Fluester, Director of Technical Marketing at Crestron, cited “launching Smarter Spaces Podcast,” a Crestron initiative focusing on creating smarter spaces, as his key accomplishment.
Professional Recognition
Industry recognition featured prominently among the year’s highlights.
Rodolfo Castro Aguilar, Senior Engineer UC LATAM at Newtech Group, celebrated a continuation of his efforts as an individual:
“Being honored again as a Microsoft MVP is a testament to my ongoing commitment to the tech community.”
Being a new founder, Craig Durr, Founder and Chief Analyst at The Collab Collective, detailed multiple achievements:
“This year, The Collab Collective achieved significant milestones… Notable highlights include content partnerships, strength of research, and how I was recognized as an AR Insights Top 100 Analyst.”
Chris Goodwill, Strategic Partner Manager and Solution Specialist at Symity, highlighted how being “selected as a finalist in the Editor’s Choice category at the inaugural UC Today Leaders Awards” was a highlight.
Not only is this an accolade due to the commendation he was given—attaining Highly Commended in the category—but also due to the weight UC Today holds as a publication dedicated solely to the news, developments, and trends in the field.
Looking Forward
Although our UC All Stars are proud of their achievements, the fact is leaders in any sphere do not rest on their laurels.
As our other UC All Stars pieces have shown, they have ambitious ideas and plans to execute over the coming year.
Although next year’s achievements will most likely be different, you can bet there will be plenty more to take note of with these UC All Stars.
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