Digium’s release of the Asterisk Developers Kit, an Asterisk based IP PBX appliance, got me thinking about the future of Digium and the Asterisk developer community. Until last week, it seemed that Digium was content giving away software to make money on hardware and support. Now it seems that Digium, flush with over $13 Million in Venture Capitial, might be changing their strategy.
For quite sometime I have been a proponent of appliance based IP PBX systems that look like phone systems, not a PC or a server. My reasoning is that the second phase of business VoIP adopters want to buy a box, not software. They want a box that looks like a phone system (whatever that is…), not a PC or a Server. Businesses can identify with an appliance. The Asterisk Developers Kit gives businesses exactly what they want. A low-cost, highly powerful, easy to use appliance.
With cash, press, a new appliance (that businesses will buy), and a robust developer community, it is only a matter of time before Digium goes from a business model similar to Sun, to that of a Nortel, 3Com, or Avaya. Rather then giving away software and making money on hardware and support, I expect that Digium will soon become a IP PBX system manufacturer and will build a channel of VAR’s and Integrators to sell and service a solution based off of the Asterisk Developers Kit (that will include much of the work of the Asterisk Developer Community). I do not expect this solution to be open, I expect it to be closed, requiring numerous certifications to sell and service it.
While some may think it is far fethced for a open source company like Digium to abandon its roots, a company can only grow so large on the sale of PCI cards. In order for Digium to continue to grow, to expand, and to give a generous return to investors they need a solution that scales. An IP PBX appliance scales, it scales big time.
What do you think about the Asterisk Developers Kit?
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6 responses so far ↓
accelzone - techie weblog » VoIP Roundup - Tues Sep 19/06 // Sep 20, 2006 at 2:17 am
[…] What’s Digium’s VoIP Business Strategy?Garrett Smith reflects on what he thinks might be Digium’s plan of action for their future. Digium is the company that offers the Asterisk breed of SIP-based open standard IP PBXes and related software and hardware. While they’ve been giving away their software, presumably to sell their hardware and support services, Garrett thinks that Digium may take a different approach now that they have US$13 M in venture capital. Go have a read. […]
SDWIM - Computer Tech Blog » Blog Archive » VoIP Roundup - Tues Sep 19/06 // Sep 20, 2006 at 2:18 am
[…] What’s Digium’s VoIP Business Strategy?Garrett Smith reflects on what he thinks might be Digium’s plan of action for their future. Digium is the company that offers the Asterisk breed of SIP-based open standard IP PBXes and related software and hardware. While they’ve been giving away their software, presumably to sell their hardware and support services, Garrett thinks that Digium may take a different approach now that they have US$13 M in venture capital. Go have a read. […]
VOIP Guide - How VoIP Works? » Blog Archive » VoIP Roundup - Tues Sep 19/06 // Sep 20, 2006 at 2:35 am
[…] What’s Digium’s VoIP Business Strategy?Garrett Smith reflects on what he thinks might be Digium’s plan of action for their future. Digium is the company that offers the Asterisk breed of SIP-based open standard IP PBXes and related software and hardware. While they’ve been giving away their software, presumably to sell their hardware and support services, Garrett thinks that Digium may take a different approach now that they have US$13 M in venture capital. Go have a read. […]
Smith On VoIP - Insights on VoIP Products and Services » Sangoma Now Shipping Enhanced PCI Cards // Oct 2, 2006 at 10:24 pm
[…] Sangoma, who is a direct competitor of Digium (creators of Asterisk), is making a strong run at the Asterisk market place by doing things the right way. Rather then spend money on fancy marketing, gimmicks, or quick hit strategies, Sangoma Technologies is simply making great hardware, that is ahead of the curve, that just plain works. With Digium seemingly shifting their direction slighty towards an appliance based solution, Sangoma is in a great position to gain a larger piece of the market, especially among those who already offer an Asterisk based appliance. […]
Top VoIP Posts of 2006 | Smith On VoIP - Garrett Smith’s Insights on VoIP Products and Services // Jan 1, 2007 at 11:21 pm
[…] The Future of Digium Revealed […]
Digium’s Future Lies In The PBX Appliance | Smith On VoIP - Garrett Smith’s Insights on VoIP Products and Services // Jan 30, 2007 at 10:30 pm
[…] Not that any of this is new as I have written about this emerging model numerous times, but when you add it all up, it is a logical evoolution. All of the pieces are in place for Digium to complete on a large scale, in every market with the big-boy phone system providers. PCI cards and technical support are small fries, compared to selling complete phone systems and supporting them. If they managed to be “very profitable” doing that there is little doubt they won’t do the same selling the entire solution. […]
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