So what is the potential of Skype.. ?
As we all know by this time, Microsoft has acquired Skype for not less than $8.5 billion last month. Industry experts had the opinion that this bargain could result in a very sophisticated integration of both the companies providing users with emphasized capabilities in remote communication and virtual conference capabilities. Having the power to create a unified platform for broadband communication and engage millions of businesses to use it as a ‘company-standard’ is indeed a great responsibility. However if managed smart, it could be an epic success for Microsoft (It is very much needed especially in the current era of Google/Facebook domination)
Apart from the tempting potential in the business, there are several issues to analyse before starting the change process. The biggest challenge might be the level of scalability for the service. Some days ago, many Skype users experienced serious difficulties connecting via Skype. Usually this would not be of much significance however from the perspective of businesses, meetings that are previously scheduled are supposed to be held at the appropriate time. As they work in a very fast paced environment, not having the service available could cause serious troubles and loss of confidence in Skype as well. If Skype wants to become the dominant player of the conferencing and business management market, such failures are unacceptable!
There is no wonder, that after the repeated service failure of Skype in the recent weeks, consumers are becoming doubtful about its superior service capabilities. In my opinion, if Microsoft will not be able to avoid these downtimes and provide real-time conflict resolution, they will not be able to claim the market leader position in this area of operation. In other words..
Will Microsoft be able to avoid/predict any system failures in the future?
When will then Skype be ready for non-stop, uninterrupted usage?
What steps should be taken in order to tackle these threats?
Let here be some issues and key areas of focus that could be taken into consideration when trying to implement an action plan. These milestones should or could be met in order to achieve a better service for Skype, hence create better consumer trust and preference. (HP = High Priority ; MP = Medium Priority ; LP = Low Priority)
- Guarantee constant availability (up time) (HP)
- Integration with other Microsoft products – full service capabilities (MP)
- Manage the syncing issues (historic sync, Facebook,Twitter..etc contact sync) (MP)
- Implement Skype features into Bing such as ‘Talk search’ (MP)
- Establish easy conference call capabilities on mobile devices (MP)
- Create a web-application for Skype so that users could use it from their browsers (LP)
- Launch a similar product as ‘Chromebook’ for calling and browsing purposes (LP)
To conclude, lets have a video about what Bill Gates have to say about the Skype deal :