So, if H.323 has been around for so long, where are all the applications?
I did a search on google last week, as I am want to do from time to time.
I use google not just to find stuff out, but as a market proxy. What's a market proxy? It's a meta-market – a source of information about markets or market ideas. Google, in this role acts as a possibly-statistically-significant but not necessarily true, representative of the human universe.
In other words, it's a 'buzz-o-meter.' Do a search on something, recording the number of results obtained. Then, do a search on something else, recording the number of results obtained. For example, do a search on 'USA ' and you'll get an estimate from google of 307 million references. [In October 2006, it was 1.7 billion references.]
Now try 'Canada ' and you'll get 246 million. [In October 2006, it was 1.5 billion references.]
Now try 'UK ' and you'll get 775 million references including some 5 million images. [In October 2006, it was 2.4 billion references.]
Finally, try 'US ' and you'll get an estimate of 1.47 billion references. [In October 2006, it was 8 billion.]
So, I did one on applications, but not just any applications: SIP applications, H.323 applications and even Cisco Skinny Call Control Protocol. Here's my results from the buzz-o-meter:
- SIP Applications = 1.23 million [10.8 million in October 2006.]
- H.323 Applications = 0.27 million [2.2 million in October 2006.]
- Cisco SCCP Applications = 0.01 million [0.15 million in October 2006.]
Clearly, applications running on proprietary protocols like Skinny, are not going to attract the same volume of 'buzz' as you'd expect from a technology that transcends the enterprise and carrier domains. H.323 is simply too hard to implement conveniently. SIP applications win the great 'buzz-o-meter' score.
