That is only partly true. Their investment in technology behind the latest trends might be slow, but is significant so they will still have a role to play. With talk of convergence selling us the idea of integrated technologies way back in the eighties, we have become somewhat blas about how little has actually been done. The sad truth is that although, as an example, a significant number of companies actually want to move away from separate telephones and PCs, it will take 2 to 3 years for people to change the way they work. And some companies still have to be convinced to even consider this option.
Inadequate hardware equals an increased risk of crashes, equals lost time and lost revenue.
Consider some CTI applications that generate revenue, such as call routing. For every second the server is down, money is lost. The fault tolerance of the CT Server should be a prime consideration and include features such as hot swap PSU, hot swap fans and enhanced thermal management. Compare this with a good quality desktop clone, with an MTBF of 25-30,000 hours and the difference in basic reliability is immediately apparent. This can make it a confusing market, with conflicting viewpoints and advice as to which software and hardware is best.