This is the fourth in a series of blogs comparing and contrasting the Microsoft and Cisco approaches to providing enterprise collaboration in the post-PC world. The first blog discussed the differences between a purpose-built architecture and a desktop-centric approach that needs third party extensions to make a working enterprise-class system. The second blog discussed how the two companies are approaching the trend towards “Bring your own device” (BYOD) to work. The third  blog discussed how the two companies deliver voice and video. This fourth blog focuses on the true cost to deploy.

No Free Lunch

A little after lunch time today at Enterprise Connect, Nemertes Research will host a session to present its findings on a topic near and dear to Cisco’s heart: “Building the Business Case for UC”. Drawing on data supplied by hundreds of IT decision makers on Unified Communications products and technologies, attendees apparently will “leave the session with a clear picture of the elements of a successful UC business case”.

Having this session right after lunch seems appropriate, since the session could easily be named: There’s no Such Thing as a Free Lunch.

As you may know, just a few weeks ago Cisco’s Rowan Trollope started a conversation about what matters in collaboration. The topic is so important to Cisco that we launched a web page to communicate our view on the key considerations in evaluating an enterprise collaboration solution, with a special focus on the differences between Cisco and Microsoft. So it is exciting to see the industry hone in on one of these considerations: cost and licensing.

Cisco believes that building an accurate business case for UC is increasingly complex. Capital costs and licensing are just the tip of the iceberg. What you spend on getting and keeping the solution running — the internal staff, training, third-party vendors and annual maintenance — matters quite a bit. Without a full understanding of all the factors involved in the real cost of ownership, selecting the right vendor and architecture for your organization may be an incredibly daunting task.

In a blog about the research behind today’s session, Nemertes’ Robin Gareiss calls Lync an “expensive operational proposition.” We think it’s important to note that Lync licenses are often Read More »

Tags: collaboration, Cost To Deploy, Microsoft, Microsoft Lync, Nemertes Research, unified communications

This blog is second in a series of blogs glimpsing into the future of video collaboration. The first blog was “Video Collaboration: Better Than Being There“.  We encourage you to follow the series and let us know your thoughts.

Have you noticed that there is a camera and a pane of glass available to you at ALL times? From your smartphone to your PC, desktop office phone, telepresence (personal or room system), tablet, and even your TV, the ubiquity and ease of use of these devices and capabilities are providing a platform to extend video experiences everywhere. The big challenge is in providing a consistent, high quality user experience across all these devices. And that is not all. With new technologies available today such as HTML5 and WebRTC, more web-enabled devices can quickly become video enabled (video fridge anyone? )

So the future of video is not Read More »

Tags: codec, collaboration, html5, pervasive video, smartphone, tablet, TelePresence, video collaboration, WebRTC

This blog is first in a series of blogs glimpsing into the future of video collaboration.  The second blog in the series is “Video Collaboration: On Every Pane of Glass“. We encourage you to follow the series and let us know your thoughts.

To say that video is changing the way we communicate and collaborate would be the understatement of the decade. In their current form, today’s video communication and collaboration tools not only improve interaction and help to foster better relationships between participants, but they provide non-verbal communication cues that already add significant value  to those interactions. They help to better gauge the level of interest, engagement and overall sentiment of those participating, and that is useful and cool.

But video collaboration can deliver more than that. We think that with the explosion of video-enabled mobile devices, the availability of cloud platforms and applications, and the intelligence of the network we can add context, content, scale and make video even easier to use. In short, we believe that video collaboration can be made available on every pane of glass, that video can be as easy or easier than voice is today, and — most importantly — for many use cases, video collaboration can actually be better than being there. Some of these capabilities are available now and others in the near future.  Let me share a glimpse of what video can do for you.  Let’s start by exploring how video collaboration can be better than being there.   Read More »

Tags: collaboration, HD video, video collaboration, Video: Better Than Being There

Businesses are increasingly providing their employees with options to work remotely; in fact, according to ‘The Expanding Role Of Mobility In The Workplace’ study conducted by Forrester, 52% of companies globally are now happy to support this important shift in working practice. And this trend is expanding; according to SalesforceRypple, it’s estimated that one-third of the global workforce will be mobile or based outside the office by 2015.

According to a SalesForce.com study in 2012, 96% of executives blame lack of collaboration and poor communication for workplace failures.  Addressing the communication challenges associated with these issues could be seen as expensive and time consuming – however, it doesn’t need to be. Cisco is enabling customers to improve collaboration through a solution that unifies different communication channels into one single tool.

Organisations are already beginning to see increased use of personal and company provided devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. Whilst this can increase an organisation’s productivity, it also creates internal compatibility challenges. Unless organisations embrace this change in the business environment, they could struggle to maintain efficiency and keep pace with the competition. Read More »

Tags: byod, Cisco, collaboration, jabber, remote work, telework

This is the third in a series of blogs comparing and contrasting the Microsoft and Cisco approaches to providing enterprise collaboration in the post-PC world. The first blog from Cisco SVP and GM, Rowan Trollope, discussed the differences between a purpose-built architecture and a desktop-centric approach that needs third party extensions to make a working enterprise-class system. The second blog discussed how the two companies are approaching the trend towards “Bring your own device” (BYOD) to work. Today’s blog discusses how the two companies deliver voice and video.

Suitable For Everyone or Restricted to Some…

We’re seeing more and more advisory labels on products these days that inform us whether they are suitable for everyone to use, or should be restricted to certain groups.  I’m wondering whether Microsoft should apply such a label to Lync? Let me explain, starting with Cisco’s point of view.   Read More »

Tags: business video, collaboration, instant messaging (IM), Microsoft, Microsoft Lync, Post-PC Era, research, survey, video, voice over IP, voip