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Thank you for the detailed thoughts and very valid points related to what is “behind” an SLA.

Do you have survey results or other data related to:
- Costs to operate Cisco HCS versus other cloud platforms?
- Availability statistics of Cisco cloud solution versus other solutions?

Kevin

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Thanks for your comment. Good question. I think there are several factors someone has to consider, beyond SLA. Consider these:

- First, the cost of the SLA is directly related to the complexity of the solution the provider needs to integrate at their datacenter to supply the required services. So if your selected cloud provider does not have an open platform that has been tested and verified for all the services you as a customer need, it will affect the cost of the provider for the solution, and that additional cost will be reflected in the price provided to you. If you are looking for a price competitive solution to buy, you should work with a partner that has a cost effective solution to operate, is that simple.

- Second, the level of availability provided by the SLA is also dependent on the level of availability of the platform that the cloud provider is hosting. As a manufacturer of carrier-grade solutions Cisco has experience on delivering highly available and survivable solutions on the entire cloud architecture, from the datacenter to the network and of course the collaboration applications and services. Nobody else in the market can offer this end to end architecture. For critical workloads such as voice and video our customers require availability levels way beyond what typical document-based solutions offer. So in short, if the platform of the cloud provider is not really carrier grade, and the cloud provider has a fragmented solution from several different vendors with different reliability levels for their components, you can’t ask them to deliver the solution level of availability you have on premises today. Are you willing to sacrifice availability for simplicity?

- Third, most customers likely will find they need a combination of on-premises and cloud solutions based on unique needs across their organizations. So they should consider the inherent complexity of being able to choose which workloads and capabilities are better delivered from the cloud, and which ones it is best to keep delivering on premises… without disturbing the user experience. That is not easy. For highly regulated verticals such as Government, Finance and others, hybrid solutions are not an option, they are a mandate. Having a platform that allows the deployment of a hybrid approach without altering the way the users work is not a minor consideration, and if you work in an environment where multiple types of devices, operating systems, locations and user environments are mixed, your need to consider what platform the cloud provider is offering and test if what you need is what that platform can provide.

With regard to Cisco investing in partners that deliver FISMA UC Clouds, Cisco is working with the largest and most experienced partners in the industry. Our relationship with most of these partners is decades long and during that time we have worked together to deliver NIST compliant solutions to our Government customers in the USA. Since the collaboration solution is actually delivered by a cloud partner to our customers (and not directly by Cisco), I would recommend reaching out to your Cisco account manager or preferred partner to find the Cisco Powered Cloud Provider that can best serve your requirements.

Carl

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True people should evaluate UC solutions based on their specific requirements. For many organizations this does mean mobile and cloud.

Microsoft just demonstrated live the Lync Mobile 2013 client on Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac (in Safari browser) and of course Windows Phone 8 and Windows desktop. All these mobile and desktop clients included IM, presence, voice, video, and desktop sharing.

Clearly customers should evaluate both Jabber and Lync in the context of mobile.

Similarly, the Cisco and Microsoft cloud offerings, which both continue to evolve, should be matched with prioritized customer business requirements.

No one vendor is the right solution for all customers. The innovation from both Cisco and Microsoft is impressive and customers win as a result of this competition.

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http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/when-where-and-how-cisco-versus-microsoft-unified-communications

Evaluators should look at where UC is going (mobile and cloud) instead of where it has been in the past (desktop) and those are two areas where Cisco excels

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Thanks for your comments. We’re pleased to see this information is valuable and timely.

You bring up some of the key items that are top of mind for many customers. If you haven’t had a chance, we think you will find it worthwhile to read the the “Key Considerations When Evaluating an Enterprise Collaboration Solution” white paper to get more details around mobile, cloud and voice and video quality.

Regards,
Carl

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I have seen people screw up both Cisco and Microsoft voice implementations — in each case disappointing the CEO. Similarly I have seen excellent Cisco UC and Microsoft UC implementations.

Moving to the cloud is a great goal however in order for this to be evaluated you need to transform this from a “wish” to a measurable objective. Why are you looking to move to the cloud and exactly what measurable benefits will equal success? For instance, is moving to the cloud about cost savings? If so, how much do you need to save to prove success. Do you know how much you are currently spending?

Being a “little worried about” any solution is not sufficient rationale to justify an important and complex decision.

Many solutions can deliver excellent voice and video quality. The more important questions become …
a. what does “excellent” quality mean in your organization, and from which locations?
b. how much is the organization willing to pay for a specific quality level?
c. Is “good enough” quality or “good enough” SLAs worth saving $?

In my experience general statements like “voice and video quality are king” do not necessarily stand the scrutiny of the CFO who has to approve the expenditure.

Make sure you spend your $ in the right area to maximize the return on your investment. I try to outline a methodology to help you decide in this article: http://www.nojitter.com/post/231300501/the-goldilocks-approach-7-steps-to-get-to-just-right.

Kevin

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