We have all seen the Cisco mobile post by Michael Smith about how he was underwhelmed by Microsoft’s Lync mobile solution or the Cisco versus Microsoft post by Zeus but what are they not telling you about the Cisco’s solution? What does Cisco not want you to know?
To quote Michaels blog, “With Cisco Jabber, the UC capabilities are consistent across PC, Mac, tablets and phones.” But is it really? Lets take a look.
Cisco’s PC and MAC Story
While this blog post is mainly focused on Mobility I just wanted to highlight that Cisco’s patch work of clients tie you to their only available web conferencing solution and how Michaels statement really is a stretching the truth. And to be exact if I were to remove WebEx because Michael distinctly calls out Jabber it looks some what of a different story
With WebEx support:
| Windows | Mac | |
| Presence | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| IM | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| VoIP | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| Voicemail | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| Video | CUPC or WebEx | WebEx only |
| Desktop Sharing | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| App Sharing | WebEx | WebEx |
| Web Conferencing | WebEx | WebEx |
| Federation | IM/P Only | IM/P Only |
| VPN Less Connect | No | No |
Without WebEx:
| Windows | Mac | |
| Presence | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| IM | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| VoIP | CUPC | Jabber for Mac |
| Voicemail | CUPC/Jabber | Jabber for Mac |
| Video | CUPC/Jabber | No |
| Desktop Sharing | CUPC/Jabber | Jabber for Mac |
| App Sharing | No | No |
| Web Conferencing | No | No |
| Federation | IM/P Only | IM/P Only |
| VPN Less Connect | No | No |
So, no WebEx cloud = no Web Conferencing. Or do we need another client for that or is that another “it’s coming” moments?
Cisco’s Smartphone and Tablet Consistency
Below is what Cisco Jabber currently offers across the most popular platforms.
| iPhone | iPad | Android Phone/Tablet | |
| Presence | Jabber IM for iPhone | No ( iPhone client) | No |
| IM | Jabber IM for iPhone | No ( iPhone client) | No |
| VoIP | Jabber Voice for iPhone | No ( iPhone client) | Jabber for Android |
| Voicemail | Jabber Voice for iPhone | No ( iPhone client) | No |
| Video | WebEx for iPhone | WebEx for iPad | No |
| Desktop Sharing | WebEx for iPhone (view only) | WebEx for iPhone (view only) | WebEx for Android (View Only) |
| App Sharing | WebEx for iPhone (view only) | WebEx for iPhone (view only) | WebEx for Android (View Only) |
| Web Conferencing | WebEx for iPhone | WebEx for iPad | WebEx for Android (View Only) |
| WP7 | BB | Symbian | |
| Presence | No | Jabber IM for BB | Cisco Mobile for Nokia |
| IM | No | Jabber IM for BB | Cisco Mobile for Nokia |
| VoIP | No | BBMVC Client | Cisco Mobile for Nokia |
| Voicemail | No | No | Cisco Mobile for Nokia |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Desktop Sharing | No | WebEx for BB (View Only) | WebEx for Nokia (View Only) |
| App Sharing | No | WebEx for BB | WebEx for Nokia (View Only) |
| Web Conferencing | No | WebEx for BB | WebEx for Nokia (View Only) |
Looks pretty inconsistent to me with no on-premise solution for many of the options mentioned forcing you to only have a cloud option with WebEx. If you remove WebEx your left with only IM/P and voice but not consistently across all platforms. In fact, if video is the new voice then they have only one platform that delivers video with Jabber/CUPC and that is the Windows PC client. But isn't this the “Post PC era” according to Cisco? Well there is the Cius I guess but wait is that with Cisco Telepresence or Jabber, I am confused, maybe another app.
So I actually have a Android tablet that I use for testing and thought great I might actually download the Android application and give a spin in a lab where I have access to CUCM. Well its not that easy. I have an ASUS Tablet and Cisco’s Jabber only officially supports Samsung’s Galaxy Android devices. Bummer. I couldn’t even download the application on to my tablet to try it out. I just got a big warning that my device wasn’t compatible. So more limitations. But didn’t Michael say they had the most consistent story???
One Client To Rule Them All
Cisco Jabber
Cisco require multiple applications for Mobile UC- Jabber for IM, Jabber for VoIP and WebEx Meeting. Three clients to complete a UC solution and not all platforms are created equal.
- Some platforms have IM, voice, VoIP and WebEx and some don’t. This mix of features creates complexity at the help desk and lacks insight on the complexity of deploying applications that don’t carry the same feature sets. This is a complex issue for any software vendor across multiple OS’s for sure. Even Cisco’s own Cuis doesn’t support video with WebEx. How confusing is that?
- Some platforms use Cisco Secure Connect (requires Cisco ASA hardware) feature and others require AnyConnect/VPN. More complexity. Depending on what version of Anywhere Connect and whether you are running it on IOS or ASA affects your ability to allow these applications to work.
- iPhone, iPad require AnyConnect with the Cisco ASA. So now to take advantage of Jabber you need Cisco hardware, you already needed Cisco UCS servers for CUPS so why stop there.
I noticed in the comments on Michaels post that Cisco choose to deliver the features in separate applications . When I talk with companies this isn't what they want. They want to be able to leverage UC from a single mobile application. Which leads me to the conclusion that this wasn’t really a choice but due to their compartmentalized UC infrastructure this was their only way to deliver these features.
Why did I write this blog?
My intention here is to highlight “ don’t throw stones in glass houses”. Cisco execs think posting on a blog and spreading miss-information about their own products is okay while analyst with poorly researched articles are no less guilty. I noticed in the comments of Michaels blog there was a lot of “it’s coming” to a lot of points raised around where they fell short. No mention of that in the article it self though.
So yeah, I work for Microsoft and happy to say I have a strong opinion of where UC is heading and what companies are looking for when it comes to UC. Cisco compartmentalized infrastructure carries through to their mobility story and I am pretty happy about that. The chaos they create in their self proclaimed “Post PC” era makes my job a hell of a lot easier. Thanks Cisco.
VoIPNorm
