Cisco Cisco WebEx Meetings Server 2.6 White Paper

© Copyright 2013 by Cypress Consulting, 

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3. Key Findings 

The interviews revealed a number of key findings, including: 

#1 On-premises decisions influenced by security, cost, and control

All five companies require an on-premises, private cloud deployment versus public cloud due to security, 
cost, and control issues:

 

Public Sector / Government mandates for on-premises deployment – most government and some 
private organizations mandate the use of private cloud offerings due to compliance requirements.

 

Cost Structure – inability to accept variable, monthly cloud fees led to a focus on private cloud solutions 
with up-front, one-time capital expenditures. 

 

Control – system flexibility not found in public cloud offerings favored private cloud installations 
with more perceived control of integration for enabling one-click conferencing within existing 
software deployments.

#2  Desire for integrated collaboration experiences

Four companies surveyed preferred a single vendor solution to a collection of point-solutions, and are 
deploying a broad Cisco UC&C suite to provide:

 

Common user experience – one experience across all multiple devices. 

 

Simplified system administration – for increased IT staff efficiency.

#3  High marks for platform, system administration, and user experience

All five companies responded positively to the following CWMS features:

 

Platform – virtualization, communications encryption, data security, and deployment options were 
specifically highlighted as strong aspects of the platform that satisfy customer requirements.

 

System administration – fast deployment, simple telephony integration, easy user and security set-up, 
and comprehensive system monitoring were cited as beneficial system administration features. 

 

User experience – comprehensive user interface, multiple end-point support (Windows, Mac OS, iOS), 
PC and phone audio option, and simultaneous video and document sharing were all listed as positive 
elements of the user experience.

#4  Productivity increases and cost control benefits

All five companies expect to receive the following CWMS deployment benefits:

 

Productivity increases – increased employee efficiency and higher conferencing adoption is 
forecasted due to the strength of the CWMS user interface compared to older, less user-friendly 
conferencing solutions.

 

Cost control – increased control of travel, IT support, telephony, and bandwidth costs are expected from 
the CWMS on-premises deployment model, virtualized platform, and strong administration interface.

4. Areas for Improvement 

All five customers cited integrations with the standards-based Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and Microsoft Active 
Directory (AD) as critical needs for true enterprise deployments. While not included in version 1.0, the CWMS product team 
indicated these integrations are planned for a future release.

Multiple companies voiced concerns about scalability – the current release supports 2,000 concurrent users on a single installation 
and 100 participants in a single meeting – but expect Cisco to increase the platform size over time to address these limitations.

In summary, CWMS version 1.0 lacks some desired enterprise deployment features; however, three of five companies have already 
purchased the solution and will evolve their deployments as coming versions include additional features. One customer will wait 
to consider deployment until a more scalable platform is released with deeper integration with directory services.