Cisco is an undisputed leader in the collaboration space. How did Cisco become a leader? Let’s start at the beginning. The Cisco collaboration journey began early in the new century, in 2001. The Cisco IT team started to focus on IT consolidation, including converging voice, video, and data networks and developing a globalized IT architecture. Since that time, each step along the collaboration journey has been designed to harness the power of mobile and the cloud to support real-time collaboration across devices and geographies and deliver an increasingly intuitive and effortless user experience.
Trivia question, ever wonder why all phones in a CUCM start with SEP and what does SEP stand for? Cisco acquired the Selsius Corporation to create what is today known as Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) and SEP stands for Selsius Ethernet Phone or SEP. Ever sense then, for over 20 years, Cisco has been in the Voice over IP (VoIP) space and has continued to innovate and push the Collaboration space to where it is today.
Today, Cisco has multiple Collaboration options. We are going to focus on Cisco’s Cloud Collaboration options and the differences between each of them.
UCM Cloud and UCM Cloud for Government are basically the same product but do have some very key differences.
Both offerings are built on Cisco’s UCM platform and include the following servers in the cloud:
With both offerings, all software is updated, maintained, managed, and monitored by Cisco in 2 redundant data centers located in Equinix Data Centers. Patching, hardware, emergency consumption, monitoring is all done by Cisco at no additional cost. Look at UCM Cloud and UCM Cloud for Government as getting Cisco’s most powerful PBX in Cisco’s Webex Data Center and having Cisco take care of all the back-end systems for you. All you need to do is work with your partner to add phones and maintain the day-to-day operations of the system. Don’t want to do that either, no worries! Presidio Federal has a full Managed Services department who can take care of the moves, add, changes, and deletes (MACD) for business.
UCM Cloud was built for Commercial enterprises that have a minimum of 1000 Knowledge Workers (KW) who need a full featured Cisco PBX in the cloud. UCM Cloud can scale globally for those companies who have a global footprint.
UCM Cloud may be peered in an Equinix Data Center via either a Customer Connected Model or a Prater Connected Model. Please review the UCM Cloud Connectivity articles for further information on how to connect to UCM Cloud.
UCM Cloud for Government (UCM-G) was built for Federal, local, education, and government contractors that have a minimum of 250 Knowledge Workers (KW) who require a FedRAMP Moderate compliant solution. UCM-G will only be housed in US based FedRAMP authorized data centers:
The only method to connect to UCM-G is via the Partner Connected Model. Please refer to the UCM Cloud connectivity document for further information.
Here are a few other differences between the 2 platforms:
One key difference between the 2 platforms is endpoint and voice security. UCM Cloud has the ability to enforce ALL of the same encryption and security measures as UCM Cloud but they are not fully enforced. UCM-G MUST enforce secure voice and encryption ALL the time and endpoints must support TLS 1.2 (a security waver can be signed for TLS 1.0 phones). UCM Cloud and UCM-G both are secure platforms, but UCM-G must comply with all FedRAMP requirements where UCM Cloud is just as secure but without the FedRAMP requirements.
Webex Calling offers enterprise-grade calling features delivered from the Cisco Webex cloud. This platform is part of the complete Webex collaboration suite that serves the calling, messaging, meeting and team collaboration workloads. Webex calling is not built on the Communications Manager platform that UCM Cloud and UCM Cloud for Government are but is a true cloud PBX that was built by Cisco and enhanced with the BroadSoft acquisition.
Webex Calling is hosted in the Webex Data Center and is accessed via Cisco Control Hub. No connection to the Webex Data Center is needed as all the communications are done over the Internet. Optional Webex Edge Connect services can be utilized for a direct connection to the Webex Data Center via Equinix’s ECX connection but this is only for organizations who want to connect the Webex cloud on the corporate network. Please review the Equinix ECX article for further information about ECX.
Webex calling is a global platform so no matter where you are located, your collaboration tools are at your fingertips. PSTN access can be done by hosting a local CUBE on premise or by utilizing the cloud as your PSTN provider. The Cloud Connected PSTN (CCP) program enables customers to quickly and effortlessly buy PSTN services from list of authorized, pre-integrated CCP Providers.
Webex has security and privacy natively built into our approach to product design and delivery. Cisco has invested heavily to build a culture of security with the right checks and balances in place. All Webex services, including Webex Calling, have secure default settings out of the box – enabling users to start collaborating freely without having to worry about configurations.
Webex Calling seamlessly integrates with Webex Meetings and Webex Chat to give your end users the full suite of collaboration features from a single Webex app.
Webex Calling is only available for customers who do not require a FedRAMP authorization. FedRAMP Webex Meetings is available at a IL2 FedRAMP moderate level. Webex Calling is in the process of becoming FedRAMP authorized so check back for the most up to date information.
No matter which platform you choose, Cisco has the products and experience to help you move to the cloud. Presidio Federal has the expertise in all of the cloud products and can help guide you to the best solution.
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Our team doesn’t disappear after delivery. Your federal workforce and systems will be supported with the right level of resourcing and thought leadership to take your systems into the future.
We leverage the knowledge and experience of our extensive partner ecosystem to create an environment of collaborative efficiency. The teaming process is agile, accountable and transparent. We work with clients to make sure that their entire chain of command is well-informed and educated. No surprises, only mission-driven delivery of innovation.
Our solutions leverage proven Knowledge Centers to repurpose relevant past experience for efficiency, but are then customized to match the moment and unique circumstances of an agency customer. We bring the right partners to the table to collaborate around architecture and design and then innovate beyond the challenge; often introducing next-level opportunities for automation, collaboration and commerce. Our solutions address those modernization challenges that require breadth, depth and a level of technical thought leadership that comes with a team that has worked both inside and outside government. We often work with agency customers as they are thinking through a problem and arm them with the tools and knowledge to articulate project scope, timing and budget.
We are wholly mission-focused, providing our government clients with broad and deep technical expertise and independent perspective on leading technology solutions. We take the time to deeply understand client challenges from the start – as well as their definitions of success. We guide them in harnessing advances in emerging technology while also looking ahead to anticipate future applications and opportunities that are entrepreneurial, ripe for automation.