Time is running out for those still using Cisco UCM 11.5
For any organisations out there still running Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 11.5, it is important to note the last day to purchase any new licensing and renew support for Cisco UCM v11.5 is almost upon us – 31st May 2022.
So what does this impending deadline mean for businesses using 11.5?
Organisations running UCM v11.5 are facing a perfect storm, very soon you will no longer be able to add user licensing and you won’t be able to renew your support. It is a fairly safe assumption, if you are using v11.5, that your hardware is probably getting long in the tooth, and the VMware ESXi host software is probably end of life. At the same time Cisco have now changed from a perpetual licensing model to a subscription model, and all of this is happening at a time when budgets have been constrained after the pandemic and the way we work has irrevocably changed.
If that isn’t enough, IT managers and CTO’s are also grappling with decisions around cloud vs on prem, and how they provide secure and reliable Collaboration services for their users in a new world where working remotely has become the new norm.
With all the uncertainty of the last two years, it is no surprise decisions on upgrading or replacing collaboration solutions have been kicked into the long grass and organisations have rolled out other collaborations services on a temporary basis without giving due diligence to the wider problem of delivering a coherent, feature rich and easy to use solution to their users. In many instances, the last two years has seen businesses taking a step back, with users being presented with multiple ways to communicate and none of it integrated particularly well. With that said it doesn’t have to be like that, there is plenty that can be done.
What action should be taken?
Firstly, don’t panic but do act, talk to your Cisco partner, we are here to help. The first step in moving forward is to complete the migration to Cisco Flex Licensing if you haven’t already done so. If you have, investigate renewing your existing subscription prior to the May 31st deadline. That will, at the very least, buy you some breathing space.
Once an organisation has a live Cisco Flex subscription, it opens up a world of possibilities including Cisco Webex Calling and Cisco UCM Cloud, with new features such as live transcribing of meetings and voice assistants that can truly allow users to work anywhere, anytime and on any device.
We can also review the adoption of other technologies and help integrate functions from other platforms that have become pivotal to your business.
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About the author
Andy Poore
Solutions Architect at Koris365
A Cisco collaboration & networking champion with over 23 years technical experience from initial client engagement, planning and design to deployment, and on-going service management and support. Andy has unparalleled practical experience and knowledge in the IP enabled collaboration sector with involvement in several hundred deployments in both the public and private sectors, from single SMB sites to large global distributed deployments.