[cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions? Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x

[Netfortius]

Lelio,

As far as a .0 version is concerned - we could not agree more! That stands 
true for any product, be it Cisco, M$, or else. I would avoid this by all 
means, if not having a major impact on my plans, for the future. Even some 
Cisco people advise against (for now) - but I could address this in a delay 
in the project, if the other part (features-based-on) justifies such.

As far as reachness of features (which is the critical aspect) - you seem to 
point out (and most likely know) something that did not come out of my [very 
limited in time] research, so far, in the line of products, from Cisco, and 
that is feature set associated with one or the other of the two major 
solutions. Here are some links I have been using, as starting point in my 
research:

http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps556/c1650/cdccont_0900aecd80410ad6.pdf

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/ps6884/products_qanda_item0900aecd80422cb2.shtml

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/ps6567/products_qanda_item0900aecd80410afb.shtml

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/ps6567/products_qanda_item0900aecd80422cb2.shtml

On all of these, there are a lot of references to CM 5.0, and associated 
features. Is there such a thing just for CM 4.2? Or - even better yet - is 
there a feature-by-feature comparison table for the two versions of CM, and 
their associated applications for unified communications, mobility, 
convergence, etc.?

Thank you,
Stefan

On Thursday 13 April 2006 10:37, Lelio Fulgenzi wrote:
> Personally speaking, I'd go with 4.2. 4.x is a more mature product than 5.0
> and I'd never install a "dot oh" of anything. 4.2 has a very large feature
> set (more than 5.0) so you have to weigh what you would be losing if you
> don't go with 5.0. SIP is a big one for sure. Appliance model is another.
> There may be others. The biggest thing you want to look out for when
> migrating is not so much new features but existing feature replacement and
> of course stability. I think you would get that with 4.2, not sure about
> 5.0. Look at upgrading in two years to 5.1 or 5.2 when you're not the
> guinea pig.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----- Lelio Fulgenzi, B.A.
> Network Analyst (CCS) * University of Guelph * Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1
> (519) 824-4120 x56354 (519) 767-1060 FAX (JNHN)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Sanity First : Number of days with fewer than
> 50 messages in my inbox at the end of the day:   buffer overrun
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Netfortius
>   To: cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
>   Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 11:33 AM
>   Subject: [cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions?
> Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x
>
>
>   You may have already gotten used to my last string of questions here,
> which - I am not hiding it - are part of my attempt to gain info from the
> more experienced people, on this subject, regarding a project I am working
> on for deployment of multi-site IPT & VoIP. I have gone into some details,
> for some questions I had, but now - reading tons of material every day, I
> have become very worried about the full blown solution chosen, vs. what is
> being promised just "around the corner". Here is where I would appreciate
> any comments, of any nature, thoughts, experience, "what-if" - anything you
> can share about this subject:
>
>   Scenario: multi-site deployment of Cisco CM, with the following
> objectives in mind:
>
>   1. Replacement of existing old telephony solution, Nortel-based,
> consisting of PBX in each location, with Cisco-based IP-based communication
> systems (and not only one-to-one replacement of phones, but also steps
> toward unified communications)
>
>   2. Installation of Cisco solution consisting of:
>   a. CM 4.x (advised by Cisco) at the HQ + Unity integrated with Exchange
> 2003 and a handful of IP phones (major testers of the technology) and
> integration with existing Nortel PBX at the HQ (PHASE 1)
>   b. IP phones in the remote location (complete replacement of everything
> old, including PBX) + SRST + standalone (storage-wise) Unity (PHASE 1) c.
> Unified messaging at the HQ, in the "pilot" group, to the best of the
> abilities and availability of products around CM 4.x (e.g. PA, among
> others, as an example of what I am getting at) (PHASE 1)
>   d. Experience from c> ==> full implementation of unified messaging at the
>   first remote ("upgrade" of the standalone Unity into an Exchange-tied one
> - is this even possible?!?) (PHASE 2)
>   e. remote site used as template fro all other sites (PHASE 2)
>   f. full upgrade at the HQ (PHASE 2), with the exception of Call Center
>   g. Cisco IPCC replacement of the existing Nortel Call Center, after the
>   entire VoIP and IPT has proven reliable to sustain a Customer Service
> (PHASE 3)
>
>   3. The unified communications (including messaging) will eventually
> adddress various business needs, primarily focused on mobility and
> real-time communications and sharing
>
>   Having said all of the above, here are the issues I am struggling with:
>
>   - I have (and nobody in my network geeks group) no real experience with
> Cisco VoIP/IPT;
>   - the suggested solution, from Cisco, revolves around a CM 4.2 and,
> gradually, as explained above, updates to the point of full unified
> messaging - still 4.2-based
>   - I am getting conflicting messages from our Cisco group - they advise us
> to do the install with CM 4.2 (which would end up as a cluster of multiple
> servers, at the HQ), not CM 5.0, but:
>   - I am reading and reading, and it appears to me that some features
> associated with CM 4.2 are dying (e.g. PA), while CM 5.0 seems to open the
> door for much more, but not everything backward compatible with 4.x
>   - tons of features are being advertised as related to CM 5.0, only, but
> are not ready yet, and are to be released this year (majority in second
> quarter)
>
>   Bottom line - I am struggling with one major question (with no easy
> answer - thus appreciating any comments this list may have): should I move
> ahead as started, with the one site + pilot HQ, on CM 4.2 (PHASE 1), then
> go over all phases, then analyze what would need to be upgraded to a 5.0
> environment, if certain additional features would become available and
> needed, and not backward compatible
>   OR
>   should I just put a stop to the CM 4.x analysis and planning, and redo
>   everything (with the delay caused by various products availability)
> around CM 5.0?
>
>   As I said - any $0.02-$64K comments will be really appreciated. I will
> try to consolidate this type of info, in something useful, if enough data
> warrants it.
>
>   Thanks,
>   Stefan
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