[cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or newsolutions?Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x
Lelio Fulgenzi
lelio at uoguelph.ca
Thu Apr 13 12:12:57 EDT 2006
To follow up, I was told that this is to protect the product from their competitors and that there was an internal document that has this information and that it would be available. I asked and have been ignored. :(
----- Original Message -----
From: Lelio Fulgenzi
To: netfortius at gmail.com ; cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or newsolutions?Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x
Unfortunately Cisco does not do a good job at posting, in a very simple and easy to read list (like the compatibility matrix) a list of features available in each version. You have to read the documentation/release notes to see the 'what's new' and even then, it's not complete.
Your SE team should be able to provide you with a feature roadmap which tells you which version of 4.1 that 5.0 is feature equal to and which new features 5.0 has over that 4.1 version. In addition, they should be able to tell you what features 4.2 has over 4.1(x). There weren't many, but a few were nice, like logging out of hunt groups.
Seeing that both 5.0 and 4.2 are on new product hold and there likely isn't a lot of use out there (including this list which we all use for support), I'd almost hazard to say stick with 4.1(3)sr3a as a new install. An upgrade to 4.2 if you need the new features won't be as bad as upgrading from 4.1 to 5.0 and you can probably do that with a bit of testing and a weekend. Remember, that 4.1(3)sr3a has a lot of bug fixes. If they started creating 4.2 a while back, what was their base? Are the fixes that are available in sr3a applied to 4.2?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] Torn apart by choices - old or new solutions?Simplyspeaking: CM5.0 or CM4.x
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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