Is the Clock Ticking on Your UC Manager Deployment?

This summer is still winding down, but it’s never too early to start looking ahead to next summer – especially for businesses who rely on Cisco’s UC Manager. On July 31, 2017, UC Manager versions 8.5 and 8.6 will each reach their end-of-support date.

Life won’t be easy for businesses caught still using either of those unsupported versions of UC Manager come August 2017. Let’s explore some of the difficulties business using outdated UC Manager deployments could encounter – as well as look at why now is the best time to upgrade to the most modern version (Cisco’s UC Manager 11.5).

• End of Cisco support – Once July 31^st hits, that’s it for Cisco support. If something goes wrong with their aging UC Manager deployment, companies will be on their own. The only way to ensure there’s a safety net waiting in case of trouble is to upgrade to a modern, supported version.
• Maxed-out licensing – When 8.5 or 8.6 licenses are no longer available, organizations still using those versions could freeze up. IT won’t be able to add the necessary equipment to its environment to support a growing user base or company. Simply put, growth of any kind will demand upgrading away from 8.5 or 8.6.
• Multi-platform communication crunch – The communication crunch mentioned above extends beyond phones, impacting IM and presence as well. This won’t be an issue for modern licenses – which also represent a significant cost-saving opportunity. IM and presence have both been included at no additional charge as part of the basic phone license since UC Manager version 9.0. All IT needs to do is stand up a server to support those features.
• Endpoint support shortfalls – Whether an organization is on version 8.5 or 8.6, it lacks support for the latest endpoints. With each subsequent iteration of UC Manager adding support for new endpoints, upgrading to 11.5 will open the newest options for businesses to further mobilize their workforce.
• Administration headaches – UC admins know a thing or two about the challenges presented by managing aging deployments. In versions such as 8.5 and 8.6, spinning up new tools or making changes used to have them reaching for the Advil. That’s not the case with Version 11.5, which comes complete with free, stress-reducing, management-simplifying tools such as Prime Collaboration Deployment.
• Rising TCO – Sticking with an aging solution may seem like a way to preserve the budget, but that’s often not true. Instead, going with a recent version can reduce costs by providing more robust virtualization support, and shrinking the data center footprint. Also, the addition of features such as Single Sign On, the self-care portal, and VPN-less endpoints can reduce the volume of calls fielded by the help desk, allowing IT as a whole to operate more efficiently.

Leveraging a UC partner who’s been there before

At Arraya Solutions, our Cisco team has spent years guiding customers through communication and collaboration upgrades. For us, it’s not strictly a matter of knowing the tech – although our team members are experts in that area. It also comes down to understanding the customer. We take the time before an engagement to learn all we can about the customer’s existing environment and dependencies. Then we work with customers to distill our findings into an actionable upgrade plan, one that keeps downtime to a minimum.

After we execute a project, our team won’t disappear. Instead, they’re available to provide post-cutover support to ensure complete satisfaction.

To learn more about why Cisco UC Manager upgrades can’t wait, or to or to open up a dialogue with our communication and collaboration experts, visit: www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. The Arraya team can also be reached through social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Be sure to follow us to stay in the loop with our latest company news, special events, and industry insights.