Is Cisco Meeting Server (CMS) Dead? Any Future Updates?

[Mikeyy]

Hey everyone,

We’re still using the on-prem Cisco Meeting Server (CMS), but it’s starting to feel like the product has been abandoned. There haven’t been any significant new features or clear roadmaps from Cisco in a long time.

Does anyone know if there’s any future for CMS? Are there any upcoming updates, or should we start considering it as effectively end-of-life? Would love to hear if others are in the same boat or if there’s any insight on Cisco’s long-term plans for CMS.

Thanks!

[Nithin Eluvathingal]

Cisco continues to develop CMS, albeit at a slower pace compared to Webex features.

For on-premises setups, CMS remains the best solution. However, if you prefer a cloud-based setup, Webex is the optimal choice.

There are Cisco  live presentations on new CMS versions, and you can refer to the CMS admin guides for the latest version to see a list of new features in each release.

[Mohamed H. Abdelmotaleb]

Cisco still supports and develops CMS, but we can't compare between on-prem video conferencing solution and cloud solutions VCaaS such as Webex , MS Teams , Zoom, Google meet. The continuous development process for software, application, automated upgrades and patch management , all of that give advantage to cloud solutions over on-prem solutions, however CMS is still the best on-prem video conferencing resource in the market and suitable for air-gapped networks, or environments that have a bandwidth concern, I can say CMS is suitable soulution for Ad-hoc conference, rendezvous meetings, Web App meetings without download and install application on your device but you will not get advance features such as AI companion in Webex.   

[Mikeyy]

There hasn't been a Cisco Live presentation about CMS for a long time, and the CMS admin guides for the latest version don’t include any major new features for our customers, most updates are just bug fixes.

It’s true that no one is comparing the cloud with on-prem, and many customers cannot move to the cloud for various reasons. However, on-prem products should still be considered for new features and enhancements.

[Nithin Eluvathingal]

I'm not sure which version you're currently using, The latest version is 3.1 and  You can find the release notes here.

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/conferencing/ciscoMeetingServer/Release_Notes/Version-3-10/Cisco-Meeting-Server-and-web-app-Release-Notes-3-10.pdf

As I mentioned in my previous reply, CMS development is not progressing at the same pace as Webex. Most clients are transitioning to the cloud, and the number of on-premises users will be limited.

There are beta programs available, and you can post your ideas on the AHA tools. Additionally, you can reach out to your local Cisco SE to submit feature requests.

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