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Cisco Cius -- anyone want one?

Laura Douglas
Level 6
Level 6

Background: I've spent my career in storage hardware and software for the enterprise ... think mainframe disk arrays, tape libraries, storage area networks, backup and archive software ... you get the picture.

So to work for a company that makes fun Flip camcorders, TelePresence, WebEx conferencing, IM, video phones, video sharing portals, etc ... and an integrated portal software (Quad) that ties it all together for one-stop shopping ... this is "big fun"!   But I have to say the big fun became "gigantic fun" today with the announcement of Cisco Cius!

Anyone else want one, besides me?!

Laura

66 Replies 66

elee
Level 1
Level 1

$1575 for the Cius plus $700 for the Cius Media Station - total of $2275 - that is really too bad,

That is list price but I agree there could be some thought on pricing. Also don't forget licensing through CUWL or UCL on top of this

Srini

chrismolanus
Level 1
Level 1

Considering that Cisco wants to place the Cius in the corporate tablet market $2275+ makes it weak from a price/Specs perspective.

SamsungGalaxy Tab GT-P1000       $250 - 350 / Unit

ViewsonicViewPad 7                       $599 / Unit

Advent Vega                                      $400 / Unit

ExoPC Slate                                       $599 / Unit

MotorolaXoom                                  $800 / Unit

HTC Flyer                                          $600 - $700 / Unit

However Cisco could market it as a device designed to be intergraded easily with Cisco network infrastructure. e.g VoIP systems. This means that the sales figures would most likely resemble the those of the "Cisco Unified IP Phone 7941G" when it first launched. The problem here is that the people who have the disposable income and will actually have to decide to pay this price for the device (e.g. managers, lawyers, business consultants, Tech geeks) are easier influenced by software features and physical design. This is the market that is driving the iPad and other tablet sales.

If the Cius looks like the prototype which was shown last year, it is not very attractive IMHO. The prototype could definitely use more in the area of 'sleek' and 'hip' styling.

Hello Patrick,

I think it's advance quite a bit in terms of features and functionality from that which you saw - but certainly user preferences for endpoint devices vary and while the response and feedback to Cius has been extremely positive (we had over 450 applications for field trials, over 900 customer visits at Enterprise Connect in Orlando in February and order response is ahead of our expectations since opening up acceptance the beginning of April), we certainly realize that its unrealistic to think that Cius will appeal to each and every user. One of the benefits with Cisco is that we do support a diverse portfolio of endpoints - deskphones, wireless phones, softclients, video systems such as TelePresence etc along with having a network that supports 3rd party endpoints that support collaboration features too. All in all, it gives customers maximum choice and that's a pretty good deal I'd say!

Appreciate your contributing to the discussions!

Kirk McNeill

Collaboration Solutions Marketing

Chris, very well said!

Let's not forget the Playbook, although it's a brick without a Blackberry, the phones are embedded in Enterprise companies. As well, I'm seeing a large push to make the iPad more of an enterprise device, and now with the Webex integration and ability to use the iPad 2 camera's and VoIP for the voice it's a solid enterprise tool.

Bob James

Hi Chris,

Thank you for the feeback on Cius.

A few thoughts on your discussion thread. I certainly agree with you about the host of consumer tablets entering the market. More than 75 that I've seen referenced since beginning of this year. Hard to keep up frankly.

Those that you've cited above are by design consumer solutions - with varying degrees of focus on communications and computing while largely focused on entertainment, gaming and social media. So that should be noted in response.

Cius is (and has been since announcement) positioned as a device specifically designed for the business user so we aren't targeting the consumer segment. Cius is a network recognized endpoint and is provisioned, just like other Cisco Unified IP Phones, from Unified Communications Manager (to your point about being part of a network VoIP system - it is).

Thus, customers get the benefit of a comprehensive set of Unified Communications features such as single number reach, call park etc., call detail records, call recording and call history logs. These capabilities can be business critical in industries that require record keeping to meet government regulatory requirements. In addition, there are Cisco Collaboration features, including WebEx with integrated calendaring, Quad, Jabber support for IM and presence, wired connectivity (not aware of any other tablet supporting Gigabit Ethernet), 802.11 Wi-Fi and later this year 3G/4G wireless capabilities. Add to that mobile video interoperability, including HD video to TelePresence systems, which isn't all the easy to do and I'd offer that's a pretty powerful and comprehensive combination of capabilities by any objective measure.

As pricing was mentioned in a few threads here, for those in this community who have partner login access, you can find the Cisco Cius ordering guide with SKU detail at www.cisco.com/go/partnercius. I think you'll find the pricing to be reasonably competitive with other tablet solutions, for the value delivered by Cius as noted above. Orders are being accepted for Cisco Cius at this time as well.

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out Cisco's partner community where you can also exchange ideas with other partner colleagues of yours. The link to the Cisco partner community is here and I encourage you to register if you haven't done so already and check it out:

https://communities.cisco.com/community/partner/collaboration

Of course, as we have many community members who are not Cisco partners (thank you as well for being part of our community!), you are not forgotten here! If you haven't already, check out this keynote from Senior Vice President of Collaboration and Communications Group, Barry O'Sullivan from Enterprise Connect 2011 in February. Barry talks about Cisco Cius during his presentation - along with the benefits of Cisco's Network and Collaborating with any content on any device, anywhere.

https://communities.cisco.com/community/technology/collaboration/virtualenterpriseconnect

A great time to be part of the information technology industry, isn't it?

Regards,

Kirk McNeill

Collaboration Solutions Marketing

Cisco Systems

Hi Kirk,

I agree with you that theCius would appeal more to the business user as oppose to a Consumer user.

And with the projections of 21% of companies world wideconsidering the introduction of Tables PC in their firms, Cisco may be able to obtain a notable share of that market. However it would be difficult for Cisco to overcome the head start in marketing the other table PC have without an edge that the other can not offer.

Integration features such as "a comprehensive set of Unified Communications features such as single number reach, call park etc., call detail records, call recording and call history logs" are already available on other devices by using the Cisco application which the user can download in the APPstore or Android market place (e.g. Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator).

"Cisco Collaboration features, including WebEx with integrated calendaring, Quad, Jabber" arealso for the most part available for other devices.

Gigabit Ethernet support is fairly unique to the Cius but it contradicts the selling point of this device over say the Unified IP phone, namely mobility.

Network provisioning capabilities will likely be it’s strong selling point over it competitors (Other multi funcional touch display driven telecomunications end-point).

However positioning the Cius as simply one of the many possible end-point devices corporate VoIP andtelephone solutions would have it be seen as simply a luxury IP-phone. The trend we have been seeing from our customers recently is that they look for the cheapest end-point device that suits there need, and use that as the base device for their solution with few exceptions for there managers or conference rooms.The Cisco brand has there trust for reliable and durabledevices but they rarely go for wide spread luxury.

My suggestions is don’t expect the sales numbers to resemble that of other table PC devices, rather they will likely resemble those of the high-end/Luxury IP-Phones.

Hi All,

I am Seeking below Information regarding CIUS registraion and Integration with othe applications :

1. How CIUS will integarte with CUCM and CUPS and other application?

2. will there be any Collabration server between CUCM and CIUS device or it will register as other IP phone?

Any document on this information will be great Help.

Thanks In Adavance

Rakesh Kumar

Lead consultant

CSC India

Hello,

Cisco Cius will use the device page for Unified Communications Manager as is done with other Cisco IP phones so registration process shall be just like that. Similarly, for Cisco Unified Presence, registration would follow that of other Cisco endpoints which support Unified Presence.

Hope this helps out Rakesh!

Kirk McNeill

Collaboration Solutions Marketing

Cisco Systems

Chris,

Just to add to this you don't even get the honor of buying one unless you meet the criteria for the right environment for it to go into. It's called the Experience Assurance Program and if your network, CCM, wireless etc. do not meet the requirements; no soup for you.

Bob James

Hi Bob,

Just a point of clarification that it's really not about honor with EAP but it's about a focus on maximizing the customer's experience with the Cius, enabling them to take advantage of all its capabilities such as video interoperability (so all end users can be included in video conversations), support for Cisco Compatible Extensions version 5.0 (for longer battery life and reduced RF interference in WLAN networks), being able to push android apps from AppHQ from Cisco Unified Communications Manager (as well as from AppHQ) for IT convenience.

I might add that this process was first implemented with Cisco TelePresence when it was introduced and that introduction has been quite successful in the marketplace so we felt it an appropriate model to follow for Cius with the diversity of its capabilities in customer's networks.

Thanks,

Kirk McNeill

It was tongue and cheek Kirk; you order a product only to find out to cannot have it because your Wifi version is too low (as an example) then it "is" kind of an honor to have one.

I can appreciate the fact you want to optimize the experience, but this is a tablet after all, and if you have to upgrade your infrstructure to support it, it makes it a hard sell.

My opinion

Bob James

Is the EAP process still in effect? I recall there being a support community for the CIUS, but now I cannot find it...

Hello,

Yes, the Experience Assurance Process (EAP) survey remains in effect. If you are a partner, you can find more details about it by logging into www.cisco.com/go/p  and then look under tools for the PDF on the Experience Assurance Process. artnercius

If you are an end customer, your partner should be able to assist you with further details around this customer assurance experience process.

Hope this helps.

Kirk McNeill

Collaboration Solutions Marketing

Cisco Systems