Genesys versus Cisco When? Where? Why?

This article started as a comment from Ted Forker regarding Cisco UCCE. While every situation is different there are times when Genesys takes the lead over Cisco and vice versa. However, I caution that these aren’t firm rules, rather anecdotes.

Very generally, Genesys definitely wins the battle when integration of multiple hardware companies is the objective. Genesys will work as well whether bonding a group of Avaya 4800s or Cisco Call Managers. This makes Genesys a potentially cheaper solution in cases when the operation has a lot of diverse equipment that is only partially depreciated, and also delivers ROI faster. However, this also implies a significant level of integration risk and integration skill. In a complex Genesys environment with multiple hardware vendors the organization will need access to experienced Genesys, Avaya, and Cisco technical resources both for the launch as well as operation. This implies a more expensive and complex operation, but it may be the only solution for some companies. Again, this isn’t a hard and fast rule and requires significant analysis. This probably also means that there will be one of these or another vendors voice gateways, IVRs, etc. A global operation with multiple vendor’s PBX platforms at the premise level may create many integration complexities that limit benefits.

In contrast, Cisco is a hardware company, and while Cisco can operate as a software umbrella over Avaya and Cisco platforms, Cisco excels when an organization has a large call center operation with a majority of hardware that is end of life. Additionally the Cisco Unified Communication and Unified Contact Center solutions are built upon the same basic building blocks, and as a result there are significant economies of scale created when the focus is initially IP Telephony with Cisco Unified Communication focused on the back-office and then transitions into a front-office, call center replacement with Unified Contact Center. This approach creates an environment where the client’s intentions can be translated into routing logic and deliver a client to any IP Phone inside the network or outside the network.

Clearly these are two very high level scenarios, and client’s often find themselves in the gray zone somewhere between these two somewhat opposite situations. What’s hidden inside this technical analysis of these two scenarios, is that they are essentially devoid of business requirements. If the company with a lot of under-depreciated Avaya and Cisco PBXs was facing standing up a new customer service function with highly complex routing requirements, they maybe able to create an accretive business case for a full Cisco deployment. Likewise a company with hardware that was end-of-life, but with relatively simple inside-sales and support requirements might find that a full Cisco solution is overkill.

The best advice is to begin with a comprehensive business requirement analysis with the objective of building a requirement plan and a high-level benefit analysis. From here a complete As-Is technology inventory, and a detailed analysis of technology options will enable management to make an informed decision. Bottom-line, don’t start with a technology analysis, it could inadvertently lead in the wrong direction.