Fast response to a cloud outage: Launching self-hosted conferencing for a Middle East government agency

The Challenge

Launch a self-hosted conferencing service at unprecedented speed

Our customer is a Middle Eastern government agency responsible for its country’s digital services. To ensure these remain available, dependable communications between its teams are essential.

The agency was using Webex conferencing, and had also bought Cisco Meeting Server (CMS) and VQ Conference Manager as a fallback option. However, it had never fully completed the setup and testing of its CMS-based service, meaning it was a long way from being production-ready.

In March 2026, due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, various Webex capabilities in the region became unavailable. With the customer required to host its collaboration services within national borders, using an out-of-region cloud service wasn’t an option. As a result, its teams were unable to communicate, risking disruption to its public-facing services.

The agency’s only option was to stand up an alternative collaboration platform – at unprecedented speed.

This needed to provide:

• Minimal learning curve for its 3,000+ users, by ensuring a Webex-like experience
• Full control over the infrastructure and service
• Advanced analytics, similar to Webex Control Hub

The VQ Communications Solution

From SOS call to live service in under 6 hours

When we got the call from the customer, the question was simple: How quickly can you get us operational again by standing up a collaboration service using CMS and VQ Conference Manager?

A lot needed to happen before this could go live. Appreciating the urgency of the situation, we mobilized a dedicated team within an hour, and got on a screen share with the customer to begin the process.

One of the most important tasks was to roll out VQ Conference Manager’s Metro for Outlook integration, so that users could continue scheduling meetings the way they had with Webex.

Working closely with the agency, we completed the necessary steps to launch its new, sovereign service in under 6 hours. This included access to VQ Conference Manager Analytics with out-of-the-box reports providing insights comparable to those the agency had enjoyed in Webex Control Hub.

Outcomes

Zero impact on public-facing services and a more resilient collaboration landscape

The speed at which we got the government agency live on its CMS-based service meant operational disruption was minimal. Employees were without conferencing for less than a day, resulting in zero impact for those using the agency’s digital services.

For staff, the changeover from Webex to CMS-based conferencing was seamless, thanks to the intuitive scheduling experience in VQ Conference Manager Metro for Outlook.

The performance, resilience, and cloud-like capabilities of the self-hosted service mean the agency has taken the strategic decision to designate it the primary collaboration platform. And with Webex available again as the backup, the agency now has a significantly more resilient overall landscape, with the ability to switch between the two with relative ease.