In today’s fast-paced and evolving business environment, organizations must ensure their communication and collaboration tools are not only effective but also future-proof. Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS) has been a reliable solution for managing video conferencing infrastructure; however, with its End-of-Sale (EoS) status and no active development, businesses are now seeking more advanced alternatives.
VQ DMA (Device Management and Automation) has emerged as the Cisco recommended on-premise replacement for TMS. The solution addresses many of the limitations found in Cisco TMS, providing a modern approach to managing conferencing and device ecosystems.
In this blog, we discuss some of the top reasons and benefits of migrating from Cisco TMS to VQ DMA and explain why VQ DMA is an essential upgrade for organizations looking to enhance their operational efficiency and leverage the latest features in CMS and connected devices.
1. TMS is End of Sale
Cisco announced the End-of-Sale for TMS on 1 August 2023 taking effect on 31 January 2024. Renewals cease on 31 January 2026 with end of support set for 31 January 2027. Although these dates seem distant, it’s crucial to start planning migration efforts now as there is no active development on the existing TMS product (except security bug fixes).
Migrating to a new product involves more than just a simple switch; it requires extensive planning, tools and automation to extract data from the current deployment, prepare the new environment, and move existing data.
Keep in mind that migration from one product to another is not an apples-to-apples process. It often involves mapping tasks to bridge conceptual differences between products built by different vendors.
Additionally, a critical step before migration is validating the new product in your own environment. This involves thorough testing, ensuring it meets your needs, evaluating its return on investment, and confirming that the new product’s roadmap aligns with your long-term goals.
Starting this process early will provide enough time to navigate potential challenges and ensure a smoother transition that supports future business growth.
2. Fills the gaps in TMS’s old architecture
TMS was originally designed almost 20 years ago to meet the collaboration needs of that time. While it effectively addressed the requirements back then, the world of collaboration has evolved significantly since.
TMS was not built to handle today’s demands for scalability and distributed architecture, which have become essential for modern business operations. Fundamental architectural changes to TMS would have been necessary to keep pace with the rapidly advancing landscape of collaboration devices and technologies.
While it is challenging to anticipate future requirements and create a completely future-proof architecture, we can leverage lessons from modern cloud technologies to meet current and foreseeable demands. Technologies such as Kubernetes, containerization, ANSIBLE-based automation, and robust APIs and SDKs are designed to address scalability, flexibility, and efficient deployment.
VQ Conference Manager (VQCM) is built on these modern technologies, providing an adaptable platform that evolves to support new needs as they arise. With continuous updates and enhancements, VQCM offers the agility and support that today’s collaboration environments require, positioning it as a forward-thinking solution capable of handling the ever-changing world of communication and collaboration.
3. Eliminates Windows server dependency
To keep TMS operational organizations are having to invest resources and infrastructure that don’t contribute to core collaboration functionality.
Cisco TMS requires installation on a Windows server, which in turn demands separate management of an SQL server. This setup means administrators must handle both the TMS software and the underlying infrastructure, including Windows server maintenance, upgrades, security management, and SQL server administration. Each of these components adds a layer of complexity, including licensing requirements, increasing the overall administrative burden and cost for businesses.
Modern solutions like VQCM are built on a Linux-based platform, integrating an internal database so that administrators don’t need to configure separately. Businesses can streamline their collaboration deployments with VQCM, focusing on core management without the overhead of managing separate infrastructure or licenses, ultimately leading to more efficient use of IT resources and budget.
4. Improves integration with Exchange
Cisco TMS requires installation of TMSXE to schedule calls via Microsoft Outlook, adding another component for administrators to manage.
Another drawback of TMS scheduling is that it sends two separate emails for meeting notifications, which can be confusing for users. Over time, admins and users may have grown accustomed to this dual-email approach, but it remains an outdated and inefficient process. TMS also lacks effective integration with Outlook, limiting its usability for seamless scheduling.
VQCM significantly improves upon Microsoft Outlook integration within a single platform, reducing the number of systems to oversee. VQ Conference Manager consolidates all relevant information into a single, comprehensive email for registration that benefits both administrators and end-users.
Powerful plugins and add-ins allow users to remain within their preferred email client while accessing full scheduling and collaboration resources, making managing recurring meetings more efficient.
5. TMS doesn’t provide support for the latest features in CMS & Devices
The growing complexity of collaboration environments has increased the demand for smarter provisioning, better device management, scalable automation, and advanced analytics that provide administrators with deeper insights into deployment performance.
Over the past few years, the development of Cisco TMS has significantly slowed down, with active engineering reportedly halted for more than five years. During this period, the world of collaboration technology has evolved rapidly, with new releases of CMS, CUCM, Expressway, and various devices reshaping the landscape.
Unfortunately, TMS has not kept pace with these changes, lacking crucial updates and integration capabilities. Notably, TMS does not integrate with key infrastructure components like Expressways, preventing comprehensive oversight of calls traversing different parts of the collaboration environment.
In contrast, VQ’s DMA is designed to meet the current demands of collaboration deployments Supporting seamless integration with CMS, CUCM, Expressway, and various devices, DMA provides administrators with a unified platform that intelligently handles device provisioning and management and enables support for scalable environments through advanced automation. Additionally, VQCM offers in-depth analytics, giving administrators comprehensive insights into their collaboration ecosystem, thus empowering them to make data-driven decisions and maintain optimal performance.
Why now is the time to migrate from TMS to DMA
As the business world continues to evolve, organizations must adapt their communication and collaboration strategies to stay ahead. With increased complexity in collaboration environments and a need for seamless integration, automation, and advanced analytics, businesses are now seeking more innovative and robust solutions.
While Cisco TMS has served as a reliable tool for managing video conferencing, its End-of-Sale status and outdated architecture mean that it is no longer sufficient for modern demands.
DMA can be purchased via your Cisco Partner and is on the Cisco GPL.