6/9/2009 -- Shortly after Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) joined forces to front a combined unified communications and collaboration (UCC) effort, Cisco Systems Inc. struck back, taking its UCC case -- or the collaboration aspect thereof, at any rate -- directly to its channel partners.

Cisco on Monday touted new IP telephony endpoints, partner-centric programs to promote sales of its Cisco TelePresence systems, and new UCC offerings and licensing options. The upshot, according to Cisco, is that the new offerings give channel partners the products, services, licensing options and know-how they need to tap into a $34 billion (and growing) collaboration market.

Case in point: the new Unified IP Phone 6900 Series, which Cisco says simultaneously addresses the needs of "budget-constrained deployments" and offers adopters some variety in terms of color and handset styles. On top of this, Cisco adds, the IP Phone 6900 is built using new "energy-efficient" technology that can realize power savings of up to 50 percent in a deep-sleep state.

Cisco also announced Unified Videoconferencing 7.0, a new high-definition (HD) multiparty video conferencing offering. Unified Videoconferencing 7.0 works in conjunction with Cisco's TelePresence systems to display video from HD video systems. It ships with a Multipoint Control Unit that lets partners deploy HD video across other Cisco collaboration offerings.

Elsewhere, Cisco kicked of a new pilot program designed to encourage sales of one-screen TelePresence Systems, chiefly via its Cisco Advanced Unified Communications Specialized Partners. That pilot, which Cisco expects to convert into a formal program next year, will expand "the number of partners who can sell, install and manage Cisco TelePresence deployments," according to officials.

In addition, Cisco announced a new Unified Workspace Licensing Entry Edition for customers that require basic mobility or dial-tone capabilities. The new offering gives partners a targeted solution to address the needs of customers in developing markets where mobile phone adoption is nonetheless widespread.

Finally, Cisco announced its Collaboration User Group, a virtual interactive community based on its Cisco UC, TelePresence and WebEx technologies. The Collaboration User Group is designed to encourage interaction between partners and customers, according to Cisco. It's intended to provide a one-stop shop for best practices, as well as function as a gateway for customers to both influence Cisco's product roadmaps and -- more mundanely -- learn about new product releases.

"Today's business environment is accelerating the demand for collaboration solutions to reduce travel, improve productivity and reduce expenses," said Richard McLeod, senior director of worldwide channels at Cisco, in a release. "As we enter the upturn, globalization, consolidation and innovation will emerge as the major business imperatives with collaboration as the key enabler. Cisco and our partners are uniquely positioned to meet those needs."

With last month's UCC accord between HP and Microsoft, industry experts point to a coming clash of the titans in the burgeoning UCC segment. Integration (i.e., in-the-field implementation) is fast emerging as a focal point of UCC activity, with HP and Microsoft, for example, joining forces in part to develop a top-to-bottom -- from hardware to software to services -- UCC strategy. Experts see other players following suit.

"Mega-vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and Google are heavily investing in UCC, which represents the end stage of previously stovepiped services such as e-mail, voice, instant messaging, social software and audio/video/Web conferencing. Given the speed of change and the integration and operational complexity of UCC, integration services will be big part of the UCC movement," wrote Matthew Cain, Steve Blood and Andrew Butler in a Gartner Inc. research blast.

There's a sense, too, in which the HP/Microsoft alliance takes direct aim at Cisco.

"HP's Procurve is competing with Cisco's networking business," the trio pointed out, adding that Cisco also plans to move into the server business, pitting it directly against volume server champion HP.

It's hard not to see Cisco's announcement as a response to the HP/Microsoft move. "The alliance puts pressure on Cisco to build a strong services channel that can integrate its premises-based VoIP gear with its pending cloud-based collaboration suite," the Gartner trio wrote last month. "HP and IBM had been strong integrators for Cisco, but we see Cisco steering more of those deals to alternative vendors. IBM already has a strong field team with IBM Global Services. Google is the laggard here, but has a growing partnership with Capgemini and it is building a network of smaller field integration vendors. Microsoft already has UCC services partnerships with Nortel and smaller integrators, but those alliances lack the scope and expertise of HP, which further motivated Microsoft to pursue the HP deal." --Stephen Swoyer