This debate has not focused on a big issue for organizations regarding business communications, i.e., the challenges of "migrating" gracefully and cost-effectively from legacy communications technologies to the future of UC and mobility (Mobile UC). This migration is not just about infrastructure snd integrations that individual end users don't really worry about, but also about flexible user interfaces and ease of use that is indeed what every consumer/end user sees and do care about.

We have all noticed that the Internet is becoming the network of the future for all forms of online business applications, as well as for the many types of person-to-person contacts. "Everything as a Service" is reducing IT's old role in enterprise organizations for hardware systems and software development (whether on premise or not) to managing the security and cost efficiencies of the various software applications that are being offered by third-party developers as hosted, managed services.

"Everything as a Service" is complemented by end user BYOD choice of networked endpoints, which include desktops, laptops/tablets, and dual persona smartphones. So, since the applications are moving to the "clouds" and the endpoints are personalized end user choices, the battle for control is showing up at the network connectivity level that Cisco has been long focused on from a hardware perspective. Microsoft is exploiting it's domination of desktop software tools, which they are now moving to their public cloud.

Both Cisco and Microsoft want to standardize and support end user device interfaces for the best mobile "User Experience" that will influence "Consumer BYOD" and business "mobile apps" developers. That will include legacy telephony options ("click-to-call"), but, as Steve Taylor's recent survey points out, we don't have all the standards (yet) for Mobile UC. So, SIs and channel partners will have to do the heavy IT migration lifting for most organizations, because it is not just traditional person-to-person phone calls any more, but also involves business process applications (CEBP).