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Cisco’s Customizable Cius App Store Will Help IT Gain Some Control Over Tablet App Adoption
| Jul 1, 2011 | Unified Communications and Contact Center
| Analyst: Brian Riggs
Event Summary
June 29, 2011 -- Cisco introduced AppHQ, an application ecosystem built specifically for Cisco Cius that provides new ways to create, manage, and rapidly deploy tablet applications in the enterprise. AppHQ provides developers with tools and resources to create, test, and market applications for Cisco Cius, and it allows IT managers to control which applications can be used on the devices. Additionally, companies can create private, custom-branded application storefronts for their organizations where employees can find, publish, and procure applications that complement their business environments.
Quick Take
Analytical Summary
• Current Perspective: Positive on AppHQ and Cisco setting a date for the general availability of Cius, because both move Cisco’s enterprise tablet closer to being a market reality while at the same time providing some interesting differentiation from other mobile devices used in business settings.
• Vendor Importance: Moderate to Cisco, because a year after being announced, Cius is not yet a shipping product. With the tablet market surging forward, Cisco needs to enter the race.
• Market Importance: Low on the enterprise mobility technology and enterprise communications markets, because there is not yet an established base of Cius customers which will immediately benefit from AppHQ; nor is there an established Cius developer community contributing applications to it.
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Cisco Unveils A First-of-Its-Kind Enterprise-Class Application and Business Tablet Ecosystem for Cisco Cius
Customers Worldwide Are Redefining Mobility in the Workplace with Cisco Cius
SAN JOSE, California, June 29, 2011– Cisco today introduced AppHQ™, an application ecosystem built specifically for Cisco Cius™ that provides new ways to create, manage and rapidly deploy tablet applications in the enterprise. Cisco Cius, an Android-based tablet created for the enterprise, combines voice, video, collaboration, and virtualization capabilities unlike any other tablet on the market today. With Cisco Cius, organizations can now deliver an optimized tablet with enterprise-grade security, as a natural extension of the enterprise network. The device provides customers with mobility, centralized manageability, virtual content creation and computing capabilities, and a comprehensive suite of collaboration applications.
AppHQ provides developers with tools and resources to create, test and market applications for Cisco Cius, and allows IT managers to control which applications can be used on the devices. Additionally, companies can create private, custom-branded application storefronts for their organizations where employees can find, publish and procure applications that complement their business environments.
During a series of media events hosted today, Cisco highlighted that CDW, Nervecentre Software, Nottingham University Hospitals, Palomar Pomerado Health, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Verizon are among customers using Cisco Cius to help employees remove barriers to mobile productivity in the office, around campus, at home or on the road.
Introducing Cisco AppHQ: A Trusted Source for Business Applications
Cisco AppHQ is a highly secure, cloud-based user storefront that provides capabilities for end users and IT managers not found in other application stores today. Some of these capabilities include:
• Testing and validation: IT managers want to know that applications deployed in their environment are appropriate for the enterprise. Cisco AppHQ provides IT managers and users with a "trusted source" for applications, ensuring that every application within AppHQ goes through Cisco validation testing, whether developed by Cisco, third-party Android developer partners, or users within the enterprise. The validation process includes interoperability testing both for the application itself and in typical configurations within the device.
• Store-within-a-Store: Enterprises will have a Cisco hosted, highly-secure and private application store within AppHQ. Businesses can customize the storefront, following their corporate branding guidelines, including use of logos, icons and color schemes. Beyond customization, the store-within-a-store is a platform that customers can use to deploy applications efficiently in their organizations. For example, a financial services company could deploy applications pertaining to their back office operations, such as human resources or payroll apps, and populate those applications on the devices of relevant employees.
• Empowers IT management: With AppHQ Manager™, IT will have the ability to allow (or deny) access to application marketplaces by user role or device and to grant (or deny) access to applications by type, source or category. This unique capability will let IT organizations balance the individual freedom of users with the enterprise-class policies on security and cost efficiency.
Additional Details about Cisco AppHQ and Cisco Cius
• The AppHQ ecosystem will include Cisco selected, industry-leading business and consumer applications that deeply integrate Cisco collaboration capabilities, as well as validated business-to-business and business-to-consumer applications from developer partners. Cisco will continue to add applications to AppHQ based on customer requirements. IT managers can also select from approximately 200,000 applications in the Android Marketplace.
• Cisco AppHQ offers a user-friendly interface to find and install applications, and a platform for user feedback about applications. End users can find information about an application, such as the publisher and release date, and install or update apps and even sort by category, such as most popular or new.
• Cisco Cius offers integrated access to the comprehensive suite of Cisco® Collaboration applications, including Cisco WebEx® meeting applications, Cisco Quad™ social software, Cisco Jabber® messaging, and Cisco TelePresence™.
• Cisco Cius is scheduled for global availability on July 31, 2011. The estimated street price is below $750 USD and Cisco has made available a new promotion* called "Triple V" (for Voice, Video and Virtualization) that could enable further price reductions below $700 USD. Pricing may vary by country. Basic access to Cisco AppHQ is included with every Cisco Cius device.
• With Cisco Cius, customers benefit from enterprise-class warranty and support with a single number to call. If necessary, a replacement can be obtained in 24 hours. There are also one, two and three-year warranty options from Cisco Services available, which follow an enterprise customer model.
