Fitzgerald, though, is quick to point out that companies tend to put too much emphasis on the device-that is, the iPad and smartphone-and not enough on the underlying network. This can spell disaster for a CIO attempting to bring mobile videoconferencing to a company.

For example, just look to Skype. People love it for personal use because it's free and are willing to put up with inconsistency and, at times, lackluster video sessions and voice-over-IP. But today's tech-savvy mobile worker won't put up with shoddy communication services at work.

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"When you start to develop your business service around this channel, you have to have some predictability," explains Fitzgerald. He decided on Cisco's Jabber because the app is deeply integrated into Cisco's cloud-based TelePresence network infrastructure, and thus he felt confident about Jabber's quality of service in a global environment.

The network drives the decision, he says, never the device.