For example, we use Microsoft Exchange and Outlook for e-mail, which integrates with our UC platform and Quad. You're never going to get perfect interoperability. There are always going to be apps that will have architectural challenges. But having a high level of interoperability is a priority for us and it should be a priority for any enterprise.

With that said, Microsoft Lync and our UC platform [called Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing] do not have seamless interoperability. The more proprietary you are the less interoperable you are. Our approach is to be open and standards based.

It's unrealistic to give a super high level of support on every single device anyone may want. It's also unrealistic to go to the other extreme and say "Sorry, we only support a couple of devices and that's it." At a global organization if you get really tight about which devices you support, you spend a lot of time justifying that to everybody, and that's not a good use of a CIOs time.

The way that we've approached it at Cisco is we have an architecture that allows us to be relatively open and give people a choice on what device they use: smartphone, laptop and tablet. Our responsibility in this regard is to monitor total costs of the devices and make sure they are secure. We communicate very clearly to users that not all devices will get the same level of support. You may have to share the cost of certain devices. If it's appropriate to someone's job we pay for their mobile service, but we don't pay for their mobile devices.