Zoom vs Cisco WebEx: Is There a Clear Winner for the New Virtual Workforce?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies were already operating some portion of their businesses remotely, for their business travelers, or as a benefit to employees who might need to telecommute. In this “new” remote work environment, with entire teams across many industries in the private sector as well government, education and healthcare now working from home, the choice of a web conferencing app is more important than ever.
Latest Trends
According to TechRepublic, “Transparency Market Research predicts the video conferencing market will nearly double over the next seven years, growing from $6.1 billion in 2019 to $11.56 billion by the end of 2027.” Cloud-based software will dominate that market growth as security concerns are alleviated through improved encryption and password protection.
Most companies want a solution with a short learning curve that will improve productivity and foster real-time, face-to-face interaction…anytime, anywhere. With the growing trend of the mobile workforce and Bring Your Own Device policies, that could mean access using a PC, Mac or Linux, and/or Android or IOS mobile device. Companies will need to chat, share documents and notes during meetings and need to know that their communications and documents are secure.
As companies continue to adjust to running their businesses in a remote environment, they are forced to balance issues of cost, efficiency and security to determine which cloud-based solution is right for them. Companies have and will continue to invest in collaboration apps that allow them to scale operations to get work done more efficiently and productively. They are moving quickly to leverage the latest capabilities available and there are many options on the market. We will focus on the two standouts: Zoom and Cisco WebEx, the most popular video conferencing apps of 2019 as reported in Okta’s Businesses @ Work 2020 Report.
Both Zoom and Cisco WebEx specialize in web conferencing platforms and offer larger suites of tools that allow the management of web conferencing, webinars, VoIP and other communication software
through one system. Let’s take a closer look at basic features.
Features and Ease of Use
Both products have similar features. Zoom offers seamless services such as online meetings, video webinar, Zoom Rooms and group messaging in a user-friendly interface. The conferencing features include HD Video, HD Voice, Screen Sharing and Whiteboarding, private and group chats with recording and unlimited cloud storage.
Cisco WebEx also offers communications services to conduct online meetings, webinars and video conferences with HD Video, Screen Sharing and Whiteboarding with 10 GB of cloud storage. WebEx is designed to be easily utilized alongside Cisco’s other webex communications tools so is a good choice for larger enterprises that host a large number of external meetings although, users may experience occasional lag.
Zoom allows users to join an online video conference instantly, with common features across all devices. Cisco WebEx has a lengthier meeting registration and check in process. And once in the meeting, you will notice Zoom has better video and voice quality and their enterprise plan is cheaper to use however, with the free plan, Zoom meetings are limited to 40 minutes whereas WebEx free meetings are unlimited. Still, based on the powerful features and ease of use, Zoom takes the edge.
Pricing
Both Zoom and Cisco WebEx offer free plans with similar capabilities. Both allow an unlimited number of meetings with the main difference being is that Cisco WebEx allows users to host meetings of any length while Zoom meetings are limited to 40 minutes per meeting with their free plan. They also both offer options in plans based on a company’s team size, small teams and mid-sized. WebEx takes the edge here with cheaper options of $13.50/month per host for small teams and $17.95/month per host for mid-sized teams. Zoom per host costs are $14.99/month and $19.99/month, respectively.
However, based on a comparison of enterprise plans, Zoom is priced at $19.99/month per host, allows up to 500 participants and includes room systems solutions as well. Whereas, WebEx only allows up to 200 participants on their comparable plan priced at $26.95/month per host.
Based solely on the price of the enterprise plan, Zoom is the more affordable option. Let’s call this one a tie though, since it depends on your team size and average size of your online meetings.
Security and Password Protection
WebEx has been around since 1995 and has emerged as a leader in web conferencing applications for years offering end-to-end encryption of data, in transit and at rest.
Zoom has been slammed for security issues and privacy concerns in the past few months. As mentioned in last week’s blog article, Zoom has stepped up its security with the acquisition of Keybase, a company specializing in end-to-end encryption. Zoom quickly moved to enable authenticated encryption and other security features to protect the privacy of meetings in Zoom 5.0 (released April 27) and all users will be forced to upgrade on May 30, 2020. With Zoom security concerns off the table, this one is also a tie.
And the Winner Is?
Well, if are you looking for a free, secure, robust app for your small company, Cisco WebEx, with its unlimited meeting times would be a good choice. For the medium and large enterprise, in need of smooth video conferencing and web presentations offering mobile and desktop support at a relatively low cost, Zoom may be ideal.
Have you chosen the best web-conferencing app for your team? Consort Solutions Group can help. Whether your web conferencing app is Zoom, WebEx or some other, CSG can optimize your solution and design virtual team processes for efficient and productive meetings and collaboration.
Ann McDonald | Director of Business Transformation and Technology Solutions