Migrating from Clariti

1. How to navigate Clariti’s end-of-life 

HP | Poly has announced end-of-life for its Poly Clariti solution. This means Poly will no longer sell Clariti, and existing customers will lose access to support in the future. Fortunately, Poly has a plan for existing Clariti customers, inviting them to migrate to PrivateConnect powered by Pexip. 

What does Clariti end-of-life mean for your Poly video conferencing systems?  

Clariti’s end-of-life means that Poly is no longer investing in its Clariti solution. There will be no more software releases in the future, in addition to no more bug fixes and no new features. Over time, Clariti customers could be putting their organizations at risk of data breaches due to security flaws and will likely see more IT support tickets as users experience more technical issues when connecting to their meetings.  

Large, security-conscious organizations around the world relied on Clariti as their complete video infrastructure solution. They liked the ability to control their data and comply with security mandates by hosting the software on-premises.  

However, the collaboration landscape is evolving, and organizations must adapt to changing user needs without compromising security. These are some of the common developments in video conferencing: 

• Users are invited to meetings on different platforms and need to easily join any meeting 
• Organizations need to maintain control of their data to comply with industry and government regulations 
• Organizations need to ensure the security and privacy of certain meetings 

This guide takes you through some key considerations and the next steps as you migrate from Clariti to PrivateConnect powered by Pexip, ensuring that you can continue to enable seamless meetings while maintaining full control of your data. 

2. Key dates to know for Clariti’s end-of-life 

May 1, 2023 – Poly announced End of Life for its Clariti Perpetual and Clariti Subscription 

July 31, 2023 – End of Commercial Sale 

July 31, 2024 – End of Engineering Support * 

July 31, 2026 – End of Service * 

*Trial and beta license dates vary 

3. Factors to consider when you replace Clariti 

The need for secure meetings is greater than ever in today’s rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape. Security is at the top of most corporate and public sector agendas, as a breach or attack can result in significant disruption or even devastation. As more sensitive conversations and decisions take place on video, this mode of communication must be safeguarded accordingly. 

When choosing a Clariti replacement, there are four key factors to consider. 

Security and compliance  

Organizations in highly regulated industries need software that keeps their data safe and complies with key regulations. This includes a number of areas, from advanced security features to flexible deployment options, to access controls.  

Choose virtualized infrastructures that comply with current encryption standards like FIPS 140-2, as well as advanced standards like FIPS 140-3. This helps protect your data at rest and in transit.  

Consider self-hosted deployment options that give you more control over your data. Unlike public cloud services, self-hosting in a private cloud, government cloud, sovereign cloud, or on-premises can reduce your risk and help you comply with industry mandates.  

With policy-defined access and authentication controls, you can add an extra layer of security to your meetings. Manage access based on role, meeting classification level, or other attributes, and easily integrate with your SSO provider. To meet modern security standards, it’s also imperative that your communications infrastructure supports a Zero Trust model, requiring verification for participants to enter a meeting. This ensures that only the right people are granted access to the right meetings at the right time.   

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when choosing a secure meeting replacement: 

• Do you need to comply with government or industry regulations that may recommend avoiding public cloud solutions? 
• Do you need to control user authentication, access, as well as where data resides? 
• Does your video conferencing software need to fit within a Zero Trust architecture? 
• Do you have meetings that require different levels of security?  
• Do you need to meet cryptographic standards like FIPS 140-2, and are you preparing to meet future standards like FIPS 140-3? 

Scalability and reliability 

Be ready for anything. When usage spikes, make sure your video conferencing solution ensures smooth, reliable performance without the need for additional hardware. By using bursting capabilities, you can avoid unnecessary costs on extra on-premises infrastructure.  

Also consider your disaster recovery plans. When your communication systems go down, do you have a reliable backup solution ready to go? With an automated approach, you can keep your operations resilient, so your organization doesn’t miss a beat.  

Here are some questions to consider when planning for business continuity: 

• What if a server goes down? Does your meeting software provide redundancy and failover? 
• Do you have a plan for disaster recovery? 
• Can you easily add capacity if you need to scale up based on demand? 
• Is media processed server-side or application-side? 
• What certifications does your meeting vendor hold? Is the solution fully supported and vetted? 
• What other organizations trust your meeting vendor? Is it used by others in your industry? 

User experience 

Your users expect a seamless meeting experience and the ability to join any meeting from any room. As organizations standardize on Microsoft Teams, it’s imperative to enable Teams interoperability from standards-based endpoints. With the right software, you can deliver a Teams-like experience across your rooms that’s intuitive and familiar.  

Also consider how a customized and branded meeting solution could help you build digital trust. Whether your organization delivers online citizen services or telemedicine visits, a custom-branded solution with your logo and colors can give you a competitive edge. 

Here are some other questions to help you deliver the best possible user experience: 

• Do your employees need to join meetings hosted on different platforms? 
• If so, what’s their experience like today? Can they join in one touch, share content, use both screens? 
• Can employees easily join Microsoft Teams meetings from any device, all within your secure IT environment? 
• Do you have a mix of meeting room devices from Poly and other vendors? Can you use any room system to join any meeting? 
• Can you customize your meeting solution to meet industry-specific needs? 

Ease of management 

Deploying and managing your video infrastructure doesn’t have to be complicated. Look for a management portal that brings all your data together in a single pane of glass, eliminating the need to toggle between applications. With the right software, you can gain complete visibility into your deployment at a glance: every conferencing node, every conference and meeting, every participant, and every connection. You can immediately identify problems and troubleshoot as needed. 

Here are a few questions to consider when it comes to managing your video infrastructure: 

• Are you hosting other software in a private or hybrid cloud environment? Would it simplify your life to host video conferencing software there, too? 
• Can you manage your full deployment from a single pane of glass? 
• Is your infrastructure management interface intuitive and easy to use?

Cost of migration 

Picture this: You are on one platform and consider migrating to a new, more modern, and more feature-rich solution for your secure meetings. What does it take to get you there? The cost of migration from one platform to another involves much more than the cost of licenses themselves. Unlike an upgrade, which simply means moving from one version to another on an existing platform, a migration means decommissioning one and deploying another. With Clariti going end of life, a migration is inevitable. To reduce costs, consider how you can leverage investments you have already made.  

Ask yourself some of these questions when you plan your migration: 

• What, if any, of my existing devices or solution components can I re-use? Rooms, codecs, already mounted displays, etc.? 
• How long will it take me to move from one platform to the other? Do I need to plan for considerable downtime, or service discontinuity? 
• Do I need to train my users and employees to use the new meeting platform? How different or complex is the new solution? 
• Can I move all my existing and recurring meetings? 
• What will the migration mean for my users in terms of lost productivity and efficiency, if any?

4. Replacement options for Clariti

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