I recently completed certification training on Cisco's VMS and in my view it's junk, anybody buying this over Genetec or Milestone is raving mad in my view.
Cisco make great network gear, always have. They are using their reputation to try to push into other markets, CCTV being one of these and as is the way they have some massive clients. They want to sell you their cameras, connected to their switches, with their software on their servers and they normally do this having already sold a complete IT and telephony infrastructure to the client.
It's the same pitch as Schneider/Siemens/Honeywell/JCI/Tyco trying to bundle power distribution, fire, BMS, structured cabling & security into a single package, big clients love it as they feel safe with a trusted brand when allot of the time they end up with a collection of mediocre systems, an empty promise on 'complete integration' and a very expensive long term lock-in service level agreement.
I'm not saying the big boys don't have some excellent solutions, they do but generally not all at the same time. Schneider own APC, a world leader in UPS systems, they also own Pelco a CCTV has been. Honeywell own loads of great fire products, some decent access control but horrific CCTV.
Maybe I'm missing something but if I was spending millions on a new building/campus/town/city I would want a team of professional people that can select the best products in each category in a way that protects my investment by not locking me into silly proprietary (or very restricted at best) systems that in the long cost more and are only ever just about adequate