Cisco to take on Microsoft and Google
CISCO HAS PULLED a surprise rabbit out of its usually dull hat. Company executives have thrown down a gauntlet to Microsoft's Office and Google's Apps.
Cisco Veep Doug Dennerline told the press his firm is "thinking about" adding web-based document drafting and sharing to its WebEx offering.
WebEx already boasts instant messaging, online meeting capability and email services, but Cisco has bigger plans for its $3.2 billion 2007 acquisition.
Microsoft is said to have pulled some $16 billion from its Orifice last year, with the Vole holding between 80 and 95 per cent of the office apps market. Cisco turned over $39.5 billion in total last year, so even a slender slice of Office pie makes a lot of sense on the Cisco spreadsheet. But that's assuming the Internet's favourite plumber would be able to get that much.
Realistically, Cisco stands a snowflake's chance in hell of winning over even a few Microsoft customers. Furthermore, an augmented WebEx would have to compete with Google Apps which can call on Google's massive user-base and strength in cloud computing. Cisco is less "cloud" and more ♫Networks in the sky with routers♫.
The firm would have to convince stodgy business punters that its doc-sharing WebEx offerings were worth splashing a bit of cash on instead of Microsoft's expensive Office or Google's more basic Apps.
However, Cisco's CEO, John Chambers, seems optimistic, and isn't stopping there. In addition to beefing up WebEx, he says Cisco is also making strides into the ‘exciting' world of telepresence for homes in the next couple of years.
Yes, your mother will be beaming herself right onto the LCD screen in your living room for regular chats.
But, warned Chambers, all this stirring about in other companies' pots doesn't mean Cisco has lost sight of its bread and butter.
"On the one hand, make no mistake about it, we will stay focused on our core competencies - switching and routing [zzzzzz - Ed]. You will see a constant flood of product capabilities and directions coming in these areas," said Chambers, adding: "At the same time, we realise that the network has evolved." µ
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they also want to slice a pie in a cloud computing environment. WebEx is just another dumb but pricey services that they want to bundle with their bunch of already flooded network equipment.
And all this time I was wishing for a money tree...
Quote from article:
"Microsoft is said to have pulled some $16 billion from its Orifice last year..."
Are they putting their money where their mouth is? I wouldn't put that anywhere near my mouth....
Hopefully that's not a new Microsoft product.....well at least the titles are starting to reflect where they get some of these programs from.
By the way....love the Simpsons reference.
:)
Microsoft is lagging far behind other IT companies when it comes to helping save the environment. It ranks at the bottom of Greenpeace's Cool IT Challenge, which scores how much IT companies are doing to address climate change. IT companies can help cut global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 15 percent by 2020. Greenpeace’s Challenge uses scorecards to evaluate a dozen major IT companies in five areas: Public Climate Speech, Political Advocacy, Climate Solutions, Reducing Companies’ Own Emissions Target, and Renewable Energy Use. In addition to producing the technology necessary for the implementation of climate solutions and reducing their company’s carbon footprint, the leaders of these powerful companies can use their influence to impact key political leaders and call for a strong agreement at the Climate Change Negotiations in Copenhagen this December. Greenpeace will update Cool IT regularly and release the next assessment in August/September. To find out more about Cool IT and learn about who is winning the Challenge, visit http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/green-guide-12.
Keep your envirospam relevant.