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Cisco Targets $34B Market With New Collaboration Portfolio
Open Collaboration Portfolio Integrates Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx
| Source: Cisco
SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - September 24, 2008) - Cisco (NASDAQ : CSCO ) today announced a new collaboration
portfolio designed to help companies accelerate business processes,
increase productivity and speed innovation. The Cisco® collaboration
portfolio consists of Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco TelePresence and
a new Web 2.0 application platform, all of which use the network as the
platform to help enable people to connect, communicate and collaborate from
any application, device and workspace. The portfolio of unified
communications, video and a Web 2.0 platform is designed to integrate with
business applications, existing IT infrastructures and other Web services
and to allow developers to create customized applications and network-based
services. The new portfolio products include the following:
-- Unified Communications: Cisco Unified Communications System Release
7.0 offers significant improvements in total cost of ownership, ease of
use, and interoperability with business applications.
-- Video: Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand integrates the
immersive Cisco TelePresence experience into the contact center for
high-value, in-branch customer service and the ability to summon expertise
directly from a Cisco TelePresence meeting.
-- Web 2.0 Applications Platform: Cisco
WebEx® Connect, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform,
integrates presence, instant messaging, Web meetings and team spaces with
traditional and Web 2.0 business applications.
"Collaboration is the next phase of the Internet, a phase that analysts see
as a $34 billion market opportunity, and at the center of this phase is the
network," said Don Proctor, senior vice president, software group, Cisco.
"Our network platform uses open-standards protocols to expose critical
collaboration services such as presence, instant messaging, call control
and policy to a broad range of devices and applications. The Cisco
collaboration portfolio uses this network architecture to create an
integrated collaboration experience that encompasses everything from simple
text messaging to immersive Cisco TelePresence sessions."
"Having the right collaborative platform helps speed our decision making,
increase productivity and improve relationships within the organization and
with our customers and partners. I think our ability to collaborate is a
competitive advantage for Activision," said Thomas Fenady, senior director,
information technology, Activision. "Cisco's approach to collaboration
takes advantage of our underlying corporate network to provide our teams
with a seamless communications experiences, helping us collaborate within
the context of business processes."
With the network as the platform, the Cisco collaboration portfolio is
designed to interoperate with business applications, communications devices
and Web-based tools while allowing IT departments to maintain their
mandates regarding security, policy and compliance. An open architecture
and standards-based application programming interface (API) exposes
application and network services and supports end-user customization, IT
integration and third-party application and hardware interoperability.
Customers can create collaborative mash-ups with public Web-based tools as
well as with corporate applications such as those for customer relationship
management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). The open
architecture also allows Cisco collaboration capabilities to be delivered
to a range of devices including Windows and Mac OS desktops, and mobile
phones running Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile operating system.
Cisco provides open application development environments based on Web 2.0
tools and APIs. These include:
-- Cisco
Unified Applications Environment, to deliver Web applications to the
Cisco Unified IP Phone screen
-- Cisco Applications eXchange
Platform, to expose capabilities within the router to applications in
branch offices
-- Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance 8.0(4), to provide an open
network security appliance that allows businesses to extend their
collaboration capabilities with a high degree of security via a converged
data and voice virtual private network
-- And now, Cisco WebEx Connect, to bring together business
applications, Web tools and team workspaces
Cisco Unified Communications Release 7.0
Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 enables organizations to
collaborate in ways that help them quickly adapt to market changes and
improve competitive advantage through speed and innovation. Accelerating
the deployment of Unified Communications applications requires a company to
use its existing infrastructure and applications. Cisco Unified
Communications System Release 7.0 offers enhancements to its applications
development environment and provides deeper integration with desktop
products from IBM and Microsoft. Mobility enhancements help extend
productivity features across workspaces. Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator
now supports devices running on Windows Mobile as well as Symbian and
BlackBerry operating systems. Cisco Unified Communications Release 7.0
continues to help reduce system and management costs by increasing Cisco
Unified Presence scalability to 30,000 users and Cisco Unity to 15,000
users on a single server and by enabling optimization of network management
through an easy-to-use appliance deployment environment. For more
information, visit www.cisco.com/go/unifiedworkspace
Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand
Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand provides a collaborative, high-touch
customer service experience, enabling customers to connect with
subject-matter experts for tailored, in-person service at the touch of a
button. Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand combines the power of Cisco
Unified Communications and Cisco Unified Contact Center with the immersive
"in-person" experience of Cisco TelePresence to transform the way
organizations deliver high-touch customer and point-of-sale services.
Users can summon expert assistance directly in a Cisco TelePresence meeting
or use a dedicated Cisco TelePresence endpoint and get face-to-face
assistance. For example, a retail bank could provide "in-person" services
to bank customers in every location via Cisco TelePresence, while
optimizing highly trained resources. This gives organizations the ability
to scale scarce resources or expertise in a cost-effective manner,
irrespective of geographic location. For more information, visit,
http://cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7060/index.html
Cisco WebEx Connect
Cisco WebEx Connect is a cloud-based application platform for collaborative
business mash-ups. Cisco WebEx Connect includes a number of standard
applications including enterprise instant messaging, team spaces, document
management, calendaring and discussions, which can be combined with
third-party widgets that are built using open APIs, enabling companies to
work from a single workspace. Extensive administrative controls support
enterprise policy, security and compliance requirements to enable highly
secure inter-company collaboration. Cisco WebEx Connect works with
enterprise messaging solutions and Cisco Unified Communication system to
deliver integrated communication capabilities within the context of a
collaborative mashup. For more information, visit,
http://www.webex.com/go/connect_tour
Availability
Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 and Cisco TelePresence
Expert on Demand are available immediately. WebEx Connect is currently
available as a desktop and Web-based client; support for mobile clients is
scheduled to be available in early 2009.
Links
Cisco Collaboration
Homepage
Cisco Unified Communications
Product Portfolio
Cisco
WebEx Connect Page
Cisco WebEx Connect Quick
Tour
About Cisco
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how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
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