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September 26, 2007
Working Mother Magazine: Cisco Top Place For Working Mothers
We were all happy to hear that Working Mother magazine named Cisco as one of the Top 100 employers for working mothers. Cisco prides itself on taking care of its employees and taking care of new moms, "experienced" moms and moms in between is important not only to the moms at Cisco, but the dads, the cousins, the uncles, the aunts, the brothers, the sisters, the grandparents, the friends...and more. After all, all of our extended Cisco families care about those little kids and big kids at Cisco. You can view a bit of what Working Mother recognized us for here.
With this recognition, we thought it would be good to film some working mothers at Cisco talking about what it's like to work at Cisco. Please watch these four moms talk about work/life balance, Cisco day care, mother's lounges, and more.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 02:16 PM Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
September 24, 2007
Good Morning, TelePresence!
Good Morning America (GMA) aired a piece on Cisco TelePresence and "Virtual Margaret" this morning and we're all pretty stoked to see Margaret and the technology get some well-deserved airtime. It was a part of a GMA series called "Take Control of Your Life" and this pieced focused on virtual assistants.
(Virtual Margaret, left, and GMA Reporter Tory Johnson on Good Morning America - ABCNews photo)
GMA Correspondent Tory Johnson reported, "Virtual assistants are a rapidly growing trend, driven by a few key factors: the desire of employees to maintain more control over their work styles, demand from businesses to lower costs and improve efficiencies, and the availability of technology that enables both sides to connect." There is now even an International Virtual Assistants Association.
You can also view the broadcast story of Virtual Margaret and her interview with Diane Sawyer on the video part of this website...the video is entitled, "Take Control - Work from Home."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 11:24 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 21, 2007
The Only Constant is Change
Some people love Barry Bonds. Some hate him. I respect his talent and like watching him play. And, I was saddened to hear that he won't be a San Francisco Giant next year. He has spent 15 of his 22 years in San Francisco and his Dad and godfather, Willie Mays, were also Giants, so his roots run deep.
There will likely be fewer splash hits at ATT park next year, but it will be the beginning of a new Giants ball club and new beginnings are always exciting. In technology (and sports), it seems, we are always saying good-bye to the old and hello to the new. The Sony Walkman tape player now is the Apple iPod. We LOVED the Walkman growing up, but now we love the iPod even more. The rotary phone has turned into all digital and mobile and also our e-mail, calendar and web browser. The quaintness of the rotary brings good memories...or, if you are an Andy Griffith fan like me (I'm from NC...not Mayberry), even the old switched telephone central operator..."Sarah, can you ring Floyd's barber shop for me." However, quaintness, doesn't ensure good voice quality. Now, of course, the telephone call is turning into TelePresence.
So, for San Francisco fans, it is truly the end of an era. But there is now the possibility that the new Giants will be the next "cool thing" - maybe as cool as TelePresence. And, that possibility will certainly have me back at the ball park next year. Thank you, Barry, for giving us some GREAT baseball and good luck next year...maybe still in the Bay Area as an A??!!!
Posted by John Earnhardt at 04:34 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 19, 2007
Singularity and Merging of Man and Machine
Wow. Read Lee Gomes' column today in The Wall Street Journal. (For now, paid subscription required, however there are rumblings that Mr. Murdoch may change this practice in the future.) He writes about singularity or "the day when the intelligence of computers will exceed our own." For now, I think we're good, however, there apparently is talk of a "human-machine synthesis into a new, superintelligent life-form." That "has been projected as anytime from nine to 40 years hence." So, either 2016 or 2047 if you are counting. Mark your calendars.
What this really is talking about is the advance of technology at a dizzying pace - networks, processing speeds, storage, etc.. Much what our CEO John Chambers talked about in a recent Forbes column. One of the more interesting people at Cisco, in my mind, (out of 60,000 of us) is Dave Evans in our Internet Business Solutions Group. He is the closest that I've found to a futurist at Cisco and he talks of a "tech avalanche" and how fast technology is advancing. You can listen to his podcast on that topic here.
Gomes also writes about, "Ray Kurzweil, the best-known singularity writer, also co-wrote a lengthy guide to life extension. He once told me he expects literally to live forever -- first by prolonging his life via a daily regimen that includes hundreds of pills and the nonstop consumption of green tea, then, once super-powerful computers arrive, by uploading his consciousness into one."
Maybe we're actually looking at a little later than 2047. Mr. Kurzweil, I'll talk to you then...I'm off to make some green tea.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 12:35 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 18, 2007
Cisco Acquires Cognio, a Spectrum Intelligence Company
Post by John Noh, Senior PR Manager
Anyone who has frantically twisted a radio dial in the vain hopes of maintaining a weak AM signal that's being overpowered by another signal is already familiar with the problems of radio frequency (RF) interference. While it may be a mere annoyance on your radio, RF interference can cause significant issues related to WiFi, or wireless networking, technologies, which uses a different RF spectrum than AM/FM radio to send and receive data. There are millions of common electronics devices that can interfere with your WiFi experience including those with Bluetooth and Zigbee connectivity, microwave ovens, cordless phones, wireless video cameras, outdoor microwave links, wireless game controllers, motion detectors and, yes, even fluorescent lights. Without the proper solutions, WiFi users may run into a number of serious problems including degradation in wireless performance, creation of security vulnerabilities and wireless network instability.
That's the problem Cisco is tackling with the acquisition of Cognio, which offers Spectrum Intelligence technology for wireless networks.
This private company is the market leader in spectrum intelligence, which is the science of providing visibility into the usage of the RF spectrum. The acquisition of Cognio will help enable Cisco to offer best-in-class, integrated spectrum intelligence, and continue to differentiate Cisco’s wireless solutions from the competition and support the delivery of robust wireless networks.
So while the combination of Cisco and Cognio can't help in strengthening the faint signal from that out-of-area AM station, it holds the promise for a rich and dependable mobility experience on a Cisco Unified Wireless Network.
Read more in the press release about this deal.
Posted by Cisco PR at 09:53 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 17, 2007
The Next Wave of the Business Internet: The Human Network@Work
Post by Alan S. Cohen, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions
Reading my colleague Joe Burton’s blog a few days on UC “Analysis Paralysis” got me to thinking a little more deeply about how the next wave of the Internet was started by Web 2.0 and Social Networking (the Human Network), but may be completed by how businesses are taking advantage of the changing dynamics of Collaboration and Unified Communications (the Human Network @ Work).
If the first wave of the Web Internet was largely defined by commerce and customer support (“find it, buy it, help it”), the second wave is more about rich collaboration (“find me, work with me”). The entrance of rich media and video into the equation shows how fast people-to-machine transactions are moving to people-to-people-to-contextual/real-time information types of interactions. People are in the center, not computers. And every device, fixed and mobile, is in play.
Despite the prognostications you might hear about the unified communications marketplace, it is crystal clear that the user, and all the choices that users make, owns this emerging environment. Unified communications and collaboration is the new platform for businesses and winners in this market must take to heart the words of Winston Churchill: “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” Monolithic approaches and platforms are destined for the dustbin of Internet history.
To summarize, the Human Network @ Work has four guiding principles:
1. The next wave of the business Internet is real-time, contextual, borderless and user-centric. This is why an intelligent network fabric is so critical: it securely supports (and links to) the applications, devices and processes businesses are using. It allows capabilities such as identity to personalize services. The network is the great equalizer in a world of choice
2. By its nature, it is about secure rich collaboration and unified communications, not just IP Telephony or email or IM, but also web conferencing (e.g., WebEx), mobility, and video collaboration (TelePresence). TelePresence is not about 1080p HDTV video: it is about business transformation where your employees, partners and customers are truly integrated into your business operations and communications fabric. If this is not what Tom Friedman meant in The World is Flat, I am not sure what is.
3. It is open, not dictated by one vendor’s applications but a rich and diverse suite of capabilities from a very, very wide range of players from ERP to industry-specific. It takes advantages of application using all operating systems – Windows, Linux, UNIX, Symbian, etc., etc. – and a range of developer communities.
4. It can be delivered and consumed in a variety of manners: implemented at your business by your own IT staff or a great experienced technology partner (e.g., Cisco UC), managed by a VAR (Cisco Smart Business Communications System) or delivered by a service provider (WebEx)
And yes, Joe, businesses want and can have much of this inclusive communications fabric RIGHT NOW, integrated with the innovations emerging in the marketplace today.
Enabling the borderless, user-centric world of unified communications and collaboration will take networks, platforms and rich-media collaboration capabilities where the users choose and can integrate the applications, devices, and “workspaces.” Our concept of the workspace is anyplace is where you need to accomplish your job – hence our phrase, "work is an activity, not a place" -- and it is one that is neither burdened by the absolutes of real estate nor a narrow definition of computer screens.
When you make an investment in a UC platform, you are taking out a future option on web conferencing and video collaboration, and ultimately on business transformation. Over the past decade, many of us in the IT industry rushed to show how our technology could support our customers’ businesses processes. Today, however, we are working with them to discover how business processes can adapt around the changes in the world driven by the networked world, including globalization, social networking, business continuity, the search for and retention of talent, etc.
Although the customer who starts with IP Telephony today may have no immediate plan for TelePresence and rich Collaboration platforms, there is no reason to make the former investment without the possibility on being able to use the latter with the same underlying technology. When you build a house from scratch, you rarely think I want “4 rooms, 3 bathrooms and a sunk-in family room for the rest of my life.” You start with that model -- perhaps to meet your budget -- but you also plan for the future capabilities (the game room, the backyard pool, etc.).
Mark Twain, in his Autobiography quipped: “I liked criticism, but it must be my way.” Cast a cold eye on any approach to business communications and collaboration that either limits your choices or does not bring the capabilities you rely on, today.
Posted by Cisco PR at 12:03 PM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
September 14, 2007
Happy Birthday, USAToday!
Everybody's favorite "on the road" paper. The one that you get at your hotel door. The one that you get when you are in a town whose hometown paper's lead story is about a unusually large squash. The one you grab at an airport when you want to know "what is going on." The one with the neat graphics on the front page. The one with the "our views"/"opposing views."
Tomorrow, USAToday is 25 years old! Their editor, Ken Paulsen, offers some comments on how it started and what it means. There are, of course, great graphics that tell the 25 year story as well. And, founder Al Neuharth offers his perspective as well.
So, Happy Birthday, USAToday! We honor you for your service.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 10:01 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 11, 2007
Analysis Paralysis on UC Strategy?
Post by Joe Burton, Chief Technology Officer, Unified Communications
Don’t take your comparative advantage for granted. Ours is a rapid-paced, dynamic business environment . Whether it’s a small company focused on serving a market niche or a large global corporation, every business has to compete for customers and stay one step ahead of its competitors to maintain a sustainable edge.
In this ever-changing global economy, can any business wait around to get outpaced by competitors while they experiment with PC or email-client-based-architecture for unified communications? Can they afford to exclude future prospective customers, employees, or partners who do not use email as their preferred communications medium? Can they afford the 18-24 month wait for a software-client-based call control architecture that will be marginally mature and deployable? Can they really depend on PC “experts”, who are learning on-the-job to implement a business class unified communications solution that meets their communication requirements?
During my presentation at Cisco’s Global Sales Meeting last month, I reflected on the power of a network-centric unified communications architecture evident in a virtual communications solution which transcends geography, workspaces, time zones, and cultures. With the evolution of global marketplaces, businesses are looking well beyond traditional channels for customers, partners, and employees. They are looking in different parts of the world where the PC or email has never been, nor will ever be an important part the communications toolbox.
As Michael Mace points out in his MobileOpportunity blog posting titled “European vs. American Mobile phone use”, Europeans of all ages (young and old) are more likely to communicate via SMS messages on mobile phones, while PC based instant messaging is mostly used by younger Americans. In India, for example, The Financial Express (April 2007) points out that , “With nearly 200 million mobile users plus six million new users per month, the mobile user base far outpaces the PC user base, estimated to be roughly 20 million; with an additional five million new users per year.” Can a business trying to win global customers or attract future employees afford to wait and build a PC (and email) centric unified communications strategy?
The reality is that if we look at the diversity in communication preferences across different geographical boundaries, we need to make sure that we are providing the right tools to attract future customers, talent, and partnerships. User experience needs to have a consistent look and feel across a wide variety of devices, yet be customizable at the same time. Only a network based unified communications architecture can bring services, applications, provisioning, management, and useabilty together. It provides businesses with the flexibility to choose the “face” they want to present to their customers, employees, and partners independent of their communication preference.
For businesses waiting to evaluate PC (or email) client-based-software architecture for unified communications, the opportunity cost associated with this inertia is difficult to justify. I would go as far as to say that for many customers their very survival is dependent upon breaking out and leading the pack – not just responding to the changes in the market but anticipating them and transforming themselves to provide a consistent media-rich unified communications experience to users in all workspaces.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 11:25 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Poem for the Day
I thought a poem would be appropriate for today.
The Seven Ages of Man
by William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part.
The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:46 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 10, 2007
VIDEO: Cisco Team Volunteers at Belle Haven School
School days are upon us. For some of you with school age children, "school daze" may be more appropriate. It takes a lot of people to prepare for the school year and with that spirit in mind, our Corporate Communications team recently partnered with Hands on Bay Area and worked with the Ravenswood City School District superintendent to identify a school in Menlo Park, CA to help get it ready for the school year.
A team of 60 Cisco volunteers spent over 180 man hours painting interior walls, removing white boards, sanding and painting benches, assembling planter boxes, painting a mural and overall clipping hedges and trees and cleaning, weeding and installing a garden in the courtyard for Belle Haven school. Cisco has been involved with the Costano School in East Palo Alto, CA since our early days (it is across from the original Cisco building) and we were honored and proud to help another school in the area where we were founded.
Upon hearing that we were going to descend upon her school and do some work to help get the school year off with a clean, tidy and replenished look, new Belle Haven Principal Maria Ibarra commented, "I am very excited to hear that Cisco volunteers are enthusiastic and ready to help give our students, staff and community a school where the environment invites and inspires learning."
We were happy to do a small part to help make our community a little better place. Please view this short video to see some of the Corporate Communications team in action. The first segment with a first-grader talking about what he is going to do next year is priceless.
Thanks to Belle Haven school for being so welcoming of our ragamuffin Corporate Communications volunteer crew and thanks to the ragamuffin crew for working hard on a very hot day.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 02:20 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 07, 2007
Patent Reform Bill Passes House
We were pleased to see H.R. 1908, The Patent Reform Act of 2007, pass the U.S. House of Representatives today. Our own local Representative Zoe Lofgren has been a great supporter of efforts to simplify the patent process and take some of the incentives out of the system for "patent trolls." Rep. Lofgren states, in part: “I believe this bill strikes the right balance between the need for strong patent rights and the encouragement of innovation. My amendment to the bill, which was incorporated into the manager’s amendment, goes a long way towards addressing this balance by focusing on the troubling growth of forum shopping in patent litigation. The amendment restores fairness and clarity to patent litigation by removing the most glaring instances of forum shopping by patent trolls.”
On this note, I came across a great blog site that tracks patent trolls and their efforts to game the system.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who lives right up the road from Silicon Valley) issued the following statement:
“The bipartisan patent reform bill is a significant step toward our Innovation Agenda. It will strengthen the patent system and improve patent quality. This legislation is crucial for American inventors and American ingenuity, for consumers, and for greater innovation and economic growth.”
Our SVP and General Counsel, Mark Chandler, offered the following statement: "This is a major victory for innovation and US competitiveness and is a culmination of years of hard work. We believe that this is a positive step into reforming the patent system for the 21st century. To make it a system that rewards innovation and not litigation gamesmanship."
Obviously, this still needs to be acted upon in the Senate and we'll be watching closely.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 02:31 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 05, 2007
Cisco Media Roundtable - Financial Analyst Conference
I just got out of a media roundtable Q&A with Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers (JC), EVP and CFO Dennis Powell (DP), EVP and CDO Charlie Giancarlo (CG) and EVP and CGO Wim Elfrink (WE).
We had a handful of media in the room and a handful of media on the phone. Media weren't allowed to ask questions during the Financial Analyst Conference, so this was their opportunity to get that burning question answered by our top executives. Following is a rough synopsis of some of the questions and answers from the roundtable. I have attempted to capture the exact language in my notes, but I'm not a stenographer. Where I am confident it is a direct quote, I will place it in "quotes."
John Chambers kicked off the talk with a brief overview of the day. "Today was about collaboration. The network enables the power of the 'we' instead of the power of the 'you.'" "We talked about market transitions and our focus on customer requirements...not competition." Collaboration is "not about a product. It is about an architecture." We have created technology "in a fashion that a CEO can operate easily." We showed a brief video about our company meeting using TelePresence and connecting six company sites around the world. It is easy to see how "this changes everything."
Question: What network load increase do you expect from video?
JC: We predicted "network loads would grow in 200 to 300% range" five to seven years ago. Our CRS-1 "was built not for phone calls but for video." "CIOs are now seeing that 100% growth is probable and 200% is likely."
CG: "The network load has doubled every year for 40 years." "With video, for 10 to 15 years it can continue growing." "It is fairly common knowledge that internet will be the primary transport mechanism for video."
WE: "We cannot operate alone, we have to be totally collaborative. TelePresence is crucial for our existence in India." "TelePresence was one of reasons for me and my family to move to India, I knew I could stay connected."
Question: What are you hearing about Microsoft's UC launch in October?
CG: I think their product will be effective in IM, presence and collaboration services. I think it will likely be 1.0 in real-time communications.
Question: Other companies already had technology similar to Telepresence. Why did you enter that space?
JC: "If you are the only one in a market, the market likely isn't as exciting as you'd like it to be."
CG: "We're identified as the leader in this space." We have "minimal time and installation cost." We have "ease of ownership." "Where we have a multi-year lead, is in the technology itself. We have, without a doubt, lower latency and the best audio in the business." It is also fully integrated with unified communication and is as "easy to use as dialing a telephone." "A customer can do it on their own network or Service Provider network."
DP on TelePresence and collaboration: We have a finance off-site in San Jose each year, it is a "one way communiction with about 400 finance leaders in a day and a half." This year, we changed it completely to TelePresence meetings with "129 directors in 19 global locations in 4 sessions." In "1.5 hours, we got real-time feedback and rolled out the initiatives to the team." "And, we saved $800,000."
Question: Are you providing additional guidance? Or, seeing any impact from in the enterprise from the subprime issue?
JC: This is the "strongest global economy in my lifetime." "We are seeing the majority of our customers say we are coming in for a soft landing." "The fed and central bank's will react appropriately should that be needed." "Most business leaders and economists think the global economy is in pretty good shape." "We don't make decisions on a quarterly or yearly basis."
DP: "Sometimes people in U.S. forget that we're in global economy." And, "the global economy is strongest we've seen lately and it is increasingly detached from the U.S. economy." "We are a U.S. company operating in a global ecoomy."
Question: What is your product pipeline looking like?
JC: "Best pipeline I've seen in a while." "We don't see a limit of growth opportunities." Our challenge is one of "prioritization" of where to invest.
CG: "This year, we'll spend between $4.5 and 5B on R&D across the scope of what we do." "And, that doesn't include acquistions. Tthat is a lot of money." "What is unique about Cisco is the sheer number of completely new technologies and markets that we are entering at one time...and are profitiable."
Question: Are there new markets that you are going into that you haven't told us about?
CG: "Yes." (Smile).
Question: When might TelePresence be available at the consumer level?
CG: "We just signed off on internal business plan on that." "We should be able to produce a TelePresence system for home using the HDTV set that the consumer already owns providing a very similar experience that you see in the enterprise for about $1000." "At some point, it may be integrated into the set-top box, but that won't be first thing -- much like the DVR with Tivo."
Question: Why isn't our broadband in U.S. better? And where is the U.S. internationally?
JC: "Emerging markets are out innovating us with broadband." "We need a national broadband policy."
CG: The "biggest challenge we have is last mile." "Last mile requires a lot of digging and pulling - which impacts a lot of local laws." "There are a lot of hurdles and service providers face a lot of challenges when trying to roll out new infrastructure."
Question: So, when will I have better broadband at home?
CG: "Ultimately, I think that it will be up to a city or state deciding that broadband is important as water or electricity."
Question: Do you like wi-max?
CG: "We like wireless broadband, but for developed countries, broadband is really about fiber." "For rural, wireless will be big...in the U.S. and globally."
Q: What challenges are you seeing in becoming a consumer facing company?
JC: "Over time, we're going to move to a cisco brand overall. it will take some time."
Question: Do you have a terabyte set-top box in yor future?
JC: "Our view of the market is this: you don't care where you information is stored...or where the content is. You just want access." "There will be times that it might be in the data center or set-top box, that is why we are end to end and can accomodate whatever the preference of the user is."
CG: "I have no doubt that we'll be getting to seveal terabytes in next few years."
Question: Linksys has been a challenge in terms of growth rates this past year. What are you doing there to remedy that?
JC: Our consumer sales (Scientific Atlanta and Linksys) were "$3.5B for us last year." T"hey grew about 20% in total." "One of major decisions we face is "are we going to continue along our current path in consumer that gives us enough sustainable differentiation?"
CG: The "bottom line is we think growth is going to pick up in linksys." "We've had a restructuting there of late to scale beyond $1B revenue."
JC: The interesting point here is that "we will miss forecasts by products or countries, but it is the overall forecast that we are fairly good at."
Question: Does Muni Wi-Fi have a future?
CG: "We have identified muni wif-i as risky." "At the end of day, by going into that you become Service Provider...whether or not you charge for it ,you have customers." "There obviously may be munis that decide to do it." I think that major service providers will roll-out wirelss technology and it will be less relevant for munis.
JC: My last comment is that there is "one thing that we have at cisco, we never fall in love with any technology." "We listen to customers and go whatever way our customers tell us."
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 05:05 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)
Cisco Video Dennis Powell: CFO Talks Collaboration
I worked with Dennis Powell in 1999 on Cisco's Y2K project way back when he was a VP and the controller of the company. He's now an EVP and the CFO. He was smart, steady and deliberate in his approach to managing a global "follow the sun" Y2K operation and he is the same now that he is CFO.
You can watch him live via webcast at 2:00PM PT...or come back later and watch the archive. In the meantime, you can watch this short video to see his answers to the following questions:
1. What are you talking to analysts about today?
2. A key theme of the FAC is collaboration, how does your Finance organization use Cisco’s collaborative and UC tools?
3. What is the one key message you’d like analysts to take away from FAC?*
*Forward looking statement alert: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 01:18 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Wim Elfrink Video Blog: Globalization, Change and Talent
Wim Elfrink, Cisco EVP and Chief Globalization Officer, is based in Bangalore, India. His boss, Cisco CEO John Chambers, is based in California. With this distance, how do they work together effectively? No, this isn't the idea for a sit-com. This is real life. Of course, TelePresence is the short answer to how they work together, but a lot more goes into it.
He will be giving his perspective on globalization at 1:15PM PT today and you can watch him on the webcast or come back later and view the video archive.
Watch this short video to see Wim answer the following three questions:
- How do you prioritize and manage your work/life balance?
- Change management is key to making globalization successful. Do you see your role as a change agent?
- How will you capture talent in the global talent market?
Forward looking statement alert: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 12:56 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Cisco Video of "Round the World" session via TelePresence
With an homage to the cinematography of The Blair Witch Project and the Jason Bourne movies, here is some video I just captured of an interaction between Cisco CEO John Chambers (in San Jose) and Cisco AsiaPac SVP Owen Chan (in Hong Kong.)
Also seated at the TelePresence table are (from left): Rob Lloyd, SVP, US and Canada (in New York City); Paul Mountford, SVP, Emerging Markets and Chris Dedicoat, SVP, European Markets (both in London).
Very cool life-size, high-definition collaboration and interaction. Apologies for the shaky camera work, but I wanted to give you a sense for the real-time conversation that is possible via TelePresence...whether you are in San Jose, London, New York or Hong Kong.
*Forward looking statement alert: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 12:29 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
'Round the World in 90 Minutes with Cisco
This is cool. We're in the middle of our annual Financial Analyst conference and we're going to talk to all of our global sales leaders live via TelePresence. John Chambers is in the room moderating. Rob Lloyd, SVP, US and Canada is in New York City; Chris Dedicoat, SVP, European Markets and Paul Mountford, SVP Emerging Markets will be in London; and Owen Chan, SVP, Asia Pacific is in Hong Kong. They are having a real-time, life-size, high-definition, collaborative meeting. Tune into the webcast to watch it or pull it up later on the archive.
Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I'm a pretty big cynic, but this demonstration and this technology is useful, it is cool and it is plain as the nose on your face how this can change global business communications...and (as Chambers mentioned earlier today) down the road, it could change personal communications as well. Very cool.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 10:49 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Cisco and MTVu Winning "Digital Incubator" Sites Now Online
As mentioned in this space in May when we announced our winners of Cisco and MTVu's digital incubator grants, we said the winners' sites would be online soon. Well, "soon" happens to be today. Watch a MTVu video of winners being surprised.
The Digital Incubator program was developed jointly by mtvU and Cisco to discover talented college students to create new media and entertainment concepts. Together, we provide the monetary, creative and technical resources for students to bring their digital media ideas into reality. We want to encourage the next generation of talent to experiment with new forms of story telling made possible because of video and broadband coming together and mtvU reaches a college audience that is consuming media in new and exciting ways.
So, again, congratulations to the winners and please check out these creative, innovative sites:
RapHappy - New York University
This new online and mobile-phone-based hip-hop community enables members to easily record, collaborate on, search and listen to freestyle or written raps, without any need for software or file uploading. RapHappy can be used as a self-promotion tool for aspiring musicians, a communication tool for recording private audio messages for friends, or simply as an artistic medium. Members can dynamically collaborate with other artists, rate and comment on submissions, and participate in battles for a chance to collect cash and other prizes.
Osiris - Brown University
From the phonograph to the PC, technology is constantly revolutionizing the way music is distributed and enjoyed, but very few technologies have ever tackled the visualization of music. That all changes with the launch of Osiris: a first-of-its-kind MP3 visualizer using song lyrics to dynamically generate music videos, using images pulled from Flickr and a user's own hard disk. This free application gives users a whole new way to enjoy their music, using each song's lyrical narrative to tell a visual story.
Casablanca - New York University
This free online and mobile-phone-based ice-breaker party game combines elements of social networking, espionage and alternative-reality gaming. In Casablanca, two teams square off, with members messaging each other online and off, making friends and forming alliances as they vie for control of a virtual city. Players begin with connections to four other people - whom they've never met - and use these contacts to create a social network that grows as the game unfolds. Members of the Resistance are trying to liberate the city by finding each other and organizing networks to identify the Occupation agents hidden in their midst; while the Occupation must infiltrate and undermine the Resistance networks. The game is played online, through text messaging and email.
Selectricity - M.I.T.
An online communal ranking technology, Selectricity focuses on preferential decision-making, shifting away from a winner-take-all paradigm to a more democratic standard. Using a drag-and-drop mechanism, users rank choices in order of preference and the Selectricity application generates a winner that is most acceptable to the group as a whole. Anyone can set up a Selectricity question in under 30 seconds and tap their friends to help settle daily dilemmas such as, "which restaurant should we eat at tonight?" "what bar does everybody most want to go to?" and, "who are the best indie rock bands out right now?"
How Do I Say This? - UCLA
Building on a breakout pilot year, the award-winning "How Do I Say This?" re-launches better than ever today. The site is an interactive Web-based advice wiki, where users help script and create video messages for people with problems that have left them at a loss for words. A new topic is selected every month and members weigh in with advice and suggestions, in the form of user-generated videos, illustrations, photos, prose, poetry and cartoons. The feedback accumulates and inspires a final video, which is created by the student-led production team, and can then be sent to friends from the site (anonymously or not).
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:55 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Charlie Giancarlo Video Blog: "The Network is the Platform"
Cisco EVP and Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo is scheduled to come on stage at our Financial Analyst Conference at 9:15AM PT and lead a discussion of our engineering leaders (as well as our peripatetic BD guy). He'll lead a Q&A with Jayshree Ullal, SVP, Data Center, Switching and Security Technology Group; Tony Bates, SVP/GM, Service Provider Routing Technology Group; Kathy Hill, SVP/GM, Ethernet and Wireless Technology Systems Group; Don Proctor, SVP, Collaboration Software Group; and Ned Hooper, SVP, Corporate Business Development.
Please join the live webcast if you can. If you cannot, you can access the archive later today, but in the interim you can watch Charlie on this vlog (also his first external vlog) answering the following questions:
- What does the "Network as a Platform" mean?
- Why is collaboration so important to Cisco?
- How does Cisco use Cisco's collaborative and UC tools?
Forward looking statement alert: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 08:27 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Cisco CEO Now on Stage at Financial Analyst Conference
Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers is now speaking at our annual Financial Analyst Conference. If you would like to join us in his talk for the next hour, please join us on the webcast.
He began his talk by saying that there is an "innovation void in the marketplace that we intend to fill" through our collaborative technologies (TelePresence, WebEx, UC and more).
If you can't join the webcast, I'll be posting some updates and vlogs of executives (Dennis Powell and Charlie Giancarlo) throughout the day to help you get a flavor of what we're saying to analysts.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 08:16 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
John Chambers Video Blog: "If There is a Killer Application it's Video"
Okay, "The Platform: The Official Cisco Blog" has officially arrived. Our first video blog with Cisco Chairman and CEO, John Chambers, follows. He gives "The Platform" some time to take part in our "Three Questions" video series.* He spoke to us right before our annual Financial Analyst Conference, where, if you have any interest or inclination, you can watch live via webcast. (Beginning at 8AM PT).
As stated, in yesterday's blog entry, this is Chambers' first external video blog (he's done this internally), so we're making history here, but please don't ding him for the editing of the video...the editing "skills" are mine alone. And, as with any skill, they will hopefully improve with repetition.
He answers the following questions:
- What are you talking to financial analysts about today?
- What is driving the current growth of the Internet?
- What is driving Cisco's consistent growth?
Watch this space later today to view video blogs from our CFO, Dennis Powell, and our CDO, Charlie Giancarlo.
*Just something I made up to keep videos brief, to-the-point, and easy to digest.
Forward looking statement alert: "This presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Cisco, including future operating results. These projections and statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements. Please see Cisco’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of important risk factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 07:00 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
September 04, 2007
Cisco and South Africa: Working Together
Cisco today announced a wide-ranging Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) strategy and structure for its South African operations. Components of our BEE strategy include:
- Our support for the goal of economic transformation in South Africa; in particular, the meaningful participation of Black South Africans in the economic success of the country, including our operations.
- Our efforts to ensure that our long-term corporate and social make-up in South Africa are consistent with the broader demographics of South African society.
- Our mission to grow the Information Communications and Technology (ICT) sector in South Africa, via skills transfer and other important initiatives.
For more information on this, please view our New@Cisco site, where you'll see a feature story (Building A Better Tomorrow in South Africa) and a podcast on economic development by Mark De Simone, Cisco vice president for Middle East and Africa. You can also get a great overview on this effort from our press release.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 11:56 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
WEBCAST of Cisco Financial Analyst Conference
Transparency is key. Tomorrow, we will host our annual Financial Analyst Conference and interested parties can view a webcast of the event, including a corresponding slide presentation, and obtain additional event information via Cisco's website.
The Cisco Financial Analyst Conference webcast begins at 8:00 a.m. (PT) with John Chambers, Cisco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, delivering a keynote presentation, followed by executive presentations providing an overview of Cisco's business and technology strategies.
Webcast replays and a podcast of the session will be available by the end of the event at our News@Cisco website.
And, BONUS, watch this space tomorrow for Video Blogs from CEO John Chambers, CFO Dennis Powell and CDO Charlie Giancarlo. If I'm not mistaken (and I'm not in this case) this will be the first external blog for each of these Cisco leaders.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 10:03 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
