Cisco: Great Expectations But "Where's The (Collaboration) Beef"?

Blogger: Mike Gotta (Cross-posted at Collaborative Thinking)

Over the past several weeks, two Cisco events generated a great deal of media coverage (refer to “In The News” below). For those that have not been paying close attention, for some time now Cisco has actively been playing a grand chess game. The company has already made several moves in terms of acquisitions (WebEx, PostPath, Jabber) and strategy (describing a general direction regarding collaboration and SaaS/Cloud computing via WebEx Connect). It has also been busy integrating WebEx with its other assets (Unified Communications Manager, Telepresence, Unified MeetingPlace) – yes, the integration has not always been terribly deep but the work is ongoing and will continue to improve.

While the media stories below fail to provide detailed product guidance as to where Cisco is going, the information does provide interesting insight as to how Cisco’s leadership team thinks about collaboration, cloud computing, and other market initiatives. Sometimes an event billed as having “no news” (in terms of technology announcements) is still valuable for analysts. In this case, it helps me better assess whether Cisco exhibits the level of business acumen necessary to successfully move into market adjacencies such as collaboration and Web 2.0. 

We know that “the game” Cisco is playing has many fronts. Cisco is making forays into numerous adjacent markets. Evolution of channels and partner relationships will be inevitable as Cisco and its ecosystem transform current business models.  We should expect additional acquisitions to hasten penetration into some of these adjacent markets and/or to gain market coverage more quickly. We should also expect that Cisco will compete with former partners and cooperate with former competitors.

All of this means that "Cisco Watchers" need to broaden the breadth of events and activities they observe if they want to correlate Cisco’s strategic moves effectively. The actions Cisco takes may not have apparent synergies to anyone else but Cisco. Efforts that are seemingly unrelated may suddenly come together as markets consolidate in a manner Cisco expects (and is prepared for).  Competitors need to pay close attention to seemingly un-related moves else they risk being caught off-guard when Cisco "connects the dots" in unexpected ways.

Where’s The (Collaboration) Beef?

However, in some areas - namely Collaboration/Web 2.0 – business and IT decision-makers should have a credible level of skepticism regarding Cisco's efforts. The message from Cisco has become repetitive with little new to say. Cisco has not described its strategy and value proposition in a way that would change people's mind vs. Microsoft and IBM. A coherent message regarding technology integration and post-acquisition roadmap has also been missing. Is it too late?

First, the good news: The company and its senior leadership team have done a very good job of selling the vision and marketing what solutions is has today as collaboration. Cisco has expanded the conversation of what comprises collaboration to include solutions such as telepresence. In terms of "talking to the talk", Cisco should receive high grades. Cisco has also been written-up multiple times in the media concerning progress internally when it comes to Web 2.0 and collaboration - that effort also deserves recognition. So in terms of 'walking the walk" internally (not externally in the market), Cisco should also receive high grades. 

Now, for the bad news: At some point - a self-proclaimed collaboration vendor needs to show identifiable progress in terms of market performance and customer adoption. Cisco can no longer rely on unified communications, telepresence, and web conferencing to buttress its argument that it has become a collaboration player. The message has gotten old - very old actually. When Cisco does eventually start delivering on a broader collaboration and Web 2.0 platform (not just talking about it), it essentially should assume that it has to start all over again regarding its credibility as a collaboration vendor. So the vulnerability is fixable – but the inertia lost during this “dead zone” will not be as easily regained. 

Cisco missed the credibility window between announcing that it was entering the collaboration market and actually delivering on basic, fundamental capabilities that a collaboration vendor needs to provide. Cisco actually has several of these capabilities (workspaces, e-mail, instant messaging/presence) but they are not contenders (outside telephony and web conferencing) in the enterprise market when matched against competing vendors and even the rhetoric of Cisco’s vision/marketing "talk". There has been little advancement of the WebEx Connect platform. There is a huge gap of public details from Cisco in terms of technical capabilities, product packaging, solution deliverables, future roadmap (timeline), and customer proof-points.

Next Steps

This blog post should be taken as more of an early-warning signal. What are some actions Cisco needs to consider to get back on the right track? A partial list might include the following:

• Talk less about collaboration equating to UC and telepresence and talk more about the other forms of collaboration
• Be specific about the role other collaboration tools and applications have in the portfolio, roadmap, and strategy
• Identify customers and customer solutions
• Outline where Cisco will play not only in the collaboration market but in the broader social realm (e.g., social media, social networks) – essential for defining the platform more holistically and creating business models for partners and third parties
• Which leads to the absolute need to clearly define what the value of WebEx Connect as a platform for third-party vendors and other Cisco partners to come onboard to without fear that Cisco will end up competing with them – the platform needs to be co-created and co-owned by a broader community of stakeholders – Cisco needs a networked ecosystem to compete effectively
• Describe how Cisco intends to build out a developer community around WebEx Connect – application development is key as well as other application delivery services (application store, etc)
• Outline in detail how Cisco channels - unfamiliar with collaboration, Web 2.0 - are going to become literate in this area
• Align other initiatives (e.g., Eos) with WebEx Connect – Cisco cannot afford to have wayward efforts that take-away from its central theme
• Longer-term, Cisco will have to establish a message related to identity as it moves into Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0 (social networking) and become involved in efforts such as OpenSocial, Facebook Connect, etc.

Cisco In The News

The following are media stories prefaced by a my view of what they mean.

• Cisco only enters markets where it can gain a Number 1 position and gain 40% market share - Cisco is driving into 30 adjacent markets (some of which will converge).
  • Source: http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/06/04/cisco-ceo-john-chambers-best-guess-on-economy/
• Cisco will continue to acquire companies focusing on synergies across communication, video and "a connected life".
  • Source: http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Cisco/Cisco-CEO-Video-to-Drive-Market-Expansion-Acquisitions-Likely-776474/
• Cisco is moving quickly into multiple adjacent markets and may be spreading itself too thin. There has been little progress from some of the acquisitions (WebEx, Postpath, Jabber). However, now is the time to act re: moving into multiple adjacent markets simultaneously (inferred by CEO Chambers) - moving into adjacent markets does mean that Cisco may compete with former partners. Market leadership needs to be earned and Cisco's evolving portfolio just earns it a seat at the table.
  • Source: http://www.bullishbankers.com/is-cisco-spreading-itself-too-thin/
  • Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=804
  • Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/167747/cisco_has_to_earn_market_leadership_cto_says.html
  • Source: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/1827/cisco-systems-remains-in-a-strong-position-to-weather-the-economic-storm-1827.html
• Cisco has set limits on its overall cloud strategy and where it will play in the market. Cisco's CTO Padmasree Warrior denies that Cisco will get into external "Infrastructure As A Service" (IaaS) [as defined by Cisco] but will focus in "internal clouds" - Cisco will play at three levels, what it calls "IT Foundation", Platform as a Service (WebEx Connect) and SaaS (WebEx). Cisco sees the need, and wants to provide, an "inter-cloud" system for communications over the next few years. 
  • Source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Cisco-Officials-Push-Online-Collaboration-Video-285058/
  • Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/30/cisco_cloud_strategy/
  • Source: http://gigaom.com/2009/06/30/cisco-shows-off-its-hit-list/
  • Source: http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Cisco/Cisco-Sets-Limits-to-Cloud-Strategy-570948/
• At Cisco Live, CEO Chambers reiterated the strategic importance of collaboration and Web 2.0 to Cisco internally and externally (as part of its move into adjacent markets).
  • Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/collaboration/?p=691
  • Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10276549-92.html
  • Source: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1432269/cisco-microsoft-google
  • Source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Cisco-Officials-Push-Online-Collaboration-Video-285058/
  • Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10741-San-Jose-Media-Industry-Examiner~y2009m7d9-Cisco-CEO-predicts-collaboration-and-video-will-fuel-the-next-decade-of-productivity
• Cisco's SVP Doug Dennerline suggests that it might get into the office productivity game
  • Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterpriseapps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218102094
  • Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE55T53N20090630
  • Source: http://www.cio-weblog.com/50226711/is_there_room_for_cisco_in_the_online_office_suite_space.php
• Cisco CTO  Padmasree Warrior discusses inter-company collaboration, mobility, generational shifts, lifestyle computing, and voice-enabled search
  • Source: http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/06/02/cisco-cto-talks-up-voice-enabled-search/
• Cisco has a strategic vision for the Flip video recorder re: user generated content, social networking, video, and collaboration
  • Source: http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Commentary/Behind-Ciscos-Flip-for-Video-Collaboration-314138/
• Delivers a social messaging (micro-blogging) environment for use at its Partner Summit called "The Vibe" leveraging technology from PresentlyApp.
  • Source: http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/05/21/cisco-partner-summit-2009-has-new-vibe/
• Cisco's EOS efforts reflects its move into an adjacent market (digital media/entertainment) but the efforts are disconnected from its Cloud and collaboration/Web 2.0 initiatives.
  • Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/168191/cisco_charts_new_paths_with_eos_media_platform.html
  • Source: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=178978
• Cisco has a new Chief Strategy Officer, Ned Hooper, to focus on business strategies, acquisitions, and investment opportunities.
  • Source: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/story/5528947

(By the way, for those too young to know, Wendy’s ran a famous ad campaign back in the 1980’s where it made fun of the small size of McDonald’s hamburger patties. A woman in the ad would lift up the bun, see a quarter-size piece of beef, and yell out, “Where’s the beef?”. Hence the post’s title.)

Comments

[shadowman]

Dig a little deeper and it will become apparent that Cisco's internal web 2.0 is not quite what it seems. Sure online collaboration takes place, but it's tightly controlled and in some areas (say European Markets, HR and IT) deeply feared by the management team. Collaboration has shifted a small amount to a large tier of upper management, but broad collaboration is not taking place. And while employees have wikis, blogs and forums, their real views count for nothing in Mr Chamber's world.