Traditional integration software suites will now have to take a backseat. Cisco made its much awaited move by announcing a line of products from its Application-Oriented Network (AON) unit. These appliances are expected to change the way data is moved between systems.
At a conference in Las Vegas Tuesday, Cisco said the company was planning a more aggressive move into messaging middleware. Chief executive John Chambers said his company would announce an “advanced technology” every quarter during the next business year. The company, it is believed, aims to achieve a sales target of $1 billion by next year. Last year the company had sought to outpace competition by doubling the number of product introductions.
Yesterday’s announcement reflects the company’s new stance and considerable investments in research and acquisitions as well as venturing into new markets by partnering with established players.
Cisco’s R&D would now focus on developing new technology centered around hardware for the data centre and virtualization. Another area where Cisco hopes to contribute is convergence.
Cisco’s current line of advanced technology products are optical, storage networking, home networking, IP telephony, wireless and security – the fastest growing products for the company. Although these products’ sales contribute less than 20 percent of Cisco’s total revenue, they would figure more prominently in the company’s future plans.
As the company is known for innovation, market watchers make many speculations about their future line of products. One area where they could come up with a possible solution was integrated communications. An insider suggested the company could develop a product that could integrate IP with existing radio frequency technologies.
The idea was referred to by Cisco chief at Tuesday’s conference. A product of this type would be extremely useful to professionals such as an emergency medical technician. Chambers demonstrated how an EMT’s radio could be integrated into a VoIP which would enable him/her while on the field to interact directly with doctors in their offices/homes.
Cisco began its career with internet data routing and switching but after the dotcom bubble burst, they strategically moved into advanced technologies.
