The
networking and collaboration vendor instead will focus on growing its software
efforts, such as the Jabber UC platform and WebEx online meeting solution.
Cisco
Systems’ Android-based Cius tablet has become a victim of the rapidly growing
bring-your-own-device, or BYOD, trend in the enterprise.
The
networking giant will no longer invest in the 2-year-old device, though it will
offer Cius in
a limited way to customers with specific needs. But there won’t be any more
development of the platform, or any more enhancements. The decision to
essentially end development of Cius is the latest by Cisco to move away from
particular hardware endpoints and instead focus on is software-based
collaboration products, such as Jabber and WebEx.
It also
mirrors similar strategies by other tech stalwarts—such as Hewlett-Packard and
Dell—to expand beyond their hardware roots to become more of a solutions vendor
with strong software and services offerings.
In a
May 24 post on Cisco’s
collaboration blog, O.J. Winge, senior vice president of Cisco’s
TelePresence Technology Group, talked about the BYOD trend that is permeating
the enterprise and how it is fundamentally changing how people collaborate.
“[W]e
are facing a workplace that is no longer a physical place, but a blend of
virtual and physical environments; where employees are bringing their
preferences to work and BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device” to work) is the new norm;
where collaboration has to happen beyond a walled garden; and any-to-any
connectivity is a requirement, not a ‘nice to have,’” Winge wrote.
That
sentiment was backed up in Cisco’s IBSG
Horizons Study, which was released May 16. The study indicated that 95
percent of organizations responding to a survey said they allowed
employee-owned devices into the workplace in some fashion, and that 36 percent
of enterprises offer full support for such devices.
Other
trends in the enterprise, including cloud computing, virtualization and the
growth of video, also are contributing to the need for greater software
solutions.
Given
that scenario, enterprises are looking for fewer devices from tech vendors and
more software offerings that enable businesses to leverage the
devices—including laptops, smartphones and tablets—that are being used in the
workplace by employees. IT vendors are rolling out more software solutions
designed to make it easier for businesses to manage these mobile devices and
secure the corporate network and data.
At the
same time, they are making their collaboration and other applications available
on the growing number of devices running on the major mobile platforms, from
Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android to BlackBerrys and Microsoft’s Windows.
Cisco’s
latest effort in this area came at the Enterprise Connect 2012 show in March,
when officials announced that it was making the company’s Jabber
unified communications (UC) platform available on Apple’s iPad
platform and Windows-based devices. Jabber, which includes everything from
instant messaging and presence to video, voice and desktop sharing, already had
run on other Apple iOS devices, Android and the BlackBerry platform.
Company
officials in November 2011 announced that both Jabber and WebEx,
Cisco’s online meeting platform, were being enhanced to meet the mobility
trend within the enterprise.
Cisco
plans to continue the aggressive software approach, according to Winge.
“Moving
forward, we intend to double down on software offerings, like Jabber and WebEx,
that provide the any time, anywhere, and any device experiences,” he wrote. “We
will leverage key learnings and key collaboration experiences native to Cius in
our other collaboration products. Experience matters, and Cisco is focused on
empowering individual collaboration styles more effectively and securely, while
providing the broadest choice of collaboration options based on preference,
location and device.”
In a
May 24 post on the No
Jitter blog site, Eric Krapf, program co-chair of the Enterprise
Connect events, said that given Cisco’s previous moves in shuttering its Flip
video camera and umi consumer telepresence products, no one should be surprised
about the Cius move.
“Cisco
has been shedding hardware businesses that straddle the consumer and enterprise
worlds,” Krapf wrote. “Cisco will always be a company that depends on
hardware—routers, desktop phone sets and servers, to name just a few of its
most lucrative products. But Winge's announcement clearly shows that in the
world of communications devices, the only money to be made in hardware is if
you happen to be a manufacturer of consumer devices or traditional phones.”
He said
the Cius probably will live on in certain niche areas—ruggedized versions for
field workers in utilities, for example—but “it's clear that there is no such
thing as a general-purpose enterprise tablet, any more than there is an
enterprise smartphone. Enterprise communications vendors may still compete to
run high-value software on consumer devices, and they may be able to integrate
their communications systems with applications that run on those consumer
devices; but they've learned the hardware game is tough for them to compete
in.”
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment