Cisco Can Now Dial the iPhone

It’s about time. I expected Cisco Systems and Apple to announce some sort of iPhone applications partnership earlier this year, when Cisco sued Apple over the iPhone name. But a deal never occurred. Steve Jobs was hesitating to open up the iPhone to third-party developers, Cisco CEO John Chambers mentioned during a partner event in May. Now, all that has changed. Cisco–and its software partners–finally have the ability to write iPhone applications. Here’s why.

Cisco’s First Rival In 13 Years

For the first time since 1994, Cisco Systems faces a truly fierce rival on its own turf. Today marks the official debut of Microsoft’s unified communications products. And while Microsoft’s 1.0 releases have rarely lived up to their hype, Cisco can’t afford to rest on its laurels. In my mind, Microsoft is the first hungry, powerful company to take on Cisco since SynOptics and WellFleet merged to form Bay Networks in 1994.

Dell, Nortel and Microsoft: Ganging Up On Cisco?

Surround and conquer. Microsoft used that strategy to topple Unix in the 1990s, and nearly rallied the database applications market against Oracle in more recent years. Next up, Microsoft is taking the same approach in the unified communications space vs. Cisco Systems. Pals Dell and Nortel Networks are more than happy to back the strategy.

Cisco Prepping Mobile Device Initiative

Keep a close eye on Cisco during Interop in New York the week of October 22. I expect the company to announce enhanced unified communications support for smart phones like the Treo at the event. My sources have indicated that the announcement will not feature any major surprises involving Apple and the iPhone. While Cisco has found some ways to integrate with the iPhone through Apple’s Web browser, the two companies haven’t made any formal announcements about iPhone/unified communications integration.

Unified Communications Meets Small Businesses

I usually yawn when a research report lands in my inbox. Tech industry researchers, after all, mostly want to tell you a market is about to boom — but you’ll need to pay up to get the exclusive data. Still, AMI Partners did catch my eye with a new report on Unified Communications in the SMB market. Here’s a quick overview.

Don’t Pay that Dividend, Cisco

Cisco CEO John Chambers says the company eventually intends to pay a dividend. When? Nobody knows for sure. Chambers has always been the king of setting Wall Street’s expectations. Lately he’s very bullish about the unified communications opportunities heading Cisco’s way. Frankly, it would be hard to imagine Cisco paying a dividend in the near future. From where I sit, Cisco would be far wiser to acquire a bunch of small software companies that build out the networking giant’s unified communications strategy. Do what you do best, John: Acquire companies. Skip the dividend.

Cisco, Microsoft Resume Unified Communications Battle

Ali vs. Frazier. Yankees vs. Red Sox (well, not this year…). Cisco vs. Microsoft. There’s nothing like a showdown between two titans who love to brawl. By now, you know Cisco and Microsoft have high hopes for the unified communications market. In fact, Microsoft will finally launch its unified products next week. But Cisco won’t be standing still.

All Cisco, All the Time

I’ve been kicking around the concept for this blog for about six months. It seems like the universe is filled with bloggers who focus on Microsoft, Google and other big tech companies. But for some reason, Cisco is largely overlooked by business bloggers. Sure, there are some great in-depth blogs about Cisco technologies. And certainly, there are financial bloggers who cover Cisco’s stock. But there really hasn’t been anyone who has covered the business of Cisco.

That officially changes. Today.