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.