Chambers on voice/video/data:
Cisco Keynote Highlights Rise Of Networking
Date: 11/17/97
Author: Michele Hostetler
Soon, it won't be any big deal for voice, video and data to zip through a single
networking line. So says Cisco Systems
Inc.
Cisco CEO John Chambers plans to discuss how networking advances will alter
businesses and homes in his keynote
address 9 a.m. tomorrow at Comdex/Fall '97.
He'll be the first networking executive to give a keynote at the largest computer trade
show in the U.S. As the
networking industry's largest player, San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco's words have clout.
Chambers recently spoke with IBD about the upcoming wave of voice-video-data
products and Cisco's place in that
market.
IBD:
What technological change will next spur the industry?
Chambers:
I think the one that's spurring the industry right now is an end-to-end solution from one
vendor and its partners.
(End-to-end) allows you to implement technology at a much faster pace and with a
much lower cost of ownership
than if you had to piece together a whole bunch of technologies from different vendors.
The second thing that I think is going to spur the industry is data-voice-video
integration and the applications and
cost efficiencies that go with that.
IBD:
When will voice-video-data networking take off?
Chambers:
It's already happening. It happens differently depending on the company, the
applications, the industry (and the)
geography. In Europe, combining voice, video, data comes from a cost-efficiency point
of view, because there the LAN
(local-area network) network is very expensive. In the U.S., where the lines aren't
quite as expensive, that's an element,
but multimedia applications are a key driver.
I was in one of the more conservative sections of the U.S. - Atlanta - and I asked the
105 customers at a breakfast
meeting how many of them were planning on combining their data, voice and video
networks over the next three
years. Over 90% raised their hand. That's a huge change. A year ago you might have
gotten 10% to 15%.
IBD:
How long has Cisco worked at integrating these technologies?
Chambers:
We've been focused on this for two years. We now have 15 to 20 data-voice-video
products under development. We
made it a top priority this calendar year. |
