Gary,
You make some interesting observations. You say:
>>I believe that there are better venues for launching carrier class products. I can say no more than that.<<
Let me give it a try, if I may.
Most will agree that CSCO's strategy has been one of an overt form of hedging both technologies, all along. They've put enough effort into ATM to be considered "inclusive" in the eyes of carriers and large users, but they have never lost sight of their bread-and-butter multi-protocol capabilities and routing model.
It appears to me, at least, that whatever ambitions Cisco may have had at one time in ATM have declined considerably, while they bring the IP end of the business to new highs in terms of scale, functionality and performance. This was their intent all along, IMO. And this seems to have worked out very favorably for them, and for everyone who has ever owned them.
It would not surprise me one iota if they place one last bookmark in this story with an ATM product for the core to best ASND at their own game (although unlikely at this time, unless it is something they've been working on for a considerable period of time), as a parting shot in order to defuse or weaken the enemy's resources, while forcing them to take their eye off the ball. [Although, I could say the same thing about ASND with less force, with regard to their GRF platform. Nah... ]
Cisco at this time may be feeling a little more cocky than they ever did before, due to recent developments among the growing list of IP converts in all sectors, and decide to stake their future entirely in their core competency, TCP/IP, conceivably. Bite the bullet, so to speak, and call it a day for the drain that ATM has caused them, entirely.
They could argue that if this ATM stuff is really all that necessary going forward, they could always leverage off of some form of partnering (or use the diminishing presence of the Stratacom contingent) with diminishing dependency on cell relay, going forward.
Some would argue that they've taken this path already.
FWIW, and Regards, Frank Coluccio |
