未来统一通讯竞争将一场混战
作者： EC
责任编辑： 阚智
来源： 《电脑商情报》
时间： 2007-08-23 00:30
While Microsoft Corp. and 思科 Systems Inc. will continue to compete in unified communications, they have also promised to make their products work together to fulfill customer demand.
In a meeting moderated by TV interviewer and journalist Charlie Rose, the CEOs of both vendors met to discuss the details of their joint unified communications (UC) initiative and how they would go about collaborating while remaining competitive.
"Our customers love the fact that we compete -- I'm not shy about it and we don't want to take away from that," said Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer. Vendor competition means more innovation, better prices and a broader choice of vendors from whom customers can buy products, he said. "But what they're saying is, 'If I choose to use some of your stuff, Microsoft, and some of Cisco's stuff, I don't want to be penalized for that. I want that to work in a way that I would expect it to work."
Added John Chambers, Cisco's CEO: "Where we are going to compete, what the customers want is, 'Tell me where you're going to interoperate; don't make me throw away one relationship because of the other, and don't make me use this in a non-competitive environment that doesn't add value to me as a customer. The days of being either friend or foe are over -- the industry is moving too rapidly for the large players."
The vendors have come up with a list of seven main areas of collaboration -- areas in which their approaches are "remarkably similar," but which could also foster competition:
- IT architecture: Microsoft has its Infrastructure Optimization (IO) model and Cisco has its Service-Oriented Network Architecture (SONA). The two companies are working on creating an integrated approach for their infrastructure models.
- Security: Both vendors, at the request of customers, have developed their own security businesses and are working on joint road maps and interoperability. Cisco, Microsoft and other vendors have also formed the Secure Information Sharing Architecture (SISA) to help government agencies communicate in a secure fashion.
- Management: IT vendors are collaborating on a new industry standard, the Service Modeling Language (SML), which defines how networks, apps, servers and other IT resources are described and modeled.
- Wireless and Mobile: Cisco, in collaboration with Microsoft, is working to extend its Unified Communications Manager capabilities to enterprises with Windows Mobile-powered devices and Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator clients. While Cisco is designing its Unified WLAN to be able to provide detailed information to a connected device's location, Microsoft will chip in to make that capability available via its own location API. The vendors are also working on making wireless local area networks, as well as guest services and authentication and access control technologies on wired networks, easier to deploy and use.
- Unified Communications: Microsoft sees software as the hub of all communications and Cisco focuses on the network. Both vendors reiterated that they expect to see competition, but they said they also have a common goal to support customer-driven interoperability.
- Connected Entertainment: Microsoft has extended the Media Center experience to TVs throughout the house while Cisco continues to release Windows Media Center Extenders, and promises to allow the seamless movement around the home of rich Internet and consumer-generated content on the PC. The vendors have also been working on their own Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) products. Microsoft has its Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia software platform and Cisco has its IPTV video head end, IP network and connected home solutions.
- Small and Medium-Sized Business (SMB): Both vendors touted the effectiveness of SMB-focused value-added resellers (VARs).
Despite all the talk about collaboration, at least one analyst felt the conversation didn't go much beyond just making the statement that the two vendors simply plan to make their products interoperable.
In a research note, Jan Dawson, vice-president of research firm Ovum's U.S. enterprise practice, wrote: "It was hard to avoid the sense that (Ballmer and Chambers) were holding hands while kicking each other under the table."
Dawson said a war is already breaking out between the two vendors, particularly in the UC space, with Cisco's purchase of WebEx as the latest move. "The tension between seeking competitive advantage through proprietary technology and establishing interoperability through open standards will remain, and both companies will have to make tough decisions about where to draw the line between the two." While it would be nice to see more movement in the direction of interoperability, "they will both also continue to do their best to create a world where the other isn't needed," Dawson predicted.
In a meeting moderated by TV interviewer and journalist Charlie Rose, the CEOs of both vendors met to discuss the details of their joint unified communications (UC) initiative and how they would go about collaborating while remaining competitive.
"Our customers love the fact that we compete -- I'm not shy about it and we don't want to take away from that," said Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer. Vendor competition means more innovation, better prices and a broader choice of vendors from whom customers can buy products, he said. "But what they're saying is, 'If I choose to use some of your stuff, Microsoft, and some of Cisco's stuff, I don't want to be penalized for that. I want that to work in a way that I would expect it to work."
Added John Chambers, Cisco's CEO: "Where we are going to compete, what the customers want is, 'Tell me where you're going to interoperate; don't make me throw away one relationship because of the other, and don't make me use this in a non-competitive environment that doesn't add value to me as a customer. The days of being either friend or foe are over -- the industry is moving too rapidly for the large players."
The vendors have come up with a list of seven main areas of collaboration -- areas in which their approaches are "remarkably similar," but which could also foster competition:
- IT architecture: Microsoft has its Infrastructure Optimization (IO) model and Cisco has its Service-Oriented Network Architecture (SONA). The two companies are working on creating an integrated approach for their infrastructure models.
- Security: Both vendors, at the request of customers, have developed their own security businesses and are working on joint road maps and interoperability. Cisco, Microsoft and other vendors have also formed the Secure Information Sharing Architecture (SISA) to help government agencies communicate in a secure fashion.
- Management: IT vendors are collaborating on a new industry standard, the Service Modeling Language (SML), which defines how networks, apps, servers and other IT resources are described and modeled.
- Wireless and Mobile: Cisco, in collaboration with Microsoft, is working to extend its Unified Communications Manager capabilities to enterprises with Windows Mobile-powered devices and Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator clients. While Cisco is designing its Unified WLAN to be able to provide detailed information to a connected device's location, Microsoft will chip in to make that capability available via its own location API. The vendors are also working on making wireless local area networks, as well as guest services and authentication and access control technologies on wired networks, easier to deploy and use.
- Unified Communications: Microsoft sees software as the hub of all communications and Cisco focuses on the network. Both vendors reiterated that they expect to see competition, but they said they also have a common goal to support customer-driven interoperability.
- Connected Entertainment: Microsoft has extended the Media Center experience to TVs throughout the house while Cisco continues to release Windows Media Center Extenders, and promises to allow the seamless movement around the home of rich Internet and consumer-generated content on the PC. The vendors have also been working on their own Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) products. Microsoft has its Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia software platform and Cisco has its IPTV video head end, IP network and connected home solutions.
- Small and Medium-Sized Business (SMB): Both vendors touted the effectiveness of SMB-focused value-added resellers (VARs).
Despite all the talk about collaboration, at least one analyst felt the conversation didn't go much beyond just making the statement that the two vendors simply plan to make their products interoperable.
In a research note, Jan Dawson, vice-president of research firm Ovum's U.S. enterprise practice, wrote: "It was hard to avoid the sense that (Ballmer and Chambers) were holding hands while kicking each other under the table."
Dawson said a war is already breaking out between the two vendors, particularly in the UC space, with Cisco's purchase of WebEx as the latest move. "The tension between seeking competitive advantage through proprietary technology and establishing interoperability through open standards will remain, and both companies will have to make tough decisions about where to draw the line between the two." While it would be nice to see more movement in the direction of interoperability, "they will both also continue to do their best to create a world where the other isn't needed," Dawson predicted.
