Comments on: Cisco at a crossroads?

Jon Oltsik says Cisco will have its hands full maintaining its dominance as network architecture undergoes a historic transition.

Cisco Cost vs Reliability

After reading this article I would have to agree that Cisco does possess a higher cost compared to their competitors, but in contrast to the cost Cisco offsets this with superior products and support. Never in my 9 years of IT have a had an issue with any Cisco product that wasn't corrected with a call to support. Their service and support along with a long track record of hardware reliability and security have made them a market leader in their area of expertise. Possibly the lower prices of their competition will force the hand of Cisco to lower costs and therefore prices, but with lower costs come the possibility of less reliable hardware.

Cisco Cost vs Reliability

After reading this article I would have to agree that Cisco does possess a higher cost compared to their competitors, but in contrast to the cost Cisco offsets this with superior products and support. Never in my 9 years of IT have a had an issue with any Cisco product that wasn't corrected with a call to support. Their service and support along with a long track record of hardware reliability and security have made them a market leader in their area of expertise. Possibly the lower prices of their competition will force the hand of Cisco to lower costs and therefore prices, but with lower costs come the possibility of less reliable hardware.

Error in article

The article uses the term "10GB" which is incorrect in this context because GB means gigabytes. No vendor makes a gigabyte or 10 gigabyte switch. The correct term is Gb which is gigabits.

Error in article

The article uses the term "10GB" which is incorrect in this context because GB means gigabytes. No vendor makes a gigabyte or 10 gigabyte switch. The correct term is Gb which is gigabits.

[chriswong]

The headline should be "Cisco needs to reduce prices"

Cisco needs to reduce prices. Everyone knows that if anyone put together a computing device with the same power as one of their routers, it would cost no more than $50 nowadays...

[chriswong]

The headline should be "Cisco needs to reduce prices"

Cisco needs to reduce prices. Everyone knows that if anyone put together a computing device with the same power as one of their routers, it would cost no more than $50 nowadays...

This explains Cisco's emphasis on security

This article accurately describes the issues in the network infrastructure market, and correctly identifies Cisco's most valuable attribute...account control. What it doesn't capture is the fact that Cisco recognized this scenario two years ago and put in place an overall strategy to change the game from "network infrastructure" to "SECURE network infrastructure". Take a closer look at any of the vendors mentioned, and you'll see that they are all trailing Cisco in terms of their overall security story. Some, like Juniper, have excellent point products (the former NetScreen line), but none have come close when it comes to communicating an overall security strategy that takes a fundamentally proprietary approach and persuades the industry to build an ecosystem around it. Cisco is leveraging its position at the core of most enterprise networks to put in place a highly proprietary security architecture that only works when EVERYTHING is Cisco. To the extent that enterprise buyers see the value in adopting an enterprise-wide security strategy, other networking equipment vendors are sitting ducks.

As in real estate, only three things matter in netowrking...location, location, location. Cisco has three "locations" its pulled into its security strategy. The network core, the network edge, and the spot in front of the buyers desk where the Cisco rep is camped out.

I wouldn't count these guys out just yet.

This explains Cisco's emphasis on security

This article accurately describes the issues in the network infrastructure market, and correctly identifies Cisco's most valuable attribute...account control. What it doesn't capture is the fact that Cisco recognized this scenario two years ago and put in place an overall strategy to change the game from "network infrastructure" to "SECURE network infrastructure". Take a closer look at any of the vendors mentioned, and you'll see that they are all trailing Cisco in terms of their overall security story. Some, like Juniper, have excellent point products (the former NetScreen line), but none have come close when it comes to communicating an overall security strategy that takes a fundamentally proprietary approach and persuades the industry to build an ecosystem around it. Cisco is leveraging its position at the core of most enterprise networks to put in place a highly proprietary security architecture that only works when EVERYTHING is Cisco. To the extent that enterprise buyers see the value in adopting an enterprise-wide security strategy, other networking equipment vendors are sitting ducks.

As in real estate, only three things matter in netowrking...location, location, location. Cisco has three "locations" its pulled into its security strategy. The network core, the network edge, and the spot in front of the buyers desk where the Cisco rep is camped out.

I wouldn't count these guys out just yet.

[bvandussen]

mobility threats to cisco's core business

Imagine an office in which 90% of the workforce has a 3G/4G card or wireless smarphone. Why would such a place need a router?

While this may image may be a long horizon, I believe its legitimate. I welcome your thoughts

[bvandussen]

mobility threats to cisco's core business

Imagine an office in which 90% of the workforce has a 3G/4G card or wireless smarphone. Why would such a place need a router?

While this may image may be a long horizon, I believe its legitimate. I welcome your thoughts