'Seamless network to drive new gen tech'

John Chambers

The $30.12 billion "boring" networking company, Cisco Systems, underwent a worldwide rebranding exercise this October "� all in a bid to connect with consumers.

It entered the consumer electronics business with the Linksys acquisition, then Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 billion (a cable set-top box maker), Sipura Technology (maker of Internet phone products), and Kiss Technology(maker of network-based DVD and DVR "� digital video recorder "�players).Cisco's Internet protocol (IP) phones too have already hit the Indian market with over one lakh (six million globally) sold over the last couple of years.

Cisco also has made strategic investments in gaming companies such as TerraPlay, IndiaGames, Exent and Emergent.

Having committed $1 billion over the next three years last December, John Chambers, chairman & chief executive officer (CEO), Cisco, will visit India on December 6 "� his third visit and the first after the global rebranding exercise. Excerpts of an email interview with Business Standard:

How has the networking landscape evolved in India since your first visit in 2001?

Today, India is more vibrant and adventurous in its pursuit of excellence than ever before. Even the local industries have found a new confidence in the country. India's best and brightest have a unique opportunity to compete on a global basis which is a huge positive for the entire Indian economy.

Also, India's CEOs as well as their government understand the value of communications and IT and how the network becomes a strategic business tool to enable them to compete on a global scale. While IT spending among Indian companies remains low compared with their counterparts in the US, we expect significant growth in this area given their interest to remain competitive, especially in the services sector.

You've always maintained that the network is the key to next generation of information technology. Your comments.

The network is empowering the next generation of IT. For consumers, this means we will have the ability to use any device, anywhere, at any time.

The network will literally follow you from your office, to your car, to your home, to the airport. It is the intelligence in the network that will enable the ability for this to be seamless in a "follow-me" type of approach.

We will no longer need to think about which device we're using and what information it needs to access.

If you want to make a telephone call, your PDA or PC will work just as well as your cellphone.

You'll be able to use the Internet to access communications devices as easily from an airplane as from your office. But the network needs intelligence to perform these tasks.

An intelligent network automatically handles all the difficult tasks usually associated with today's networks and automatically adapts to your device, your location, and your identity, and provides you with the services you want and the appropriate level of security you require.

How big is the market for TelePresence which you tout as the next big technology innovation?

TelePresence creates a unique, "in-person" experience between people, no matter where they are located. It will change business and communication models forever.

The solution, enables a real-time, "face-to-face" meeting experience over the network by allowing users to interact and collaborate like never before.

TelePresence has the capability of changing government models, perhaps the healthcare industry, and will even someday be available for users in the home who want to more easily connect with friends, family and loved ones.