Cisco and Microsoft Discuss Collaboration and Competition

Cisco and Microsoft have agreed to collaborate in certain areas of network convergence while competing in others. At a press event in New York, Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer outlined 7 specific technology initiatives where Cisco and Microsoft will focus their efforts. These are:

• IT infrastructure based on the Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization Model and the Cisco Service Oriented Network Architecture
• Security, including integration of Cisco’s Network Admission Control (NAC) and Microsoft’s Network Access Protection (NAP)
• Management, including finding common ground in defining a new standard called Service Modeling Language.
• Wireless and Mobility, including extending Cisco Unified Communications Manager to Windows Mobile-powered devices.
• Unified Communications, in which the companies will work together in complementary areas while competing in others. Microsoft’s approach is that software is the hub of all communications, while Cisco’s approach is that the network is the hub of all communications.
• Connected Entertainment, where Cisco is a formal member of the Microsoft IPTV ecosystem.
• Small and medium-sized businesses

http://www.cisco.com

http://www.microsoft.com