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Partnerships are a Good Idea, but We're Waiting for Results
Cisco, recognizing that its customers are dealing with many other vendors and attempting to make all the disparate pieces of their technology infrastructures work together, has recently embraced partnerships as a way to accelerate customer success. Translation: To offer an easier integration path for their customers, Cisco has signed deals with EMC, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and many other big-name vendors.
Eugene Lee, Cisco's vice president of enterprise marketing, told us the company's goal is to bring to each partnership its strengths and merge them with the strengths of that partner.
In theory this is a good idea that all technology buyers and implementers should welcome. But in practice, getting the priorities on both sides of a partnership to deliver value can be difficult. While Cisco is aware of the problems inherent in partnerships, it is approaching partnerships with vigor.
In CEO Chambers' words: "If there isn't a lot of revenue to be had -- not $10 million or $50 million or $100 million dollars; I'm talking a half a billion or a billion dollars -- the companies don't stay engaged. To get to that type of revenue, you've got to have at least three and probably five to 10 different transactions. You've got to have CEOs who believe in it and who will put in place a structure that can implement it."
If Cisco can avoid issues with competitors with whom it is dealing and can expand the useful partnerships in its repertoire to cover more than CTI (computer telephony integration), the company will be onto something. Cisco says it is dealing well with companies that have competing interests by offering open, standards-based partnerships with all of them. This reduces the workload on Cisco staffers because the company can implement to standards, then offer partnerships to companies without huge development efforts, if it is indeed serious about partnerships.
If Cisco can offer those of us in the field an easier life through partnerships, bravo. But success here has a limited history. To succeed in the software market through partnerships, Cisco will have to add more general-purpose, affordable solutions to its partnership lineup.
Let's look at a few of the more prominent partnerships Cisco has entered into and see if we, the customers, are getting value out of them.
>> ECOstructure: ECOstructure is a joint-venture partnership among EMC, Cisco and Oracle to "empower e-business" by combining the strengths of each company. Although the partnership was formed in April 2000, you still cannot buy everything you need to implement an ECOstructure architecture from a single source. Reference designs are available on the ECOstructure Web site (www.eecostructure.com), so we looked at a few of them.
Cisco, EMC and Oracle are best-of-breed solutions, but they are also tops in the "most expensive of breed" category. Adding up the cost of one of these reference diagrams makes it clear that your average midsize company will not be buying this solution. If you need best-of-breed in network infrastructure, you might be able to cobble together a more affordable solution using products from Cisco and less expensive products from some competitors, such as Oracle and EMC.
>> Microsoft, Compaq and Cisco: Cisco has partnered with Compaq Computer Corp. and Microsoft to sell a complete telephony solution based on CallManager, Windows NT running on Compaq hardware and CTI from Siebel. This solution is complete and is sold by Compaq under Compaq's name.
Considering the difficulty of integrating CTI into a traditional enterprise environment, this is a powerful partnership. And given the companies involved, this partnership will not likely suffer the same pricing problems as that of ECOstructure. We asked about scalability issues using a software PBX and Windows NT, but Eugene Lee is adamant that Cisco has required scalability testing after integration of these products.
>> IBM and Cisco: Cisco is partnering with IBM (both hardware and IBM Global Services) to deliver a similar CTI solution. This solution is sold as IBM-only, something that makes the lives of those of us who have to maintain the systems easier. To support servicing of this solution and to add to its support network in general, IBM is increasing the number of Cisco Certified Network Engineers on its staff and working directly with Cisco on integration of products in the IP telephony space. Good news if you use IBM Global Services, but price is again prohibitive for many organizations.
-- Don MacVittie
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