Customer pressure pushes Cisco and Microsoft together

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 21 August 2007 11:13

IT Industry - Deals

"Interoperability also means following and driving industry standards, which will present an interesting challenge for these companies, both of whom have reputations as builders of proprietary systems first and foremost...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. Hopefully they will both move a little further in the direction of interoperability, but they will both also continue to do their best to create a world where the other isn't needed."

Their joint appearance took the form of in interview with US TV personality, Charlie Rose, the transcript of which was published on Microsoft's web site. This was backed up with a host of supporting material: a pre-meeting Q&A for US newswire PressPass and News@Cisco,  a 10 page "Microsoft-Cisco Alliance Update, and a framework for co-operation setting out both companies commitments, as follows:

• Each company will articulate more clearly how and where we are working together to minimise interoperability challenges;
• The goal of expanded cooperation between our two companies is to help ensure that our technologies work well together to enable the scenarios that our customers need to be successful. We will consult extensively with customers to understand how information systems can work better to meet their requirements;
• Interoperability often requires broad industry agreement about industry standards. We will work to create open industry standards that promote
interoperability and foster fair competition'
• While we are committed to promoting interoperability, that commitment will never preclude either company from pursuing any competitive opportunities.