Security Watch | Matt Hines » Cisco makeover & being there

October 26, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Cisco makeover & being there

TAGS: Security

Just so you know, I could care less that Cisco recently changed its logo.

There, I said it.

I've been over at the Cisco campus a few times over the past several months and heard the chatter about the logo change, and I've seen the new one. Some Cisco employees don't like the new logo, some do, and some just don't care.

What do I think about the new design?

Eh.

Yeah, it looks a little softer to me, but I could care less.

What I find interesting is that Cisco felt that they had to spend a good deal of money to generate consumer brand awareness when, I think, they still hold enterprise network infrastructure domiance.

If dominance is too strong a word, then lets just say that they're still the 775 pound gorilla in the room.

Jon Oltsik sums up my feeling nicely in his blog entry regarding the issue.

Maybe they're doing the right thing by having a 'softer' logo. All the consumers I asked in my undeniably unscientific poll said, "Cisco did what?" or "Why did they do that?"

I don't know that I have a good answer for that one.

TelePresence, it's just like Starbucks!

I've recently seen a number of Cisco's new 'telepresence' commercials. These new telepresence systems allow people to be around the globe but feel that they're in the same room, in the same meeting. What's interesting is that this new solution isn't just adding some cameras and three cool new semi-concave displays. Nope, it means paintng the rooms exactly the same color, changing room dimensions and dealing with acoustic changes to the rooms so that the experience is like you're really there. A seamless visual and audio experience.

While I haven't seen of of these rooms in person, I can say that people who have say it's just like having everyone there. And it's kinda freaky.

What does this have to do with security? Well, if can meet in a room like this and not spend my hours on a plane getting to a meeting, getting acclimated to the local time, having the meeting and then spend more hours getting back then I'm all for it.

The bottom line ends up that if I'm more awake when I attend a telepresence meeting rather than being half asleep after flying halfway around the world (and can more easily deal with any potential problems that may arise) that's a good thing. And trust me, you want me awake if I'm dealing with your network or security infrastructure.

Will this technology take over for in person meetings? Probably not in the near term, but it's an interesting milestone on the the way to being there, virutually.

Of course, this means that all of those bonding experience with co-workers halfway around the globe are out too. But one could always call a co-worker from a Starbucks and have them answer in the same establishment, since a Starbucks looks almost exactly the same no matter where you may be in the world...

It's telepresence on the cheap.

Posted by Victor R. Garza on October 26, 2006 02:53 PM

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