Showing posts with label Cisco Systems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cisco Systems. Show all posts

Sunday, July 21, 2013

One Gig Is The Real Deal

Image representing Cisco as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
Israel's 1Gbps fiber will show the world what superfast broadband can really do: Cisco CEO
Chambers predicts the network will bring in major changes: healthcare where doctors are connected instantly to providers' and hospitals' databases, with all records kept electronically and updated constantly; an education-anywhere system, where students can learn at home, in class, or elsewhere, communicating with teachers and fellow students over the internet; safer roads and streets (a major issue in road accident-prone Israel), with traffic authorities able to keep better tabs on speeders and unsafe drivers; and a proliferation of "internet of things" technology, with sensors keeping air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, front doors, and more connected to systems than can enable better and more efficient allocation of electricity and other resources. In a few years, all of this should be in place, according to Chambers...... unlike most other places, Israel "is truly a start-up nation". ..... "Israel is second to the US in the sheer number of startups, but because of the population differences, Israel's 'per capita startup' ratio is much higher," he said.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Wireless Broadband's Big Appetites

spectrum
spectrum (Photo credit: Free Press Pics)
It is good news that the bad news is not all that bad. There will not be a spectrum crunch. But there is one now. The possibilities have not been realized.

The Spectrum Crunch that Never Really Was
Cisco estimates that mobile data traffic will grow by a factor of 18 by 2016, and Bell Labs predicts it will increase by a factor of 25..... when wireless networks are overloaded, the real culprit may be inefficient use of existing spectrum rather than a fundamental shortage. ..... "We don’t have a spectrum crunch so much as we have a spectrum policy crunch .... The so-called ‘spectrum crunch’ really reflects artificial spectrum scarcity" ..... “The challenge now is to extend those proven successes to enable wider-area broadband access using other underutilized portions of the spectrum.” ... such strategies could increase wireless capacity by thousands of times...... half the new demand through 2015 would be handled by small cells—Wi-Fi plus cells handling frequencies used by 3G and 4G networks ...... it might be possible to increase capacity tenfold even without spectrum sharing. ..... rigid regulations don’t allow the use of flexible new technologies like cognitive radio ...... “Right now, we have a 15- to 20-year backlog of new technologies and architectures, including sharing and small cells, which can take us a long way into the future.”
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Padmasree Warrior: Top Of The List

This Huffington Post article has been making the rounds today.

Readers Pick: 27 Women In Tech You Need To Follow On Twitter


It is no surprise Padmasree Warrior - what a last name - tops the list. I have an Indian friend whose last name is Engineer.

We Indians are the most successful ethnic group in America. No, it's not white people. An average Indian American family makes twice as much as your average white family. And no, it's not the Jewish people. It's not the Chinese, so no, it's not an Asian thing. It's us. It's Indians.

I once got a tweet from Padmasree.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Apple: Trillion Dollar Company?

Steve Jobs while presenting the iPad in San Fr...Image via Wikipedia
Yahoo Finance: Apple Will Become A Trillion-Dollar Company, Says Altucher — $1,000 a Share: Apple recently blew past Microsoft, Cisco, and other companies to become the most valuable tech company in the world. But that's just the beginning, says investor James Altucher of Formula Capital....... Altucher thinks Apple will eventually be worth more than $1 trillion, maybe even $2-$3 trillion. ...... the company's global market share in its key markets--smart-phones, tablets, and Macs--is still very low. Also, factoring out Apple's massive $65 billion pile of cash, the stock is trading at a low price-earnings multiple.
Apple is not going to be a trillion dollar company. That is too much extrapolation. This trillion dollar talk reminds me of the singularity talk, that is yet another case of too much extrapolation.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Murdoch's MySpace, Cisco's Flip

renaissancechambara.jp/2008/05/23/unboxing-the...Image via WikipediaWhen Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace, that was hot property. And he looked like a genius when he paid $500 million for the service, and promptly got Google to pay him $900 million to run ads on the property. And that was the pinnacle. It was downhill after that for MySpace. Murdoch's corporate machine killed the whole operation with the usual jujitsu.

How you do it is you put a corporate guy on top of the whole thing, and that big shot starts thinking he is some kind of a big shot, he fires a few key people, he reorganizes a little bit. After all he has to cast the impression he is actually doing something. And that messes things up. There is no one in charge. The emphasis is no longer on innovation. It is on pleasing the corporate guy who, by the way, wants yet more ads shown on the property, because there are numbers to be met. They don't realize that might take away from the experience because they don't use MySpace in the first place, they just want to be the boss of it.

And now what do we have here? Cisco is flipping Flip. Flip was also hot when it got bought. That is why it got bought in the first place. Flip was supposed to be Cisco's own little iPod, that signature device that everyone but everyone carries and makes Cisco look cool.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Cisco's Big Dreams: A Clash Of Titans?


Image representing Cisco as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase

Cisco's Big Push into New Markets BusinessWeek In recent weeks, Cisco has cut deals with customers looking to use its technology in more expansive ways than ever before— Major League Baseball teams that want fully wired stadiums, the city of Miami as it develops a smart power grid....... While many companies retrench, the tech giant has strong profits and $33 billion in cash in its coffers. ...... the dominant provider of the networking gear that runs the Internet. ..... Just as the tech world revolved around IBM (IBM)'s mainframe computers in the 1970s and Microsoft (MSFT)-powered personal computers in the 1980s and '90s, Chambers believes Cisco has an opportunity now to make its digital networks the platform on which new innovations are built. ...... Cisco's stock, now $18 a share, is at the same level it hit in 1998. ...... hastening efforts to move beyond the core business of selling switches and routers. ...... digital billboards to stereos and video surveillance systems ...... "We're moving into new [areas] with a speed nobody has ever attempted" ........ danger of losing focus ...... concern is that Cisco will alienate key partners that as a group deliver more than 80% of the company's sales ........ HP and Cisco already have begun to spar publicly. ...... "[Chambers] is known for trying to find a win-win," says one tech CEO. "This isn't a win-win. It's a declaration of war." ....... Cisco could lose half of the $4 billion in gear sold each year by IBM and HP ....... P&G plans to install more than 75 of Cisco's high-end TelePresence videoconferencing systems in 55 countries by the end of the year to lower travel costs and hold more global consumer focus groups. ....... "No other company touches the content, the carrier, and the consumer—and the best part is they all drive each other," says Padmasree Warrior, Cisco's chief technology officer.





When it comes to the internet, Cisco has been for hardware what Oracle has been for software. These two are network giants. As the giants of the tech industry seek to expand, it is but inevitable that they will run into each other. C for capitalism, c for competition. Cisco just so happens to be in great financial health. John Chambers and Larry Ellison are very different personality types. Ellison is the brash cowboy. Chambers has the reputation of the smooth, warm, fuzzy guy, but never underestimate a guy who has done a marvelous job of keeping a relentless focus on the fundamentals of his business, innovation being one of them. You can't be in love with innovation and not seek out new markets to grow your company. To the world it might look dramatic what Chambers is attempting, but to his mind he is merely putting one step in front of the other. The internet giant deserves to take yet another stride.



Cisco Unified Computing System: To Tidy Up Data Centers

http://twitter.com/paramendra/statuses/1700944190

https://twitter.com/Padmasree/status/1260569556
https://twitter.com/paramendra/status/1227950181

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Cisco Unified Computing System: To Tidy Up Data Centers


Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior: "We're going to compete with HP. I don't want to sugarcoat that."
Looks like Cisco wants to do to data centers what Apple did to cellphones with its iPhone.

In this tight economy it is but natural that once partners will elbow into each other's space. But that is the cynical view to take. This is a story in innovation. As to how it will play out, we will have to wait and watch.



Tech companies like Amazon and Oracle have swam upstream in this dire economy. And now Cisco has come up with a major announcement. This will boost the morale of the larger economy. Otherwise it feels like there is bad news on every page of the newspaper.

In The News

Cisco's Unified Computing System Products Unavailable Through ... ChannelWeb
Cisco's Unified Computing Vision - Is It Too Much Cisco? InformationWeek
Cisco's Unified Computing system ITworld.com
Cisco's Unified Computing System stirs competition, old and new Search Networking
One Cisco Unified Computing System beats 15 coal-fired energy plants ZDNet A single Cisco chassis can hold as many as eight blade servers. A “networking fabric extender” can tie together 40 such chassis, bringing 320 servers under the control and supervision of Cisco’s Unified Computing System Manager software. ...... Every second, Web users view 1,200 videos on YouTube, share 11,000 songs and send 2,000,000 emails. This plus the equivalent of 3,000,000 trees turned into paper and printed can fit in the system memory of one Cisco Unified Computing System. ........ All 138,893,908 Individual Tax returns filed last year in the United States could be stored in the memory of one Cisco Unified Computing System. ....... It takes only 40% of the Cisco UCS’s system resources to host all of the US Wikipedia. ...... The amount of obsolete cabling and support infrastructure that could be eliminated equates to 3,007 miles of legacy servers and infrastructure, when set side by side. ......... 31,103,864,053 Kilowatt hours per year saved, by unifying aging traditional servers and supporting infrastructure. .......

This could:

  • Double the available electricity in the ten poorest countries worldwide increasing education, healthcare, and overall standard of living.
  • Equal the energy output of more than 15 U.S. coal-fired electric plants and 35 million tons of C02.
  • Almost equal the entire amount of wind energy produced in U.S.



Cisco Systems, Inc.Image via Wikipedia

Is Cisco really going to take on Apple? Not quite.

ZDNet - ‎Mar 20, 2009‎
Cisco’s acquisition of Pure Digital, maker of the Flip camcorder, has sparked a lot of discussion about the networking giant’s intentions. ...

Cisco Needs BMC To Supply Unified Virtual Management

InformationWeek - ‎Mar 19, 2009‎
At stake is Cisco's blade server, which will combine converged network components, then link to virtualized network and store resources under a single ...

Cisco, Red Hat to bring unified computing system to Malaysia

NetworkWorld.com - ‎Mar 20, 2009‎
"UCS will result in a unified architecture tantamount to next generation data centres: data centre 3.0," said Cisco Malaysia managing director Anne Abraham. ...

Cisco's consumer electronics dream

CNET News - ‎Mar 20, 2009‎
by Marguerite Reardon If you haven't noticed, Cisco Systems, whose products have been used to build the Internet for 20 years, has spent the past 6 years ...

BusinessWeek’s Burrows: Cisco to battle Apple? Not likely

MacDailyNews - ‎12 hours ago‎
"Put me down as a skeptic regarding Cisco’s acquisition yesterday of Pure Digital, the maker of Flip video recorders. In fact, my first thought wasn’t ...

Home IBM Why Is IBM, Not Cisco, Buying Sun?

eWeek - ‎Mar 18, 2009‎
Cisco Systems, with its ambitions for dominance in the data center, seems like a much better suitor for Sun. Commenting on a pending acquisition is like ...
Video: Money Minute: IBM, AIG, Compensation

Cisco Israel head resigns

Ha'aretz - ‎2 hours ago‎
By Amitai Ziv Bina Rezinovsky, the general manager of Cisco Israel, announced her resignation at the end of last week. Rezinovsky, 41, has managed Cisco's ...

Laid-Off Janitors Protest At Cisco Headquarters

CBS 5 - ‎Mar 19, 2009‎
Read more in our Privacy Policy At least 200 people gathered outside Cisco Systems headquarters in San Jose on Thursday to protest the layoffs of about 75 ...
Fisher: Taking back the economy San Jose Mercury News

Around the Web 3.19.09: Cisco now makes servers, IE8 comes out ...

Los Angeles Times - ‎Mar 19, 2009‎
Personal Technology -- Cisco Systems released its server computer -- an affront on companies for which it usually provides software. ...

Citigroup, FedEx, Alcoa, Cisco among big movers

The Associated Press - ‎Mar 19, 2009‎
NASDAQ Cisco Systems Inc., down 27 cents at $16.23 The computer networking gear maker will buy Pure Digital, maker of the popular Flip Video camcorder, ...




















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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Early Stage Venture Capital


The term venture capital reminds me of the go go 90s. Detractors kept giving credit to Alan Greenspan and what not, but Bill Clinton was the one steering the ship. His leadership was key to the new horizons you started seeing.

Venture capitalists do it for money. But the very idea reminds me of micro credit. Venture capital is micro credit for the rich. You have no collateral, just the intangibles like maybe an idea, or a basic product, a basic team.

I have looked at some goliath companies like say Microsoft or Dell and wondered why they don't cash out some at their peak and then put that money into venture capital. The ego gets in the way. They think they are going to keep churning out new stuff.

Venture capital is going to India and China. There is hope.

Self interest is a good thing. That Adam Smith invisible hand thing is a point. A lot of people driven by self-interest end up doing public good. The market works great most of the time.

And this thing about going public. Sam Walton one day just showed up at Wall Street. He walked into a firm and asked the receptionist who he should talk to. He wanted to take his company public. He was deep in debt at the time. She lead him to this lone guy from Arkansas who was at the firm.



For every rock star status band, there is one in every town hoping to be one. Hugely successful companies come only a few in a generation. It is hard to figure out which. But then there are numbers involved. Progress can be measured.

On the other hand, money is not enough motivation. Groupthink can set in. Ego can come into play. But if you are a painter, you will paint, no matter what. If you are an entrepreneur, you will jump into the river, no matter what. You will do it. You will seek and find your groove.

In The News

Earlier is Better for Venture Capital BusinessWeek Provenance said that it expects to make 20 to 40 investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 per company during the course of the fund. ..... 2006 is shaping up as a very active year for early-stage companies to receive venture capital funding. .... 74 startup and seed companies raised money from venture investors during the second quarter of this year, up from 54 last year. ..... entrepreneurs are willing to get out of their comfort zones and start new projects, and VCs are willing to back great talent ..... Sequeira ... 90% of his investments are in early-stage companies. .... the cost of doing business has decreased significantly. .... funds typically run in 10-year cycles. VCs want to get in on the bottom level, because by the sixth or seventh year a company will have grown to the point where it will be acquired or go public. ..... Right now is the start of a new cycle of funding .... This is a very good time if you are an entrepreneur looking for seed or early seed money
Making India a hub of venture capital CNET News.com, CA Chadha, who left Goldman Sachs in 2000 to form WestBridge ..... an unprecedented explosion of wealth in South Asia. ..... Venture capital investment in India surged 400 percent, to $3.6 billion, during the first half of 2006, compared with the same period last year ..... China outpaced India with $5 billion .... 124 transactions. ..... At least seven U.S. venture firms are raising funds specifically to invest in India. ...... India will emerge as "one of the core venture capital investing hubs in the world." ...... Rupert Murdoch's eVentures India .... Google angel investor Ram Shriram ...... the high quality of the entrepreneurs and the amazing pace of the market ...... a networking group, the U.S.-India Venture Capital Association .... Out of WestBridge's current portfolio of 25 companies, three are in the wireless domain, four are in consumer Internet and three in biotech. ...... Sequoia hopes to combine its experience in helping to turn start-ups into technology powerhouses such as Apple Computer, Oracle and Cisco Systems with WestBridge's knowledge of local market conditions in India.......
Venture capital investing in China doubles in Q2 2006 from Q2 2005 AltAssets 'Information technology remains the beneficiary of the majority of investment activity in China, as it does in the US and Europe, but it is also interesting to see pockets of activity in business and consumer services, healthcare, and even in alternative energy occurring in China.'
India, the Venture Capital & Private Equity Landscape American Venture Magazine, CA Aided by a growing domestic market and a projected 8-plus percent GDP growth rate, India’s stock markets are booming like never before making them one of the highest performing in the world.....
India hot on US venture capital radar Zee News, India over 44 US-based VCs have either raised or are in process of raising between 40 and 400 million dollars for early-stage investments in Indian companies over the next 4-5 years. ..... take the total funds to about 4.4 billion dollars. This amount is equivalent to investment worth 22 billion dollars in the us or Europe on purchasing power parity basis ...... traditionally favourite sectors like IT, BPO, telecom and internet
BusinessWeek.com, 8/3/06, "Before You Accept VC Funding…" Venture capital can be the best thing that ever happened to your company or your worst nightmare. ..... a term sheet—a document that details the amount the VCs want to invest, their conditions and requirements, legal rights, financial terms, and the controls they are seeking. ...... negotiating terms ...... No matter how sure you are that you're asking for enough, make sure more money is available if you need it. The odds are you will. ....... Do you get along? Are they a group of people you would want to deal with on a frequent basis for the next three to five years? ....... you are going to be branded by the VC you choose ..... Ask the VCs these tough questions and check their answers with others .... the VCs have as many warts as you do. ..... Some of the conditions may not seem significant now, but could come back to haunt you later. ...... used-car dealer tactics ....... the highest valuation may not be the best deal. ..... the longer the VCs wait, the more willing you become to accept their onerous terms. The best way to accelerate timetables is to create competition with other firms or via other funding options. ..... The key is to know what you're getting into and have reasonable expectations.
BusinessWeek.com, 8/1/06, "15 Things You Need to Score VC Funding" instead of soliciting venture capital for your new startup, you're better off buying a lottery ticket. You'll save time, money, and spare yourself a lot of heartache. But when you've reached the stage in your business where you have a product that customers love, a business model that works, and a strong management team, everything changes. ...... Their due-diligence process often takes months and is extremely rigorous. Most companies don't make it through. To prepare, you should look at your company the way they will. ......
BusinessWeek.com, 7/17/06, "Venture Capital: The Good, Bad, and Ugly" There often comes a time in the life of a startup when the founder must decide if it's better to own a small piece of a big pie. ..... there are many strings attached to this money—it's practically like getting married. ..... there are many strings attached to this money—it's practically like getting married. ...... It's always about who you know. ..... How can you tell if the VP of sales is more adept at selling himself than your product? ....... Good venture capitalists will support you when things get tough. ..... Venture capitalists are in it just for the money. Most are not out to do good for the world. ..... In their world, the need to create high shareholder returns always triumphs over personal relationships. ....... You could find yourself reporting to a new CEO, or be ousted from the company you founded. ..... They will have the right to sue you for all you own if you forgot to give them any bad news..... differences in opinion usually emerge and personal interests often come into play. It can be a full-time job for a CEO to manage VCs...... Disagreements about strategy often arise between the entrepreneur who is on a mission to change the world, and the venture capitalist who can do no wrong. Like entrepreneurs, VCs aren't created equal and they often know less than the entrepreneur about the product, customer needs, and market opportunity. ....... Your choice is to finance your startup yourself and stay small, or take the risk and raise venture capital. Just be aware that in this marriage, there is no divorce.

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