Cisco claims that its system pays for itself within six months on average through lower business-travel costs alone.
The quality of video conferencing provided through, say, Cisco's TelePresence system is orders of magnitude better real-time, good picture quality, extremely reliable than what was available even a few years ago.
Based on the Android operating system, Cisco Cius is an open platform for communication and collaboration whose form factor and applications are designed to more securely connect employees on-the-go with the right people in real-time, and to provide those workers with the ability to access and share the content they need from any place on the network.
Now, Cisco plans to shop that system, known as the Secure Information Sharing Architecture, to the private sector.
In May, Cisco released the Carrier Routing System, a new high-end router designed for use at the heart of service providers' networks.
It services hundreds of global firms, including Goldman Sachs, Visa and DHL. Infosys has developed switching software for Cisco, a factory management system for Nestl and an inventory tracking application for Nordstrom.
Cisco's new digital stereo system, for instance, allows music to move wirelessly around the home.
Tell that to Microsoft, which is looking for a new Wi-Fi system to replace its Cisco-based network.
With Microsoft, for example, Cisco built a big information-sharing system for a military customer.
With Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), for example, Cisco built a big information-sharing system for a military customer.
The good news for me is that within Cisco we have deployed our next gen security system.
The code, called IOS (internetwork operating system), is the crown jewel of Cisco's technology.
Last March, Cisco launched what it called a "Unified Computing" system of servers, routers and switches.
Those on the front lines of networking, such as the telcos, Internet service providers, competitive local exchange companies and wireless operators, still prefer time-tested Unix as the operating system for networks. (Prediction: Cisco and Lucent may become the biggest threats to Microsoft over the next five years.) n Thanks to the Internet, small niche companies can reach mass markets in a heartbeat.
So the Cheever team replaced their existing system with new Internet Protocol-based hardware from Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ).
Elsewhere, Arista Networks, which is rich in Cisco talent, has just announced a new data center operating system that will challenge the incumbents with its speed and simplicity.
Bhatia says that TigerText is a targeted solution that can accommodate the devices that doctors and other workers want to use, and is also far less expensive than large-scale Hospital Information Management System software or integrated tablet-software solutions from vendors like Cisco or Alcatel.
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But Cisco threw a grenade into that punchbowl last March, when it announced its Unified Computing System, a collection of data center products that included its own server.
Homes and offices were filling up with personal computers sold by the likes of Dell or Compaq, with CPUs from Intel, running on Windows 95 and later iterations of the dominant operating system from of Microsoft, and connected to the Internet with networking equipment from Cisco Systems.
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The Cisco program provides schools with a cost-free, Web-based curriculum, an assessment system and training for teachers.
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