Cisco’s Social Networking Gambit
Less than a month after Silicon Valley heavyweight Cisco Systems acquired content management start-up Five Across, they announced the upcoming acquisition of Tribe.net, an early yet largely unadopted social network.
Thus far reactions have been mixed but largely questioning the sense of the deal. Mark Andreessen, who last week reintroduced his social networking start-up Ning, tells the New York Times that “the idea that Cisco is going to be a force in social networking is about as plausible as Ning being a force in optical switches.” According to the Times article, he questions whether Cisco is underestimating the challenges in combining the various technologies.
Founder and Chief Blogger of GigaOm, Om Malik, is equally skeptical. He writes “News flash for Cisco: This social software thing â it is too marginal, doesnât make money and canât make you cool. Stick to what you know best - plumbing hardware âsell tons of it, make money, and learn to live with the fact that you are rich and old school.”
While I certainly understand both Andreessen’s and Malik’s positions, I feel obliged to state that I think Cisco is doing something a little different and a lot interesting here. Far from wanting to seed a more functional (ala Ning) social networking (ala LinkedIn) site for broader segments of individuals (especially adults), I think Cisco is seeking to create a “soup to nuts” network solution for the enterprise, including infrastructure, technology services, and both enterprise and consumer SaaS offerings. Review their materials on telepresence and tell us - is Cisco’s latest gambit tactically shortsighted or strategically visionary?
