Cisco braces for video overload

Cisco, the king of networking, is preparing for a brave new world where the distribution of video will be its defining strength in the multimedia market place.

Cisco is synonymous with the packet switching that was developed to allow computers to talk to each other. While the primary intention was to share data, voice and video were layered upon it as they gained significance.

But Cisco has no doubt that the future is all about distributing video and rich media content whether it be interactive advertisement, mobile television, videoconferencing or gaming. The video will be of high resolution, free of jitter and capable of skipping between platforms such as a televion recorded conference that needs to be played back on PCs.

Cisco accepts that making video central to new architectures means entering uncharted territory in developing new transmission protocols, routers and software functions. New lines of routers are all set to be unleashed optimized for video services.

No company is as well placed to develop the video roadmap as Cisco. The technology industry is keeping its fingers crossed that Cisco doesn't flex its muscles and pull a Microsoft locking competitors out of proprietary standards.

But perhaps the biggest impediment to Cisco is the global recession. Will internet service providers and enterprises be willing to endure capital investments of this magnitude in the current climate? Perhaps Cisco's success will lie in convincing customers of the long term benefits and possibilities of value added services via these products.