Cisco's Chambers Urges Focus on Business Process Services

"If you don't change the process, no matter how much money you throw at it, you're going to get a fraction of the productivity improvement," Chambers said in a keynote address in Honolulu.

Customer productivity gains are vastly improved when IT solutions are implemented in support of business process changes rather than starting with technology and updating business processes after the fact, which can actually lead to a loss of productivity, he said.

"The vast majority of customers, when they understand the value you bring, will pay a premium for this," Chambers said.

Chambers pointed to Cisco's new Opportunity Incentive Program as a way of protecting partners that invest in pre-sale services. The new deal registration program gives partners exclusive discounts for closing new business.

Chambers also outlined Cisco's strategy to become the dominant end-to-end infrastructure provider.

"We're striving to be No. 1 in routers, switches, security, IP telephony, wireless, SANs, etc.," he said, noting that security has become the first of Cisco's six advanced technology categories to hit the $1 billion mark.

Chambers also previewed new IP telephony technology that automatically adds video to VoIP calls when the network detects the presence of a video camera.

He demonstrated that, through the use of open standards, the new technology works with equipment from third-parties, such as videoconferencing vendor Tandberg.

The technology is scheduled to debut in the next few months, he said.