Microsoft, Cisco Ramp Up Rivalry
Microsoft was bursting to talk about its buyout of Tellme Networks. That deal was disclosed March 14, although rumors preceded it.
The Tellme hubbub was quickly eclipsed (actually blown out of the water) with Cisco's blockbuster buy of Webex the next day
Some quibbled that Cisco could have bought a smaller—and much cheaper—Web conferencing company but that wouldn't have won the networking kingpin the professional sales force, cash, and cache Webex brings. The $300 million Webex had in its mattress brings the actual cost of Cisco's buy down to $2.9 billion.
A Microsoft source acknowledged that Cisco one-upped the Redmond, Wash giant.'
Webex isn't a mere brand. It's a noun, a verb. Not unlike Google. "Webex is like Kleenex. You set up a Webex. You Webex someone," this insider noted in the week after the dueling deals surfaced.
Logmein, the hot little startup that many VARs use to monitor and manage remote customers, would have come much cheaper but it doesn't have the same name reco as Webex.
With Microsoft now delving into inexpensive VoIP phone systems, don't get too consumed with its Google mania. Keep an eye on the Cisco rivalry too.