I saw this welcome post from colleague Irwin Lazar a few minutes ago.

Cisco Introduces Its Telepresence Solution

Cisco today unvieled its long awaited  telepresence solution to provide for teleconferences that give the participants the impression that they are in the same room with other conference participants.  Cisco joins HP's HALO in the ultra-high-end video conference space.

I'll have more to say about this in a Nemertes Impact Analysis next week.   But as I noted in my post last week on Collaboration Loop, I'm seeing a great deal of interest in telepresence from the very large enterprise market, though almost no interest in desktop video.

When you read the post, it should leap out at you that Irwin openly says he isn't sure if he agrees with me, and others on the whole issue of telepresence and where it's headed. That's almost precisely why I welcome this post.

I have no financial stake in SightSpeed, but I have been a vocal proponent. I see lots of activity and interest in desktop video. On the other hand, I'm pretty heavily involved in some large enterprise architecture planning. I really don't see enterprise video as being looked at seriously anywhere right now.

Presence, or Cisco's stated goal of telepresence, is larger and everyone's looking at presence in some fashion. From my vantage point, lots of enterprises are looking at Microsoft's Live Communications Server. I don't see any implementing it. Just looking at it, testing it, and wondering if someday it will give them what they want.

Cisco's big announcement will certainly gain traction. Cisco's got a huge marketing and sales engine that will kick into gear. And Cisco, their own first VoIP customer, does have a reputation for eating their own dog food when it comes to networking solutions. I have no doubt that Cisco will have a massive telepresence option they will shove in the face of every large enterprise. I just don't think their reality today matches their language. They're ahead of their own curve, or put another way, they're trying to create and push the wave they want to ride.

Irwin and I have traded an occasional email, but never met or spoken on the phone. But he's an industry analyst I read and watch closely, precisely because he brings a larger viewpoint that really hits home with enterprise business. Irwin, like me, watches what goes on with other technologies like MPLS. He gets a chance to look at strategic issues with enterprise entwork evolution, whereas I sometimes get mired in the tactical weeds of today. he promises more in a Nemertes Impact Analysis next week, and I for one will be watching closely to dig in to broader views and issues that I know weren't foremost in my thoughts when I wrote my recent flurry of posts.

Technorati Tags: Cisco, telepresence, Irwin Lazar