ricep5Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL | reply to tubbynet
Re: End users are idiots?? The Cisco vs the world argument is an old one.
Cisco bought Linksys to get into the SMB space, which Cisco had zero presence at the time.
The first attempt to monetize it was the "trade up" program where you would get a faux discount on a catalyst if an SMB dragged in their old Linksys gear. Not many takers on that one.
Second attempt was to increase brand recognition by placing the "Linksys by Cisco" label on the gear. Most buyers didn't care as long as it did what it was supposed to. The only oversight in this era was taking open source off the WRT54 and putting on VxWorks. Flop city.
Third attempt now is to rebrand Linksys gear in a different color and call it Valet. Like it will do everything for you. To me that is a consumer direction and leaving the SMB space.
Linksys used to try various market niches in the prosumer/SMB space often and early. They appear to be running second fiddle now and release competing product after their competitors.
There is nothing wrong with Cisco Corporate as hardware and the IOS goes, (except for some sales tactics) but their value equation doesn't fit in the SMB or emerging network market. Too many examples to list here.
On a funny note, back in the old days, I figured out how to silence a room full of Cisco reps who were feeling pretty good about themselves....I said that Intel was buying out Bay Networks. You could hear the clock on the wall ticking after that one.
Give Cisco credit, they keep trying, but they are too attached to the teat of monthly maintenance income, which SMB's avoid. |
