Cisco’s blue ocean: Big data analytics at the edge: Page 2 of 2

Additional revenue stream
 
Should all this pan out, it means Cisco will have the opportunity to regain growth momentum in its routing business, which saw a 7% decline in its fiscal 2014 in terms of segmented revenue.
 
This is because the company can harness this into additional revenue streams: Existing Cisco router customers may want to have the analytics solutions sitting in their routers; while non-Cisco users may want to switch routers so that they can perform real-time analytics.
 
(NGN Routing revenue fell to US$7.66 billion for the year ended July 26, 2014 against US$8.24 billion for the year ended July 27, 2013.)
 
As with any ‘blue ocean’ market however, it would only be a matter of time before the space is filled with competitors.
 
When asked if Cisco is worried about other router makers collaborating with existing analytics solutions providers to develop solutions for analytics at the edge, Mala (pic) said she was confident that the space would be hard to penetrate and that Cisco is the “only company” that can deliver this capability.
 
“We believe in our ability, we believe that we have no other competitor because we know the network best. Also, it’s not just hardware – our streaming analytics software is one of the key differentiators.
 
“The fact that we have such a large installed base, that we can look at the network at the edge with a lot of depth, is [a key differentiator],” she added.
 
Connected Analytics ecosystem
 
Cisco knows that it can’t do this alone, however. To give customers analytics from both ends (data sitting in the depository centre and data at the edge), it is partnering with existing analytics solutions providers such as IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, Pivotal and many others to be part of its Connected Analytics ecosystem.
 
These partnerships will address the analytics needs for data sitting in the depository centre.
 
“We believe that our solutions are complementary with other analytics vendors’ solutions. This is why working with partners in this ecosystem is very important,” said Mala.
 
At the edge, Cisco’s Connected Analytics will use assets from Truviso and Composite Software. Truviso is a network data analysis and reporting software vendor that Cisco bought in 2012, while Composite Software is a data virtualisation software vendor it bought in 2013.
 
With the vast potential of the IoE, it is not surprising that some vendors are willing to share a piece of the growing pie.
 
According to Cisco’s estimates, the IoE will generate US$19 trillion in value at stake for the private and public sectors globally between 2013 and 2022. More than 42% of this value, or some US$8 trillion, will come from the Internet of Things (IoT).
 
More to come
 
Meanwhile, chief executive Chambers hinted that there is more to come from Cisco in the big data analytics space.
 
He also said that the unveiling of Connected Analytics has plugged an important gap in its technology line-up.
 
“We are not there yet, but this is one large step in terms of how we are going to get there,” Chambers declared.
 
Goh Thean Eu reports from the Cisco Global Editors Conference in San Jose at the invitation of Cisco Systems Inc. All editorials are independent.
 
Related Stories:
 
Telcos long way from harnessing full potential of analytics: Cisco
 
Big data hype slowly but surely melting away
 
Cisco 'opens' up the cloud war with Intercloud
 
Cisco's cloud to address IoE demands
 
IBM unveils 'analytics for everyone' with natural language
 
 
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Like us on Facebook.