Submitted by Morgan Smith as part of our contributors program.
Cisco (CSCO) has a great strategy moving forward with regards to its cloud computing solution. The new cloud computing initiative was recently launched and announced in San Diego. The new product is aimed at helping businesses who want to move to the cloud but that do not have the infrastructure in place to achieve this.
The main problems that we face in the transition to cloud computing lie in bandwidth, latency, and performance issues. Cisco is attempting to address these issues with its new cloud computing solutions. The company has introduced a new array of physical and virtual routers, software and services that should be a good weapon in the fight to make the transition to cloud computing as painless as it can possibly be. The solutions that Cisco has introduced mean that more businesses are able to take advantage of cloud computing technology more quickly while “delivering an optimal user experience at the lowest cost.” In addition, the new solutions will allow for cloud bursting.
To me, this means that Cisco will become a top option for companies who wish to switch to a cloud based platform in the IT divisions. Any company that is capable of making the transition easier and improving the service provided will automatically be moved to the top of the list of companies that you would prefer dealing with. This is the kind of innovation that we have come to expect from Cisco.
In order to achieve these ends, Cisco has introduced three ways in which cloud computing can be turned into something that vendors will actually be able to use: Cisco’s Integrated Services Router, its Cloud Services Router, and its Location ID Separation Protocol. Cisco, a company that you would not usually associate with its efforts in the area of cloud computing, may become a significant player in the market in that it has found a way to make cloud computing more accessible and more convenient for more people.
The new product will be sold under a subscription model. However, if you are interested in getting your hands on the new cloud technology you will unfortunately not be able to find definitive prices at this stage.
As far as what this means for the stock, well, I think that you will agree with me when I say that this can only be a positive step forward. While Cisco is far from being the leader in cloud computing, it nevertheless is a company that knows what people want and how to go about providing them with it. This new solution will prove to be a big milestone in Cisco’s development.
Frontier Communications (FTR) over the last few years has acquired property from Verizon in no less than 14 different states. The effects of this are positive. Let’s take West Virginia, for example. Frontier Communications is intent on providing fast broadbandaccess to all areas of this state including the rural areas, thereby increasing the state’s internet connectivity ratings and improving the economy in the process. A strategy to make its presence more widely felt is clearly a good one for any telecommunications company. It has certainly become very popular in West Virginia.
Verizon recently launched a new data sharing package plan to its customers that allows consumers to have up to ten devices on the same plan. Fees are charged according to how much data each device uses and a flat rate for each specific device is also charged on a monthly basis. This may or may to be a profitable scheme on the part of Verizon. At this point, people are struggling to decide whether this is a better deal that what came before or not because there are so many parameters to consider before a call on this can be made.
Sprint-Nextel (S) has a vision for the future, one in which its network is upgraded to combine 3G and 4G technologies to create one seamless network. However, in order to do this, it has to shut down Nextel altogether. And this is what it will do. The shut down could occur as soon as the end of this month and Sprint Nextel will be known from now on simply as Sprint. To assist in this split, a subsidiary of Black & Veatch has been hired, although neither Sprint nor Black & Veatch are willing to disclose the terms of the agreement.
Shareholders in Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) are beginning to lose patience. They are also showing signs that they no longer trust the telecommunications company. The problem is the Alcatel has been underperforming consistently and that this consistency is starting to get on the nerves of the shareholders. At a recent meeting, shareholders expressed their dissatisfaction with the company’s current state in addition to implying that it hoped to see a significant turnaround as soon as possible. Hopefully, for the sake of stock holders, the company has a plan just over the horizon for getting back on its feet.
Cisco seems to have the right idea about where to go and what to do in order to stay ahead of the game and in order to transition as smoothly as possible into the future era of technological advancement. Because that is what cloud computing represents – the future. Companies that wish to make their mark on the stock market and that wish to impress their presence on the world need to find ways to ease the transition to the cloud and to make new advancements with this technology as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. As stocks go, Cisco is a great one to hold onto at present.
