Thursday, October 22, 2009

For reportage on Cisco’s acquisition of Tandberg, a player in the growing video-conference and global work space, the E-Commerce Times interviews Boston University's N. Venkat Venkatraman, the David J. McGrath, Jr. Professor in Management and the 22nd most-cited management scholar across the globe. They write,

Tandberg is a great acquisition for Cisco as it broadens its portfolio of products and services in IP-based video conferencing, said N. Venkatraman, a business professor at Boston University.

"With WebEx and TelePresence, Cisco has already signaled its vision to be a key player in how individuals and corporations set up their multipoint video communication capabilities," Venkatraman told the E-Commerce Times. "Tandberg brings valuable complementary capabilities in the form of specialized software to connect different types of technology."

The deal also allows Cisco greater leverage in defining the architecture of IP-based video conferencing for the industry, he said. "Cisco needs to build its software capabilities, and this makes Tandberg a perfect acquisition for them."

From the article “Cisco to Expand Its Video-Conference Room With $3B Tandberg Buy,” by Erika Morphy, E-Commerce Times, October 1, 2009.