Before I post the lastest electronic ink from Cisco's big media effort, I wanted to share an observation from HPL Board of Advisor member Chris Van Waters. Chris is CIO at publicly traded QuadraMed and part of the old guard/new team led by Keith Hagen that has gone from 0-60 in 6 months and reduced a net loss of $41.8 MM loss in 2004 to $3.9MM in 2005. The stock is up over 25% in the first quarter on the announcement of the 2005 results. Over lunch at Lebanese Taverna in Tysons Corner on Friday, Chris credited some of the turn around to the simplification of decision making at the company and the speed with which things are getting done. In his department he has set a quota on new ideas big and small that get instantly approved at weekly staff meetings provided they meet his 4 main guidelines:

1. The idea can't waste shareholder money
2. The idea doesn't have a potential for data loss and/or disruption of service,
3. The idea doesn't violate any of the company's HR policies.

and most importantly,

4. The idea's owner must be committed to it and take personal responsibility to ensure its implementation.

Assuming the idea meets these basics (and isn't dumb as a rock), Chris issues rapid fire approvals and each ball starts moving up the field. Chris was telling me how a Gartner Group analyst was recommending that CIO's understand multi-player, on-line games (like Halo 2, Half-Life, and Call of Duty) to understand the rate at which the up and coming generation of knowledge workers expect to collaborate in real time.
If you thought that Instant Messaging (IM) was fast you have obviously never attended a virtual LAN party where 2-8+ people from around the world have come together instantaneously to "Collaborate" in real-time using "Rich-Media" to "Frag" each other at a frenetic pace that gives the typical baby boomer motion sickness. Chris is looking for ways to crank it up a notch or two in the coming year.

Expect to see Van Waters UNLEASHED in 2006!

On to Cisco's Telepresence Initiative:

Here are some excerpts from an article by Stephen Lawson found on NetworkWorld's Website with more info on Cisco's Telepresence Initiative. Since the article touches on the integration with Cisco's Unified Communications Architecture I decided to illustrate the piece with some screenshots of the video call manager which came from an excellent article/analysis in the Wainhouse Research Bulletin found Here. As usual the emphasis is mine.

Cisco Sees Big Future for Video in the Enterprise

Cisco is set to push videoconferencing hard in the coming year. Last November, the company acquired video infrastructure company Scientific-Atlanta and according to president and CEO John Chambers, the company is set to build on that.

He said that company was preparing a "telepresence" system that would make videoconferencing more lifelike. He added that the company was also preparing to unveil software for enterprises that would manage and present video content for employees, partners and the public. The telepresence system will use "life-size" high-definition video and directional sound technology that makes voices seem to come from where a user is located at the remote site, Chambers said.

It will even include better lighting than current systems, said Donald Proctor, senior vice president of Cisco's Voice Technology Group. The company expects the system to be announced later this year and become commercially available in about a year, Proctor said.

Videoconferencing has had a rocky history over many years, with expectations of a boom frequently dashed. Previous systems have failed because of complexity, high cost and generally poor quality, according to Proctor.

Cisco will solve the complexity problem by making the telepresence system just one component of its overall Unified Communications Architecture, which also includes IP telephony, text messaging, application collaboration and desktop videoconferencing, Proctor said. Enterprises will be able to plug it into that infrastructure, he said. Telepresence initially is designed not for desktop use but for corporate boardrooms or dedicated videoconference rooms, Proctor said.

I still haven't seen any photos of the Cisco Telepresence Group System: "Big" but I sure would like to... Anyone got any they would like to share? HSL@HumanProductivityLab.com