Cisco's Latest Initiatives For Avid Developers
Nov 19th, 00:29 UTC
Cisco is hosting two exciting new projects that riff on the idea of open developer platforms.
First, WebEx recently rolled out a developer platform called WebEx Connect that:
a) enables applications that mash up proprietary apps, WebEx, and data from public API's (Salesforce, etc)and
b) hosts said applications on their private CDN, MediaTone (which is optimized for seamless real-time collaboration)
That second point is worth considering; it's pretty incredible execution and differentiation at a scale that is often overlooked. There's three YouTube video excerpts (cut from an upcoming 60 minute webinar) that give details about WebEx Connect and the MediaTone CDN here:
youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C8FDDB553A7DEA4D
webex.com/partners/webex-connect.html
The webinar that features the full discussion will air Thursday, November 20 at 10am PST here:
cisco.com/go/semreg/twtvnovuc/168204_30
Second, Cisco has launched a $100,000 developer contest for hackers writing in C, Java, Perl, Python, or Bash. The twist is that the applications will be written for a unique piece of hardware: their ISR routers.
The ISR Application Extension Platform (AXP) has a Linux kernel and isolates processes from the router itself (so there's no problems from sharing critical resources). Probably the best part at this stage is that there's no coding necessary; the application is a simple proposal that, if selected, would be developed in phase two. A short video describing the contest is here:
youtube.com/watch?v=RrqTv3MkIHI
cisco.com/go/thinkinside
Cisco has been quiet on this front but their scale and strategic acumen is pretty striking. For real-time collaboration reliable infrastructure is hardly a commodity [yet] and their network expertise is a pretty underrated advantage (that more businesses will be able to access as Cisco continues to open up).
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(Submitted by Nicole Dawley of M80)
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