Cisco Enters Media Services Sector with EOS

SAN JOSE ---  Cisco has long been known as a business-to-business giant, but with several new initiatives on its docket the company is expanding into new business and consumer sectors.

That includes the introduction of Web building tools in its Cisco EOS platform,designed to help media companies, artists and entertainers create branded, community-centric Web sites, said Dan Scheinman, senior VP of the Media Solutions Group at Cisco, who spoke to Beet.TV earlier this month.

The premise behind Cisco EOS is it makes the administration of Web sites and digital media easier by managing them from one place, he said. It also enables social media features to enhance the community-building potential of the sites.

Initial customers include Warner Music Group, with NHL.com and Nascar.com involved in the development stage.

With more than 70% of the market in the networking equipment business, Cisco EOS is part of the company's broader plans to tap new business segments. That also includes its expansion into the consumer market, underscored by its acquisition earlier this year of the makers of the Flip camera. These moves are a necessity in the recession and also give Cisco the chance to potentially grab market share from competitors.

Cisco is betting that the cost saving and revenue potential will help Cisco EOS win business for branded sites from Web giants like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace and from startups. “We can offer immediate cost savings to media companies to let them do more, try more and move faster,” Scheinman said

Cisco EOS was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.

In a related story, Joe Memn at the FT writes about Cisco's growing teleconferencing business.

Daisy Whitney,  Senior Producer