By Reuters | Updated: 12 October 2022
Networking firm Cisco Systems will add Microsoft’s Teams messaging app to its meeting devices, the two firms said on Wednesday, offering users an alternative to its own Webex video conferencing app.
Cisco’s Jeetu Patel, head of Security & Collaboration, said the company aims to be the hardware platform for a wide range of conferencing software platforms.
“The way this market is evolving is very similar to the way that the movie entertainment market evolved,” Patel said, with consumers having multiple subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix, Disney, HBO and Hulu.
“There’s going to be times that people want to jump on a Microsoft Teams call, they want to jump on a Zoom call, they want to jump on a Google call.”
Asked whether the strategy could cannibalize market share for Cisco’s Webex app, Patel said he believed the company will benefit if customers have a better experience using multiple platforms.
Webex, once a widely used conferencing platform, has lost out to several newcomers including Zoom Video Communications, which was founded by an early Webex engineer and grabbed a large share of the market during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s going to be times that people want to jump on a Microsoft Teams call, they want to jump on a Zoom call, they want to jump on a Google call.”
Asked whether the strategy could cannibalize market share for Cisco’s Webex app, Patel said he believed the company will benefit if customers have a better experience using multiple platforms.
Webex, once a widely used conferencing platform, has lost out to several newcomers including Zoom Video Communications, which was founded by an early Webex engineer and grabbed a large share of the market during the coronavirus pandemic.
