This article made me laugh. John Chambers is trying to rewrite history here.
John Chambers on why Cisco never bought Skype — Tech News and Analysis: “Cisco, which is famous for its acquisition strategy, may have made a rare flub with Skype. But since Cisco passed on the deal it’s still trying to exert some influence over Skype and its new owner Microsoft, via the European Union. ”
At the time Skype was for sale, Cisco has just announced the Flip failure and closed many other business units, there was a fair bit of press coverage suggesting that John Chambers was past it, and it was time for him to go. If Cisco had attempted to pony up an $8 billion bid for Skype the shareholders, who have only received their first dividend after ten years of flat share price, may have taken a fair chance to revolt against the management team.
It’s just gloss to say “because it couldn’t see a way to do a deal without upsetting its service provider customers, according to Cisco CEO John Chambers.” Skype is already in play, and the Microsoft is a much worse threat to Service Provider revenue than Cisco ever would be. Skype on every Windows computer is not a threat ?
Bah, Uncle John. Nice try, no points.
But hey, if you are still standing, then you get a chance at rewriting history. Stay in the game long enough and you can eventually find a way to win.
About Greg Ferro
I was gutted when Cisco took on Jabber IM and killed it. They would have done the same with Skype. I hate M$ way more than most borg merchants but they’ve not changed Skype much yet…I’ll wait before I criticise JC for missing this one, it could be a lucky break. IMHO Cisco should concentrate far more on making their excellent comms product more inclusive and less proprietary. Businesses like to talk, bedroom dwellers like to type. One tool to rule them all?
Microsoft has learned it’s lessons : it’s not about hardware, it’s about the services. Expect Windows Phones from every vendor to be packed with skype : OTT telco 2.0 the nightmare of every telco (including it’s suppliers, i.e. Cisco and others). Internet access will be given away by the Amazons, Googles and Apples and startups like Macheen…