Many enterprises have several forms of video on disparate systems that they want to consolidate, according to Forrester Research analyst Henry Dewing. For example, they may have an archive of training videos, a videoconferencing system for executives and another set of video offerings for customers. Those may all run on separate systems from different vendors, he said. Cisco's enterprise video portfolio, the broadest of any vendor, appeals to some of those organizations, Dewing said.

What Cisco still doesn't have is sophisticated video editing capability and an easy-to-use management interface, Dewing said. Editing capability integrated into the network was part of Cisco's original vision for Medianet, but what it has provided so far is fairly simple, he said. Given the narrowing of Cisco's focus to core products, which has already led to the demise of the Flip camcorder, the company may step back from trying to compete in a field already full of editing tools, Dewing said. User interfaces are a longtime issue for Cisco, he added. "They're getting there, but they're still no Apple," Dewing said.

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The IDG News Service