Wanted Dead [not alive] M$ Unified Communications. $100k Reward
I used to work in the Computer Networking Industry and Cisco was, by far, my biggest competitor in almost all areas. You had to respect them however. Not only did they have a very full war chest of products, sales execs and money to pour into the channel but also they were the absolute best for the way they managed acquisitions (and they did a lot of them). They had such a thorough and well-honed process that the acquired companies almost always integrated swiftly and with minimal pain. Those individuals who stayed were made welcome on Day 1. And those who were not wanted were given their severance fairly and swiftly.
My experiences of being acquired (not by Cisco BTW) have been far less clinical. In fact we weren’t properly integrated and given the appropriate company status for many, many months…
Anyway, I digress somewhat.
It appears that Cisco are now going after the convicted monopolist Microsoft, and in a fantastically ironic way. They have announced a competition for Linux developers to help them create innovative and compelling products:
The Cisco “Think Inside the Box†Developer Contest invites developers to write applications for the Cisco Application Extension Platform (AXP) platform on the Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR). Cisco will award a first prize (US$50,000), second prize (US$30,000) and third prize (US$20,000) to the person or team of innovators for the most creative and compelling entries. You can find terms and conditions at www.cisco.com/go/thinkinside.
Here’s the full story from The Var Guy.
If you have think you might have a good idea, go and register for the competition.