Microsoft and Cisco go head to head

An increasingly urgent rivalry is developing between Microsoft, the world’s No.1 software maker, and Cisco, top manufacturer of network gear. The competition has arisen because of a rapid shift in the Internet’s center of gravity, from the PC, where Microsoft is king, to the network, where Cisco rules.

Simon Khalaf, CEO of Vernier Networks, a network-security company that competes with Cisco and is a partner to Microsoft says, “They’re infringing on each other’s territory in a variety of ways. If they can find a way to work together, it would be great for the industry. If there’s war, it’s going to be ugly.”

Bruce Claflin, 3Com (COMS) CEO, said, “It’s a fascinating discussion, Cisco’s whole strategy has been to move intelligence to the core of the network. Microsoft wants the intelligence to be in the clients, at the edge of the network.”

Yet another front on which Microsoft fights the same battle. It’s deja vu and Groundhog Day all over again.

[Source: Business Week]