While concepts such as unified communications are slowly picking up
pace in India, many enterprises are still reluctant to use cost
saving tools such as video conferencing due to latency issues.
Cisco believes that it can use its expertise in networking to
improve the user experience.
The objective is simple – better user experience will
drive traffic which in turn will improve the 
demand
for its networking infrastructure.
“Five years ago, enterprises were deploying video
conferencing equipments and they were using it on their private
network but the quality of video was really bad. Hence we came up a
comprehensive video strategy wherein we made it possible for the
enterprise customer to easily deploy immersive quality video using
our Telepresence solution,” explains Minhaj Zia, National
Sales Manager, Cisco India & SAARC.
Cisco’s big bet on video is backed by statistics. The
firm’s analysis suggests that around 50 percent of all
traffic comprises of video. Frost and Sullivan’s recent
report also recognizes the video usage growth at a CAGR of 40
percent and by 2013 it is expected that 90 percent of Internet
traffic will be video related. According to the Cisco VNI Global
Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, mobile videos usage would be 66
percent of all mobile data traffic by 2015 which means there would
be an increase by around 30-fold from 2011 to 2015, the highest
growth rate of any mobile data application tracked.
Leveraging this opportunity, Cisco in 2006 introduced TelePresence
that changed the way videoconferencing was understood and used. It
brought video, for enterprises, into the mainstream. This adoption
was further spurred by Cisco’s acquisition of Tandberg. Cisco
also has a cloud-based collaboration tool, WebEx. Cisco has also
developed a unified communication tool-video call control strategy
so that people can join video sessions using different devices. It
also created a telepresence exchange which allows companies to go
from one service provider to another due to the feature of global
public directory.
In India, growth has been constant and strong. Over the last 3
years, video revenues (Quarter on Quarter) have quadrupled. This
includes non-real time communication as well as video streaming
products. Cisco has also innovated by developing personal
telepresence products. Zia explains, “As the screen was small
and employees wanted to have a bigger screen, we developed personal
telepresence products with large monitors—21 to 24 inches
with an embedded video catering to the needs of a group video
system”
In India, growth has been strong across the Financial sector, ITeS,
manufacturing, healthcare, and the public sector. Companies in
these sectors are increasingly adopting video offerings as an
option to reduce costs.
For example, in the financial sector, it is important that
customers and employees have access to subject matter experts.
Sometimes, these experts may not be based in the same city from
where the demand for it rises. Video communication facilitates
quick and smart knowledge transfer and gives financial institutions
the opportunity to boast of any time access to expert advice.
According to a recent assessment, a midsized bank spends
approximately Rs 200 crore annually on travel of its executives.
Much of this travel can be replaced by video communications.
Additionally, important messages and new regulations can quickly be
communicated to employees in banks, brokerages, insurance companies
and the like through dissemination of a video as compared to a
circular or through senior management which can comparatively be
far more time consuming and less effective at the same time.
With most Indian enterprises looking to cut costs, Cisco believes
that video–based communications will be a preferred medium
for communications. With huge growth predicted in video-based
communications, Cisco is rightly poised to grab a significant
percentage of the emerging opportunity.