Cisco Offers $100,000 Bounty to Linux Application Developers
Cisco is offering $100,000 in prize money to Linux application developers that help the networking giant defeat Microsoft in the unified communications market. The initiative focuses on network-aware applications written for Cisco's AXP (Application Extension Platform) and Integrated Services Routers (ISRs). Here's the scoop, from The VAR guy.
First, the nitty-gritty details:
Cisco is offering $100,000 in prize money to Linux application developers that help the networking giant defeat Microsoft in the unified communications market. The initiative focuses on network-aware applications written for Cisco’s AXP (Application Extension Platform) and Integrated Services Routers (ISRs). Here’s the scoop, from The VAR guy.
First, the nitty-gritty details:
- 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.
- The first phase involving proposal submission ends on Jan. 12, 2009, after which up to 10 finalists will be chosen to enter the second phase to develop applications on the Application Extension Platform. Winners will be announced in May 2009.
Sounds sweet. But what’s this really all about? Of course, The VAR Guy thinks he knows:
- Shifting the market from Windows to Network Applications: Cisco CEO John Chambers has clearly stated that he expects to compete far more fiercely with Microsoft and Google in the years ahead. The networking battles — between Cisco and Nortel, for instance — are old news. By recruiting Linux application developers to back AXP, Cisco hopes to disrupt the old Windows ISV market. The ultimate goal is to beat Microsoft in the Unified Communications market.
- Empowering VARs with Managed Application Services: Think of Cisco Integrated Service Routers (ISRs) as millions of dumb terminals. What if — with a little bit of magic — you could transform millions of dumb terminals into full-functioned PCs that run rich applications. Even better, what if those full-functioned PCs could be managed remotely? Sounds pretty compelling, right?
That’s exactly Cisco’s strategy in the router market. The Cisco ISR routers are like Trojan Horses scattered across the Web and corporate enterprises. Five million of those ISR routers are already deployed. If Cisco has its way, AXP technology will transform those routers into networked application platforms. Suddenly, routers — rather than servers and desktops — could become the most intelligent devices on the network.
Will Cisco succeed? Too soon to say. But The VAR Guy is watching.
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Cisco should open its wallet even more. Perhaps a phone call to Red Hat could create a Cisco/Red Hat relationship to counter Microsoft/Novell. Just a thought.
Come on Cisco, 100K… Hmmm. Lets try 1 Million as good will.
Macfield: The VAR Guy has some pull in Cisco… but not that much pull 😉
Nice post, VARGuy. Now, if you could crank up a few more of those $100K bills for us, we’ll up the ante to a million 🙂
They’re really cool.
BTW, my humble opinion – routers like the ISR are among the most intelligent devices on the network already. Always continues to surprise me how much we manage to integrate into them, quite different from the early days when we looked at routers for basic packet forwarding only. It’s still a journey though.
VARGuy, thanks for writing this. You make a great point about the Cisco routers and AXP acting as a potentially large platform for MSPs. I read through the Cisco site and the AXP is positioned as a low-cost product that provides an application platform for workgroups and medium businesses. It seems perfect for a managed service provider.
Craig: Building on your thoughts, The VAR Guy would like to direct readers to his sister site: MSPmentor, which covers Cisco’s managed services strategy closely.
Makes me wish I was an application developer.
How about a port of Asterisk to run on the AXP? Would make a nice alternative to Cisco’s so-called PBX, CCME. But seriously, given the amount of GPL code that Cisco ship in the products that they charge $$$ for, $100k is a bit on a mean side. $1M should be a starting point.
Jasper Ragworth: Now that’s a disruptive, intriguing idea (porting Asterisk to AXP). The VAR Guy loves it.
i have this money
Endriane: Care to share it with an anonymous blogger?
-TVG