That was the head line of the Wall Street Journal. Cisco is now selling servers with the intent of creating a “unified computing” platform. If you read the article a little closer you get to the real point of Cisco’s intent, more revenue and more profit. Cisco wants you the consumer to buy a complete (homogeneous) system from Cisco. Of course this is good for you the consumer. All the stickers on your equipment say Cisco. That is your goal isn’t it?

I see this in the security industry all the time. Manufacturers are trying to maximize their revenue and profits. Manufacturers do this by gobbling up competitors and adding the competitors’ products to their offerings and then bundling the products for a complete “solution.”

In my opinion, this is seldom good for the buyer. As I was reading the article in the Wall Street Journal I was trying to see the benefit of a complete Cisco system (server and switches). I know how well the Cisco video management system works (it doesn’t) and I got to believe that the Cisco servers are probably going to work about the same (they won’t).

I understand the quest for profit, but I really believe it is critical that an organization focuses on what they do best. This simple axiom has been proven over and over again in the annuals of business history. Successful organizations focus on what they do best and leave the rest to others.

Don’t get me wrong. I am sure Cisco can build a great server… if they wanted to. That’s the problem. Cisco doesn’t really want to build a great server. They just want another product to offer to try and get more profit. It doesn’t matter if they can build a server as good as HP, Dell, or Sun.

This is no different in the physical security world. That is why a good security integrator is so valuable. A good security integrator can help a buyer see through the marketing spin. A security integrator that is committed to “best of breed” solutions and providing the best solution possible can help a client get the most value out of their security technology.

One of our leading suppliers has a phrase “proprietary jail” and it really clicks. Too often manufacturers want you to buy all the equipment from a single source. Not because that is good for the buyer, but because it is good for the bottom line of the supplier.

Just because a Cisco sticker is on the metal box doesn’t mean the product is any good. My advice, always look for the best products, demand interoperability, and demand best of breed solutions. That is the only way you can get the most value for your investment, stay out of proprietary jail, and reduce your chance of a forklift upgrade down the road.