The Latin American collaboration market, including contact center, mobility, video, data and messaging solutions, is expected to move US$1.6bn by 2010 compared to US$1.2bn in 2007, according to a new study commissioned by Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO).
The study also forecasted that the global collaboration market would be worth US$34bn by 2010.
In a move to better position itself in the market, Cisco launched version 7.0 of its collaboration portfolio, which includes unified communications solutions, telepresence application and Cisco WebEx Connect - a new software as a service platform that combines presence, instant messaging, web meetings and team work spaces with traditional business applications.
Although with the new portfolio one might believe that Cisco plans to change its focus to the software segment, the company's approach into the collaboration market is still strongly related to the network.
"You can have the best ERP or CRM, but at the end of the day, everything is connected on the network. Our approach for the past six years is in giving intelligence to the network so it can give users a collaborative experience," Cisco Latin American advanced and emerging technologies manager Roberto de la Mora told press during a telepresence conference to launch the new portfolio.
De la Mora told BNamericas that within Latin America, the unified communications portfolio represents nearly 15% of all Cisco sales in the region.
"We have had big implementations of unified communications solutions in the region, particularly in the public, manufacturing, financial services and retail sectors, as the solutions are typically for mid and large-sized companies," he said.
Commenting specifically on telepresence, the executive said this solution had been already implemented in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Guadalajara, and Monterrey and in the short term in Santiago, San José and Caracas.
Cisco TelePresence integrates audio, high definition video and interactive features, and according to de la Mora, helps companies to reduce the time in developing products and bringing them to market, improving operational efficiencies.
Particularly, Cisco has deployed 269 telepresence rooms globally, making for savings of an estimated US$200mn related to travel expenses and productivity.
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