Cisco CEO Touts Application-Oriented Networking

LAS VEGAS—Cisco CEO John Chambers on Tuesday told a crowd of several thousand IT managers that networking isnt simply about transporting data anymore.

In his keynote speech at the Networkers 2005 conference, Chambers extolled the virtues of Ciscos new AON (Application-Oriented Networking) framework, which essentially lets networks speak the language of applications.

“Application-Oriented Networking is like dialtone was to the telephony industry,” Chambers said.

AON will show up in the form of both blades for switches and separate network appliances.

/zimages/5/28571.gifRead morehereabout Cisco unveiling products from its AON group.

Chambers said that the world of networking had evolved such that Cisco needs to think of applications as part of a network, not just something that runs on top of them.

“While I want people to buy the networks, if you dont put in the applications and process change, you wont get the productivity,” he said.

He went on to list several examples of industries whose functions, in his opinion, could be bettered by better networking.

“Health care is the number one issue for every CEO in the country,” he said. “We think you can [reduce] somewhere between 20 to 30 percent of the cost of health care” by improving business processes with networking technology, he said.

Beyond AON, “youll see a new advanced technology come out at least every three to four months in the next fiscal year,” Chambers told the crowd of customers.

“Continue to push us, continue to challenge us, and if you think its not working, call me and Ill fix it.”

/zimages/5/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses.