In The Boardroom With...

Dr. Guido Jouret
Vice President and general manager
of Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group
www.cisco.com

Previously, I led the company's video strategies and I was the global head of Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group innovation team; developing methods, architectures, and business cases to help Cisco's key customers adopt Internet-based technologies. I also have held a similar position working with the leading corporations and governments in Asia.

Guido Jouret: We think that physical security is rapidly moving from analog to Internet Protocol technologies, just as voice did in the '90s. This shift is creating new opportunities. All of those cameras, encoders and media servers are devices sitting on an IP network. So the demand is going up for routing, switching and wireless infrastructures.

Cisco is the leader in IP convergence, and we have a lot of experience -- we've done this in voice as well as in data center technologies -- so we can provide physical security systems at a scale and reliability that customers want. This is why Cisco is the leader in networked video systems, everything from set-top boxes, Cisco TelePresence systems, digital signage and physical security. Physical security is one of the largest video markets out there, and we intend to play a leading role.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Why do you think Cisco's offerings are better?

Guido Jouret: Cisco entered the physical market with an all-IP solution. This was designed from the ground up to build on our expertise in IP networking. One of the main challenges customers face in deploying physical security in a converged IP infrastructure is to minimize the complexity of deployment. Just like with voice, it's important to configure the physical security application and the network accurately and consistently so that they work well together.

Cisco's medianet innovations let us automate the discovery, configuration and monitoring of cameras, which can dramatically reduce errors, operational costs and improve reliability. We've embedded medianet technology into our cameras, and we already have it in our core routing and switching products. Many of our network customers therefore already have medianet technology available to them. Furthermore, our systems are designed for scale. We protect the installations of governments, militaries, police departments and sporting venues.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: So a medianet is a network that's optimized for video. But not all your physical security solutions go through a medianet these days, do they?

Guido Jouret: With the Cisco Unified Computing System, customers can deploy our physical security software on anything from our Integrated Services Routers or our "big iron" blade servers, the UCS B-Series.

We also build what we call "solution building blocks." Video surveillance is one. Application integration and networks are the other two. For example, we combine physical security products with other Cisco technologies, such as Unified Communications, WebEx, and TelePresence. So not only can we detect incidents, but we can also use collaboration and communication technologies for a unified response. Of course, virtualizing the surveillance software also increases flexibility.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Didn't Cisco just announce a new offering for the UCS platform?

Guido Jouret: Yes, the Cisco Video Surveillance Manager on UCS Express. It's brand-new. Before, the Video Surveillance Manager had to be installed on a standalone server. Now, video surveillance is a service on the network. Also, because it's virtualized in both data center and branch applications, it can be deployed for large-scale surveillance. It supports tens of thousands of cameras, for example. And it's much cheaper to run.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: This is good news, and I can tell you're pleased. Your background indicates a particular focus on innovation. What is Cisco doing to foster it?

Guido Jouret: Cisco spends 13.5 percent of its revenues on R&D -- which is among the highest R&D investments among technology companies. We have more than 20,000 engineers doing research and development. I believe we have a unique perspective in that we have expertise in hardware, software and communications. Much of our intellectual property in communications is in fact in software.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What does this mean for Cisco's physical security solutions?

Guido Jouret: We are committed to accelerating the physical security industry toward all-IP solutions because we believe this creates greater efficiency and flexibility for customers. We are also committed to using our expertise in networking and virtualization to automate the deployment of physical security solutions. This is the innovation the industry has been waiting for, and we intend to lead the way.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for your time, Dr. Jouret.

Guido Jouret: My pleasure.

Guido Jouret explains what medianets are and how companies can deploy video with a media architecture (2:19 min)

Guido Jouret discusses Cisco Connected Physical Security solutions (6:06 min)

The Cisco Serbia team talks about the Serbian Postal Bank's installation of video surveillance from Cisco (2.27 min)