What Is Cisco Doing????

Cisco made multiple announcements yesterday about their investments into the SMB space ( SMBs Move Center Stage--Become New Growth Engine of the IT Industry and a release, Cisco Raises SMB Commitment To A New Level) - really talking about initiatives and investments Cisco is bringing to market to this explosive area of the world.

They also announced the completion of the their acquisition of Neopath - an IP based, file virtualization platform who is geared right at that same SMB space.  While details were not disclosed, the dollars were small - presumably sub-$50 million (I do enjoy saying things like that - putting the descriptor "small" in front of $50 million dollars, though I probably don't have $50 in my pocket or bank account), the principal appeared sound:  put value into the IP network that Cisco owns, take value out of point products and manual labor that they don't.  I had no issue with the deal, and thought it very cheap and very smart.

With Cisco, or anyone really, the issue is "if" they can make a ton of hay with a technology or a product acquisition, it's "will" they - or more importantly, will it get enough attention to ever live up to its opportunity.  Sometimes its yes, sometimes its no.

This is a new one.  This morning I open up my email to find this story from Beth Pariseau that blew me away - "Cisco's Move To Kill Neopath Shocks Users, Analysts...."

Cisco issued an EOS (end of sale) announcement that effectively kills all products and services that it just bought.

Now in no way do I consider myself as smart as the folks pulling the strings over in Ciscoville, so what am I missing here?  Isn't some shareholder going to wonder why the company just gave some people $50 million or so and then told them to pack their bags and head on home - and oh yeah, take your crummy stuff with you?  Maybe there is some very sane, rational explanation for this, but if so, don't you think they might have told someone what that was?

Things like this make me re-evaluate my position on Cisco eventually ruling the universe.  Thank god I can still put my monopolistic hopes and dreams on Microsoft.