According to a press release the new Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution is optimized to enable virtualization within the data center, between data centers and across the Next-Generations Networks (NGN). Like VMWare, Cisco is trying to tap into their existing ecosystem of partners to build, run and deliver new cloud services acting as a kind of intermediary rather then a direct cloud provider. In a recent GigaOM post, Simon Aspinall, senior director of service provider marketing at Cisco described "an arms dealer role -– equipping its customers to fight that battle instead of offering a platform of its own" In my opinion a very smart place to be.

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