About a month ago, Cisco updated to the new logo shown to the left. Recently, they’ve added some new user-centric Web 2.0 features to the Cisco.com website. Some of the new additions include consumer forums to review Cisco products, a landing page for users to download podcasts focused on sharing ways to use different internet technologies, RSS feeds for new product announcements, and even a mobile friendly version of the site. A live video chat on October 26th will allow Cisco’s consumers to talk about the sites changes and get their input. 

These site changes coincide with last weeks introduction of the Cisco Digital Media System which helps business customers connect with their customers, partners, or employees through rich digital media. One of the most recent case studies to implement Cisco’s Digital Media System technology is Brunel University in the UK. According to Cisco’s press release, “professors and university staff will be able to capture, store, record, and deliver digital media content, which will extend the resources of the university…Brunel will introduce video conferencing into the lecture halls as well as enhance further collaboration with other institutions, developing more e-learning and interactive projects along the way.”

For a company that started out solely manufacturing enterprise routing equipment, this is a huge step to connect more with the end user instead of their customer’s purchasers. Sun Microsystems has taken a similar step with the introduction of their Sun employee blog network, including one belonging to CEO Jonathan Schwartz.

While Web 2.0 is based on more interactivity and user involvement, it seems to have also caused a shift in the way corporations are thinking about how they are perceived within the community. This might not be that big of a deal for Cisco and Sun, both in the high-tech industry, but it will be great if we see the trend transcend to drug manufacturers, tobacco companies, oil conglomerates, and other old-school, tight-collared corporate entities. Let’s hope that Web 2.0 leads to a corporation 2.0, where end-users opinions really do matter, and the bottom line is connected to how well the company is perceived within the community.  

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