Network products manufacturer Cisco (News - Alert) on Wednesday launched a new series of solutions as part of its Empowered Branch product line. These solutions are designed to help businesses standardize the technology architectures of branch offices with a unified system of secure communications solutions.

 

Interoperability is a key feature of Cisco’s new Empowered Branch solutions. The idea is to enhance the productivity of branch offices by lowering barriers to entry associated with adoption of next-generation communications services. The market seems to be indicating that there’s a real need for such products; already, Cisco’s Integrated Service Router and Catalyst 2960 Series Switches, part of the Empowered Branch line, have sold 3 million units and 1 million units, respectively.

 

Additions to Cisco’s Empowered Branch solution line are summarized below.

 

1861 Integrated Services Router – an all-in-one unified communications and secure routing platform for anytime, anywhere access to business-critical information. Available now, list price $3,995.

 

Catalyst 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite Cisco IOS Software – simplifies migration from non-intelligent hubs/unmanaged switches to scalable switches, thus reducing network total cost of ownership. Available now, list price $995.

 

Intrusion (News - Alert) Prevention System Advanced Integration Module – lets branch offices scale security performance and threat-prevention, thereby defending critical business processes against attack. Launch scheduled for November, 2007; price starting at $3,000.

 

IOS Performance Routing and High-End Wide Area Applications Services Network Module – application-aware routing and WAN traffic optimization solutions for accelerating applications and minimizing bandwidth expenses. Available now, introduction price $6,950.

 

Wireless LAN Controller Support for IEEE 802.11n – provides a smooth migration path for adopting new wireless technologies while preserving existing investments.

 

Cisco Unified Messaging Gateway (News - Alert) – enables very large organizations to cost-effectively scale Cisco Unity Express, Cisco Unity and legacy voice messaging services. Launch scheduled for November, 2007; price starting at $9,000 for 250 nodes.

 

Marie Hattar, senior director of Cisco’s network systems division, said companies are now putting more emphasis on technology optimization at remote offices to enable collaborative, global business environment.

 

“Cisco Empowered Branch allows them to take advantage of new business opportunities by providing them with a network platform that addresses all their application and service needs today, yet continuously evolves to provide service innovations required for the future,” Hattar said in a statement.

 

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