By Snorre Kjesbu

Over the past decade, I’ve worked on a number of different projects aimed at improving communications using video conferencing and telepresence. In that time, I’ve been fortunate to be involved with key innovations at first Tandberg then Cisco that have had great impact on video collaboration:

• Forging life-like experience with immersive telepresence
• Extending the power of in-person all the way to the desktop
• Enabling a consistent and intuitive user experience with a revolutionary touch-enabled device
• Playing a pivotal role in driving video formats like H.264 and H.265 to standardization
• Growing the video calling circle beyond the enterprise with technological advancements like software video clients, cloud deployment models and firewall traversal that enable cost-effective B2B and B2C calling

With the spirit of innovation ingrained in both company’s DNA, the merger of Tandberg and Cisco’s video businesses in 2010 proved to be a major win for the industry and for the customer. Since then, we’ve focused our efforts on delivering next-generation video collaboration solutions that are enabling organizations to collaborate easily and efficiently, and allowing them to foster innovation within their own businesses.

Why is all of this so important? As time marches on, we see video becoming pervasive. Roberto De La Mora recently called video a business imperative, not a nice-to-have, and shared the five steps to success for deploying a business video strategy. The key to helping our customers prepare for the pervasive video future is through a flexible, scalable and interoperable approach. And others agree…

Wainhouse Research recently stated: “For organizations that embrace pervasive video, success no longer depends on where their resources are located. Success now depends on bringing the resources to bear to make a difference for the customer and provide a competitive edge for your organization.”

Today, video is everywhere we look – virtually on every pane of glass. This is why Cisco is working hard to make it easier than ever for customers to fast-track their pervasive video strategy through a new promotion that helps stretch their investment dollars.

I’m excited to be a part of Cisco and look forward to keeping you informed on the latest news and trends as we lead the industry into the future of video collaboration. I’ll be speaking about this topic at InfoComm 2013; be sure to catch my session if you’re there. In the meantime, I encourage you to discuss what you think the top innovations of the past were and what trends the future holds.

This column was reprinted with permission from Cisco and originally appeared here.