Book Review: +Power of IP Video, The: Unleashing Productivity with Visual Networking

Thought I would do something a little different. This is my first book review here on the blog. Hopefully more will follow.

The Power of IP Video (ISBN: 158705342x) is certainly not for those looking for the technical details about IP video but more about how using IP video can improve business processes and how to better communicate with employees using IP video. The book was generally well laid out and easy to read and does provide some great business cases examples from Cisco and other companies that have invested in Cisco technology. A large part of the book concentrates on Cisco Telepresence which is Cisco’s flagship IP video solution and how it is being used to solve business problems and lower costs by reducing travel as an example.

While the authors have done a great job of covering a great business cross section they are a little light on the details such as how much a company actually saved other than Cisco’s own business case. I think this book could have sent a much more powerful message on cost savings if Cisco had been able to release a few more of the details from companies other than just Cisco. For me the highlight of the book were last chapter and appendixes which talk about the green case for IP Video and more details about the savings Cisco realized by using IP Video.

All in all this is a good IT reference for decision makers looking to invest in IP video. It has a lot of the right information even though some of the facts and figures are missing. 4 out of 5.