Cisco

• I mentioned Cisco briefly in my recent Smart Grid roundup, but this one deserves it’s own post.  Cisco announced this morning their official entrance into the Smart Grid.  They estimate the grid to represent a near $20 billion/year market opportunity over the next five years and are poised to take advantage of as much of that as they can.
• Cisco currently controls 40% market share in the network security market, and today announced a promise to tie together smart meters with distribution and transmission monitoring and automation systems into an “end-to-end, highly secure network infrastructure.”
• One can see why the Smart Grid is a perfect opportunity for a company like Cisco, who can use their established knowledge and apply it to a potentially even larger market.  Marie Hattar, vice president of network systems and security, mentioned, “If you think today about how large the routing and switching market is, it’s about a $25 to $30 billion market.  So if we’re looking at $20 billion being the start of the [smart grid] rollout, I think it will far eclipse” the R&S market.
• Precise details of the effort, whether it be buildouts, partnerships, or acquisitions are a little unclear as of yet, but stay tuned as the Smart Grid is piping hot, and ready to boil over.  Looks like Silver Spring Networks might not be as solid as I thought.

Check out TinyComb’s recent cleantech and Smart Grid posts:

The Smart Grid Frontier: Wide Open

Cleantech Startup To Watch: Silver Spring Networks

Brightsource Scores 2nd World’s Largest Solar Deal

The State of Solar 2009, Four Months In

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