PepsiCo plans to install Cisco TelePresence systems in major offices around the world to help it work more closely with leading distributors and retailers. The huge deal will "reinvent the way we work," said PepsiCo Global CIO Robert Dixon.From a telepresenceoptions.com article:

"This new collaboration strategy with BT and Cisco will reinvent the way we work," said Robert Dixon, senior vice president and global chief information officer for PepsiCo. "Global virtual meeting collaboration will enable us to travel less, which will allow for greater productivity and a smaller environmental footprint. In this day and age, it's simply a smarter way of going about our business."

In addition, the Cisco-Pepsi deal calls for BT to provide high-level connectivity services, which will be an extension of the ongoing relationship Pepsi has with BT in other parts of its business. While the Cisco TelePresence systems have been widely praised for the intimate impression of "being there" that they create, they've also come with steep price tags that have scared off many CIOs, particularly during the budget-cutting days of 2009.

But Cisco says it has now installed TelePresence systems in more than 500 organizations around the world, and BT Global Services Multinational Corporations president Michael Boustridge attempted to emphasize the cost-effectiveness of the Cisco/BT technology. "We look forward to providing PepsiCo with an easy-to-use, reliable, cost-effective TelePresence experience," Boustridge says in the article.

As the pace of global business increases, Cisco, Polycom, and other players in the ultra-rich videoconferencing space are sure to see more and more companies adopt the technology to collaborate more rapidly and, perhaps, at a lower cost than would be possible via the alternative of physical travel. The key will be in Cisco's and Polycom's ability to continue extending their partner ecosystems to provide solutions that are easy to install, easy to integrate, and easy to manage.

Polycom and Juniper recently joined forces to do just that, as we discussed last week in a post called Polycom Pairs With Juniper To Battle Cisco.