From the 'network is the platform' files:

I wrote a story earlier this week about Cisco's new hosted email security offering. Buried in that story was an interesting new Linux development that I want to call attention to:

Cisco is building a (Linux powered) hosted email service.

This is new and it will change the competitive landscape for hosted email once it is available. Cisco will be leveraging its PostPath acquisition to develop the upcoming hosted email service.PostPath offers a Linux-based e-mail, calendaring and collaboration solution. 

The release earlier this week was just about the security side of email, but with PostPath in play Cisco will soon have a full platform and will be competing against the likes of Google Gmail (on the enterprise side) for corporate email dollars.

" PostPath has "been working closely with [Cisco hosted Web conferencing unit] WebEx on a hosted e-mail offering," Keith Valory, director of product management for Cisco's security technology unit told me. "I don't want to talk too much about that, but I can say we're working very closely and the security solutions will be a part of that when it comes out," he said. "I will say that through the PostPath acquisition, Cisco has invested heavily in that space."

Cisco CEO John Chambers for years has been proclaiming that 'The Network is the Platform', what could be more key to the platform then email? 

It will be interesting to see how the PostPath technology furthers Cisco's Linux interest as well since Cisco tends not to do things on a small scale. A large Linux powered hosted email system will no doubt result in scalability and performance improvement that could well extend behind the confines of Cisco itself and benefit the broader open source ecosystem.