What's the deal with Cisco's software development program?

Cisco India wrapped up its first Cisco Developer Forum Friday, an event that was "focused on the network as a development platform," according to Cisco India. The two-day conference included technical  sessions and hands-on demonstrations covering applications in unified communications, customer contact center, voice gateway, data center, network management and wireless technologies. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not very familiar with Cisco's software development program, much less about who the program is aimed at and indeed how many developers are out there using the network as a development platform.

We've heard Cisco talk in the past of its ambitions to manage software applications, particularly with its WAAS framework, but we don't hear much about its Cisco Developer Services Program. A snoop around the program's Web site doesn't give a whole lot away and its Cisco Developer Services Forum isn't as well attended as other Cisco.com discussion areas.

So what's the deal with Cisco's developer program, and who, aside from partners that sell services on top of Cisco products, actually develops apps on the Cisco net?

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