Ex-Cisco exec brings video start-up out of stealth mode

A former Cisco executive this week pulled the curtains back on a start-up company developing a real-time IP video processing and collaboration platform.

Anson Chen, a 22-year industry veteran and former vice president and general manager of Cisco's Network Management and Services Technology Group, brought Bada Networks out of stealth mode. Bada, formerly operating under the name Amity Systems, is developing a software platform that manages, routes and processes thousands of real-time video streams.

Bada is promoting the concept of "visual networking," in which anyone – from consumers to business executives – can instantly talk, see and share content at the same time with a few people or thousands of colleagues or friends, whether mobile or at a fixed location. Cisco is also a big backer of the visual networking concept.

The Bada platform is designed to scale to support large IP video and collaboration user bases in the IPTV, mobile and desktop markets. (Compare collaboration products.)  It is also designed to allow partners and customers to create applications and managed services that use multiple streams of real-time video, the company says, and integrate desktop and videoconferencing, large-scale collaborative video surveillance, and social/entertainment applications.

The platform is comprised of client and server software. The distributed Multimedia Application Routing Server is designed to scale to millions of users. The company's Venus client software and application suite is extendable through APIs to allow partners and customers to customize applications for vertical markets.

Chen is president and CEO of Bada. In addition to his tenure at Cisco, he served as corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola's Enterprise Business and Motorola Software Group, and held executive management positions at NetScreen Technologies/Juniper Networks.

Other top-level management executives at Bada include Matthew Klapman, vice president of marketing and product management; and Ryan Ross, vice president of worldwide sales and business development. Klapman is an 18-year industry veteran who served in senior executive positions for strategic marketing, product/portfolio management and R&D at Motorola. Ross is a 25-year veteran who is a former vice president at Visa.

Privately held Bada was founded in 2002 and is based in Santa Clara, Calif. The company would not disclose how much funding it has or who its investors are.

Bada is a Chinese term that means to reach in all directions. It is used by the company to convey the concept of seamless connectivity and collaboration.