IT News: Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)’s Upgrade Plans, Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) Dropping Claims & International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)

Cisco Global Survey Reveals That the Majority of Aspiring Executives See a Big Future for Video in the Workplace (TelecomReseller)
A new generation is entering the management ranks of companies worldwide, and like previous generations, they will bring with them their own preferred ways of communicating and collaborating. A global study announced today by Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) revealed that the majority of these next-generation executives intend to depend heavily upon business-class video to connect with their teams, colleagues, suppliers, customers and prospects, as well as to help their businesses deliver new products and services.

Hewlett-Packard shuts photo sharing service business in India (TheHindu)
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ)’s digital photo-sharing and printing service, Snapfish, is discontinuing business in India—marking an end to one part of its ‘retail photo printing’ gamble. The PC maker had made a big splash during its initial entry into the Indian retail photo printing market in 2007. The company had planned to establish a footprint of 3,000 retail photo outlets across the country, and had launched Snapfish in India to facilitate door-to-door delivery of printed photos through Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) outlets.

IBM Overtakes Microsoft’s Market Cap (Benzinga)
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) In 2011, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) surpassed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s market value by $1 billion. During the past fiscal year, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) increased its bottom line by earning $14.41 versus $13.12 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($16.91 versus $14.41). Despite the weak revenue results, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has outperformed against the industry average of 14.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 3.3%. Weakness in the company’s revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share. 48.28% is the gross profit margin for International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) which we consider to be strong.