Broadening their boundaries by establish themselves as a more international company, Il Palato Italiano relied on Cisco hardware as a main ingredient to their recipe for success.

Il Palato Italiano is an Italian-based club that's devoted to the enjoyment of Italian cuisine. Whether it's in the preparation of the food or the art of eating it, Il Palato Italiano's mission is to bring the experience of great Italian cuisine to its customers. The Bolzano, Italy-based organization was facing a problem: how to expand their brand world-wide with a product that needs to be so close to Il Palato Italiano's headquarters.

Thinking out of the box, the company tried a new idea called "Digital Telecooking Experience". This involves chefs teaching students who sign up to be taught through the Il Palato Italiano website, to cook traditional Italian meals. The chefs and students work in separate rooms (oftentimes in completely separate countries) but stay connected via video screens and wireless microphones. The world-class chefs give equal attention to each student by being able to carefully watch their actions are via video screens.

In creating this solution, Cisco Collaboration products such as Cisco TelePresence Integrator C Series and Cisco TelePresence Codec C90 were deployed-as well as IBM system integration capabilities. However Cisco Routing and Switching hardware, specifically the Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches, were integral in creating the backbone of the solution.

Business has been heating up since the Digital Telecooking Experience launched and Il Palato Italiano has Cisco to thank for proving its business case. The company is so happy with the results and the Cisco solution that it's considering project expansion.

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