Cisco Gets Aggressive

During hard times, you run double fast; keeping this mantra in mind, in its
three-day Partner Summit, Cisco unveiled one offering after another for various
business segments.

Focus on Small Business

Elaborating on the importance of small businesses, Rick Moran, VP, small
business networking, Cisco said, Small businesses are essential since 70% of
all new jobs that are created worldwide are done in this segment. They are also
able to capitalize on economic growth faster than any large company. Adding to
that Ian Pennel, senior VP, small business technology, Cisco said, In the small
business segment one size does not fit all. That is the reason why we have more
than hundred products already available as our offering for the segment. And to
add further value proposition for our partners, we are launching these new
products under the Cisco SB Pro series and all the Linksys products are being
rebranded as Cisco SB products.

Announcing special offers for partners and resellers, Andrew Sage, VP, small
business sales worldwide, Cisco said, We are looking at giving enhanced
profitability to our sub-distribution and reseller partners. We are announcing
instant discounts of up to 5-7% on projects which see migration from Linksys to
Cisco SB series products. That apart, we also have a new Buy Now button on
specific products on the website which would give our partners the advantage of
sourcing products at special low prices for a stipulated period of time.

Thrust on UC

Day two of the summit saw a focus on technology, and unified communications.
It also saw all the keynote speakers taking a jibe at the newly unveiled HP and
Microsoft UC tie-up.

At Cisco partner summit 2009 (from left to right): Ian Pennell, SVP, small business technology group, Cisco; Rick Moran, vp, small business solutions marketing, Cisco; Sherri Liebo, VP, marketing, Cisco services; Tina Fisher, senior director purchasing, D&H distributing; Robert Betzel, president and CEO, infinity network solutions; and Andrew Sage, VP, worldwide small business sales, Cisco

In his keynote Don Proctor, senior VP, software, Cisco said, HP and
Microsofts approach lacks networking credibility. I am doubtful that customers
will be willing to make a forklift upgrade from Ciscos existing technology to
adopt this new set of solutions. According to Proctor the agenda behind the
tie-up was that HP and MS wanted to go directly to customers and cut the
partners out of the immense opportunity that existed.

To build up its data center offering, the company introduced a dedicated data
center partner program and individual certifications to drive its UC
architecture. This was accompanied by the launch of its range of rack-mounted
servers.

Cisco has also expanded its UC Systems products line with a new range of
three rack-mounted servers. The C-Series is based on Intel X 5500 series
processors and utilizes Ciscos virtual adapter, providing up to 128 Ethernet or
fiber channel connections. The first C-Series models will be available globally
in Q4 2009 and will sit alongside Ciscos B-Series blade server offerings
launched in March.

To sell the products, partners need to sign up to Ciscos new Authorized
Partner Program, They also need to have previous server experience.

To further push partner profitability in the data center, Cisco partners will
now be able to access rebates for selling unified computing, storage, switching
and WAN optimization products through its established value incentive program
(VIP).

Shivangi Yadav/DQ Channels

The author was hosted in Boston by Cisco

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in