DQ Top 20 2018: Rank #14 Cisco Systems India

DQ Estimates Revenue (Rs Crore)

For the year 2016 to 2017 : 11,770

For the year 2017 to 2018: 13,351

Increase of 10%

Cisco had a good run in FY 18 and the company is going through a significant business model transition. The company says that it adopted a three-pronged business strategy.

Number one, it continued to execute well against its strategic priorities. Since the launch of its intent-based networking portfolio in 2017, it has gained significant traction. Today, Cisco has over 125 customers for Intent based networking in India, some of the world’s first and largest wins are from India.

Second, it is transitioning to being a more software-centric company, and India is leading this transition. “The momentum that we have seen in this whole transition towards subscription-based recurring revenue offers in India is ahead of the global average. Today, software accounts for 40% of India business compared to 33% globally,” say company sources.

Third, Cisco is going aggressive with its innovation strategy. It is accelerating its pace of innovation; there is more innovation going on at Cisco than ever before. Examples like Intent-based networking, SD-Access, Encrypted Traffic Analysis, Tetration, SPARK AI, Webex Meetings, Cloud Defense Orchestrator, Jasper Platforms, App Dynamics, etc. and a lot of this is happening out of India.

Meanwhile, its SP business is one its fastest growing segments in India and growing at around 38% CAGR over the last four years. Cisco is at the forefront of the SP transformation journey in India. It deployed the world’s largest all-IP network for Reliance Jio, propelling India to number one in mobile broadband consumption. Cisco has also deployed solutions like the Self Optimization Network (SON) for Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone which helps automate new cell deployment and also helped address call drop issues to a large extent.

From an SMB standpoint, the company launched its Cisco START last year. The START initiative is aimed at helping small businesses go digital and to help them take advantage of the vast opportunities created by India’s booming digitization. For as less as USD 70 / User per year, Cisco is enabling SMBs to go Digital with Security, Wireless, and Collaboration solutions. The company says that through the START Strategy, it is seeing significant traction in its SMB business. It has added over 5000 new customers in the last 12 months and is on track to triple its customer base by 2020.

In one looks at its partner ecosystem, it is stronger than ever before. Cisco is evolving every aspect of its channel partner programs to help partners capture new opportunities, refine their software and services skills set and differentiate themselves in the market. Cisco also expanded the ecosystem to include new partners such as ISV, Operation Technology Partners, Master System Integrators, Start-ups, and consultants. The newly inducted ecosystem has given Cisco access to newer markets and buyers and contributed to over 20% of Cisco’s India revenue today.