Cisco Investing $100 Million In Small Business Initiative

During a gathering of channel media in Portugal, Cisco Systems has so far made two major announcements. First up, the company unveiled a global partner collaboration strategy that allows VARs to become sales agents for one another. Next up, Cisco announced a $100 million initiative focused on small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Here’s the scoop.

Time for some full disclosure: The VAR Guy needs to catch a limo to an event (yes, the minimum-wage blogger travels in first-class style). To save some time and catch his ride, our resident blogger lifted much of the info below word-for-word from Cisco (heck, at least The VAR Guy admits when he’s plagiarizing).

According to Cisco, a new Small Business Technology Group (SBTG) will “develop technologies focused on six areas consistently highlighted as top priorities by small businesses for enabling business growth: connectivity, security, remote access, productivity, customer interaction and customer support.”

Cut to the Chase

Here are six key highlights from the announcement:

1. The creation of the Cisco Small Business Technology Group and Cisco Small Business portfolio are part of a new 360-degree focus on small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
2. The initiative includes a dedicated sales unit, marketing programs, and customized service and support, for which a new worldwide contact center operation is a central pillar.
3. The Cisco Small Business Technology Group will develop strategy and facilitate collaboration across Cisco’s existing business units to create solutions for businesses with 100 to 250 employees. Senior Vice President Ian Pennell will lead the group.
4. All new small-business offerings will be named ‘Cisco Small Business’ or ‘Cisco Small Business Pro’, with ‘Pro’ solutions designed for customers with more sophisticated technology needs.
5. The first Cisco Small Business products are scheduled to be available in December and will be focused on video surveillance, data storage and wireless office communications.
6. Cisco values the total addressable market for small-business networking and communications products and services at $16 billion in 2009, with $10 billion of this value derived from companies with fewer than 100 employees.

Show Me the Money

Oh, and what about that $100 million investment? Cisco says the money will drive such efforts as:

• A Small Business Support Center. Dedicated contact center operations in South Carolina, the Philippines, China and sites in Europe will provide small-business customers with technical assistance and expertise around the clock and support customers in Dutch, French, German, Spanish, English, Italian, Russian, Polish, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese and Arabic.
• Small Business Support Community. Modeled on the Cisco Learning Network, this online community is a new collaborative space for partners and customers to share their knowledge and expertise on small-business networking and communications.
• New Cisco Small Business Web site at www.cisco.com/smallbusiness. The new site features new tools powered by Cisco WebEx that enable customers to find and chat live with local sales partners who can assist in customizing, installing and supporting solutions.

Again, most of the info above is taken word-for-word from Cisco. But here’s an interesting footnote: The announcement barely mentioned Linksys and the Linksys brand…

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