The San Jose, California-based networking heavyweight has been increasing its focus significantly on SMB over the last year or so, launching products like the Integrated Services Router and the Catalyst Express 500 Series of switches, adding its first new distributor for a decade in the US specifically to add more VARs for this segment and flashing the cash for channel development, training, and so on.
The rationale for such a move is evident: first, because Cisco already reigns supreme in a good chunk of the enterprise market, so however hard it tries, growth is going to be slower there. Second, because the networking requirements of SMBs are growing, with workers requiring remote access, both wired and wireless, so there is a real market opportunity, which is something a lot of other networking vendors have also perceived, from HP to D-Link.
Now the company wants to enable its channel partners to go beyond selling kit into SMB, providing break/fix support or network diagnostics, said Edzard Overbeek, VP of commercial (SMB and mid-market) for Europe. He said this means creating an ecosystem to support managed and tailored services. He cited potential partners as ISVs in accounting (Sage, Intuit, and Exact), as well as in recruitment and training, plus regional network operators that concentrate on SMB rather than enterprise.
He said Cisco will strike these partnerships as well as offering the infrastructure to support what it refers to as the intelligent information network over which the apps will be delivered.
