| Cisco seeks to grow SMB reseller base by 200% Johannesburg, 3 May 2007 – Cisco has announced that it is seeking to broaden its Small and Medium Business (SMB) focused reseller base by over 200%. Cisco’s SMB business is 100% channel driven and the company plans to bolster resellers on the frontline with the introduction of its SMB Select partner programme, as well as a dedicated SMB certification and a SMB financing offering. Nicole Anderson, SMB sales manager for Cisco, addressed the reseller community at the launch of the SMB Select Partner Programme today. According to Anderson, South African SMBs face a promising outlook. “A recent BMI-Techknowledge report* shows that South Africa’s SMB IT spend is set for double-digit growth over the next three years, accounting for 80% of total IT spend by 2020,” she says. Anderson adds that South Africa’s key macroeconomic indicators show clear signs of an economy that is well poised for growth. “Our economy is in a phase of infrastructure rollout and capacity building, as the country gears up for 2010. This investment is fuelling a wave of opportunities across all sectors of the economy and SMBs are set to flourish as they play a critical role in facilitating capacity building.” “Technology enhances customer service and shortens time to market by introducing efficient business processes. This allows SMBs to address their cost curve as they experience rapid growth,” says Anderson. According to Anderson, the traditional barriers to entry – headlined by the cost of broadband – have been lowered and SMBs are chomping at the bit to challenge their big business counterparts and to compete in the global market place. “Continued deregulation has stoked competition in the telecoms market and service providers are aggressively tailoring their broadband packages. This has seen prices being slashed by up to 60% in some cases, with the cost of connectivity falling in line with other emerging markets. South Africa will see the same spike in SMB technology consumption that more aggressive markets experienced around 18 months ago,” she says. Anderson explains that the SMB Select programme will serve as the entry-point into Cisco’s larger channel programme. “SMB Select allows resellers to start selling Cisco gear and graduate onto the more advanced technologies as their business – and the business of their customer base – grows,” she says. The newly introduced SMB specialisation will serve as a differentiation point for SMB focussed resellers who want to position themselves as leaders in the market. “Resellers who join the SMB Select programme and who secure the SMB certification will have an assigned channel account manager and will be in line for partner development funds, access to incentives and a listing as an SMB specialised partner on Cisco’s online partner locator.” Anderson comments that previously, enterprise networking products were shrink-wrapped for SMBs and that they needed specialised in-house skills to get the system online. As a point of departure, Cisco’s Small Business Communications System clearly understands the psyche and constraints of the small business owner. “It’s a simple, secure, plug and play solution that caters for businesses with 50 employees or less, and that scales as the user’s business grows. A small business can quickly and securely set up email, IP telephony and wireless access throughout a small office,” she says. Previously the domain of larger businesses, the benefits of Unified Communications are now available to small businesses, allowing them to create a larger than life presence with their customers. For instance, when staff are on the premises but away from their desks, calls that come in from the switchboard can be seamlessly routed over the wireless data network to their dual mode (Wi-Fi/GSM) mobile phones. The latest business handsets come standard with dual-mode functionality, which ensures that in an SMB environment where skills are scarce, the customer call is patched through to the appropriate person, every time. Access to financing is another stumbling block that Cisco has addressed through its Easy Rent offering. As Anderson explains, “Many banks won’t finance software and services because if a customer defaults, there is nothing to compensate them and even the banks that are doing it offer financing to their blue chip customers at very expensive lending rates.” With ABSA bank as the financial services partner behind Cisco Easy Rent, SMBs now have a range of attractive options in terms of financing their technology solutions in a way that works best for their business model. “SMBs are the engine room of our economy and business owners are looking to leverage technology to transform their businesses, by increasing agility and getting two steps ahead of the competition. By using the network as a platform, SMBs can compete with bigger businesses locally and set their sights on competing beyond our borders,” Anderson concludes. * BMI-Techknowledge, Evolution of the Mid-Market IT Landscape 2007 About Cisco Systems Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information. |
Guest