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Cisco has vowed to double its investments in Australia and New Zealand's small- to medium-sized business (SMB) partners in 2020.
The networking giant is continuing its ongoing push into the Asia Pacific SMB market by offering a raft of new solution bundles locally, which it claims will improve partner profitability in this area.
Announced during Cisco’s virtual Live conference, the measures aim to “reduce costs and complexity while improving operational efficiency” and will operate under the ‘Cisco Designed’ brand.
These bundles will consist of “Quick Office Setup”, “Secure Guest Wi-Fi”, “Seamless Remote Work Experience”, “Ransomware Protection” and “Safe Business Transactions”.
Alongside this, the vendor has launched a new app to help partners and customers configure and manage networks in any location from their smartphones.
It will also merge its WiFi 6 products with its Meraki portfolio of access points, while claiming to be responding to partners and customers faster via a new Virtual Demand Center (VDC).
According to Cisco, the VDC makes it easier for customers, partners and Cisco staff to schedule an appointment or arrange a call back from technical support;.
“Small businesses are personal. With the current macroeconomic environment, we are committed to help keep small businesses strong, safe and smart through technology, so they continue to focus on keeping their business running,” said Bidhan Roy, Cisco’s managing director, head of commercial and small business Asia Pacific, Japan and China.
“As our customers focus on navigating through turbulent times, we are here to ensure technology works as hard as they do,” he added.
Cisco has actively pushed into the region’s SMB for a number of years now, announcing a tailored portfolio of products then-named Cisco Start in 2018.
At the time, the portfolio included Cisco Meraki, Umbrella and WebEx, aiming to provide SMBs with enterprise-grade technologies on a pay-as-you-grow consumption model.
Last year saw the departure of Cisco’s Australia-based SMB lead Nykaj Nair to the United States. He was replaced by ex-McAfee channel sales director Luke Power.
