COMMS VISION 10-12 NOVEMBER GLENEAGLES PREVIEW


www.commsvision.com CISCO DRIVES FOR CHANGE Clive Hailstone


Cisco has a proven track record of successfully capturing market transitions: In 1997 the networking giant predicted that voice and video would converge, Cisco then hailed the network as a platform for all related technologies and as the core of customer solutions, and is now a driving force behind collaborative and Web 2.0 technologies.


offerings. Over time, Cisco has evolved from enterprise and service provider solutions to addressing customer needs in many other segments including small, consumer and commercial. The SMB business communications sector is now squarely in Cisco’s sights, and alongside its distribution partner Comstor, Comms Vision 2010 forms a major element in its strategy for enhancing partnerships and market reach. Andy Brocklehurst, UK Partner Sales Manager at Cisco, commented: “As well as a desire to save on total IT operating costs over the long term, which also relies on factors such as


A


s markets evolve so have Cisco’s product, service and partnership


the availability and cost effectiveness of Internet connectivity from our many service provider partners, the most significant is increased confidence among our channel partners in providing a whole solution for data and voice requirements. Smaller businesses are rapidly becoming aware of what else they can run across their IP investment – two great examples being video-based collaboration and IPCCTV for security – both of which are growing exponentially.”


With new and more cost- effective IP handsets and appropriately featured entry level LAN switches, in addition to what Cisco claims is a more complete and better integrated voice feature set with a


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rich portfolio of third party applications vendors adding value to the core solution, Cisco seems poised to benefit from this potentially fast growing market. “Analysts such as MZA are seeing migration from TDM to IP being faster in the sub 100 user segment than any other. They predict that by 2015, 36 per cent of the market will have made that transition from 16 per cent last year,” added Brocklehurst.


“This is the result of intensive top-down marketing efforts by Cisco, focused on the right products, combined with growing bottom-up awareness and acceptance of consumer and micro-business focused solutions such as Skype and Google Voice. Businesses are increasingly aware of the network as the platform on which to build their businesses on, and see voice, video, messaging, conferencing and social software as a natural extension of that.”


Cisco’s new UC500 series supports from 8-104 users with a flexible deployment model, PSTN interfaces and Internet connectivity with security built in. It eliminates the need for multiple servers and combines voice, data, security and wireless LAN capability, squarely aimed at a small office environment looking for a complete networking solution. The new SPA 300 series phones also nod towards simplicity and small business functionality. A priority for Cisco has been ease of installation and support while providing an affordable, reliable and easy to use IP phone with highly secure remote provisioning and web- based configuration. Where requirements are higher,


the SPA 500 series provides more functionality such as a backlit display, wideband audio quality and support for WiFi connectivity.


Coupled with


complementary vendor offerings such as Oak’s complete comms


management suite, Cisco and Comstor are providing a complete solution sell that was previously unavailable for SMB customers. “In partnership with Cisco, we see the small-to-medium commercial market as providing the next wave of adoption and growth in unified communications and collaboration,” said Comstor Sales Director Clive Hailstone. “This is an extension of our partnership with Cisco in the last two or three years, which has been driven by a desire to work closely with well qualified and motivated partners at the business level, not just on a technology sales approach but a fundamental transformation of their business.”


The primary delivery vehicle for this partnering approach is the Comstor Fundamentals program, designed to help new Cisco voice resellers develop and execute a winning business model for the SME market. This selective program is focused entirely on identifying and achieving successful business outcomes for the enrolled partners, as Hailstone explains: “On being accepted to the program, an initial executive briefing helps our team understand


the full details of the partners’ strategy. Then an action plan will be produced that reflects their business goals, which can be monitored and adjusted ‘in flight’ and again more formally during a Quarterly Business Review.


“Initially, we focus on planning and positioning the business with key Cisco teams because for a smaller and newer partner this can be daunting. Then we look at driving engagement further with Cisco and ensuring strong execution of the plan – including cross-team training, configuration tools, and technical support on the first three installs right the way through to marketing and lead generation – all 100 per cent free to selected partners.”


Platinum sponsor Cisco and distribution partner Comstor will be further unveiling the details of the Comstor Fundamentals program at Comms Vision 2010, and Cisco is emphatic in its determination to extend its Enterprise market leadership into the rapidly growing commercial and SME business


communications market. Brocklehurst added: “We recognise our engagement with Comstor in these programs as strategic to our success in this market, and see our collaboration at Comms Vision as a highly effective platform for identifying and working with those partners with the vision and drive to succeed with us.”


A priority for Cisco has been ease of installation and support


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