3 Questions: Paul Mountford, Cisco

CRN:

Some solution providers are confused about the distinction between Cisco and the Linksys division. Can you clear that up for us?

MOUNTFORD: Linksys is our primary route to the consumer, SOHO and fewer-than-20-employees small-business markets, while Cisco is the primary route to the rest of the customer segments.

CRN: What about the gap between Linksys’ core market and Cisco’s—that 20-to-200-person small business?

MOUNTFORD: This is a partner-driven market that is dependent on strong marketing, the partners you recruit, and how well you can motivate them. We are focused on five critical behaviors that we believe embody a world-class SMB-focused company: data-driven customer segmentation; whole offerings from a customer perspective; end-user demand-creation excellence; focused sales coverage models; and focus on value chain economics.

CRN: An increasing number of small businesses are adopting IP telephony, security and wireless surveillance solutions. Cisco’s offerings there tend to be enterprise-focused. Will Cisco create such offerings for the small business?

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MOUNTFORD: We are aggressively pursuing the SMB market and just last month announced an existing $2 billion investment will continue over the next two years to create solutions, services and marketing programs designed for the SMB market.

Published for the Week Of June 14, 2004