CRN Interview: Linksys Founder Says Time Is Right To Move On

CRN: You and Victor had such a personal touch with Linksys over the years. What's been put in place to ensure that it continues to run independently?

Tsao: Throughout the years we've built up our business units, built up our departments. It is supporting each other to get to the next level. Having the independence within Cisco, that is very clear, with the structure reporting into Charlie [Giancarlo, senior vice president and chief development officer of Cisco and president of Cisco-Linksys]. And the departmental structures within [Linksys] are ready to support [it]. So even though Victor and I spend a lot of time here, the whole Linksys team is here, they are the guts of the organization It's really the team and the team is very accepting of Mike being their leader. He's already been here for almost a week, so we're really built up to the point where a new leader can come in and excel.

CRN: As you look ahead, what do you see as the most exciting opportunity for channel partners with Linksys?

Tsao: We have a lot of product lines coming out for small businesses. Our [small business] business unit, starting this quarter, has a lot of products ready to start shipping, so that's one. But just taking point products is one thing, but I think Linksys to this point has been putting in the technology investments in terms of communication and video. Creating a converged solution, that is going to be best fitted for our partners. For example, the small business communication line we're going to come out with. That is perfect for our channel partners to get into communication because it's all now going to be IP-based. This is the perfect time. We're doing a lot of training, a lot of Webinars, we're going to be doing a lot of road shows. Our goal is to bring our data VARs into communications, into voice. Our voice VARs can also help to sell the data products Then even for the network entertainment products, it gets complex these days. You can't just go to Best Buy, plug in a box and do it that creates a lot of opportunities for the home installer, even for the entertainment products. Voice and video are going to be combined. I know we've been saying that for a long time, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

CRN: What's your assessment of the Linksys One rollout and where that stands? I know some partners got an early look and there was some concern about what features were being included and how it was progressing.

Tsao: It's a full solution, and when a full solution comes along, it naturally takes longer than just creating a box. We are working on a carrier-class product, so we have to go through the process of testing and getting the services ready. We've gone through a few of the steps and we feel comfortable with the service partners that are signing up right now that we will be coming out and making additional announcements to our channel partners later in the year to let them know how they can sell the product. In the interim, we also have other solutions that we've started training on already Today we are shipping the Linksys voice system. Linksys One will take a little bit longer because we are working through that carrier-class certification.

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