Cisco To Debut New Collaboration, UC Programs, Products

With Cisco Systems' annual Partner Summit set to kick off Tuesday in Boston, the networking giant will turn a keen eye toward collaboration and unified communications to help partners win business and target new markets.

Richard McLeod, Cisco's senior director of collaboration solutions for worldwide channels, said Cisco is working to give partners a piece of the $34 billion-plus opportunity in the collaboration and unified communications space with a host of new product enhancements and program updates around its video, conferencing and voice portfolios.

First, McLeod said, Cisco has expanded its go-to-market for its TelePresence videoconferencing solutions, extending it to Advanced Unified Communications specialized partners. The new pilot program is designed to broaden partners TelePresence sales opportunities, spreading availability of single-screen TelePresence solutions -- the 500, 1000 and 1300 models -- to an additional 25 partners in the U.S. and an additional 25 partners in Europe. That number will increase over time, he said. It builds on the current 89 partners globally that are selling and managing TelePresence. Cisco will train new partners on creating opportunities around TelePresence. McLeod said the program will roll out as a pilot first and convert to a formal program in 2010.

Cisco also said it plans to expand its WebEx authorization, moving from a pilot to general availability to Advanced and Express Unified Communications partners. The offering is designed for quick adoption and partner profit, and lets qualifying UC specialized partners sell WebEx Software-as-a-Service.

Cisco is also catching the social networking wave, launching the new Cisco Collaboration Partner Community, giving users access to Cisco experts and peers, answers on hot topics, and access to tools, best practices and real-world advice in a virtual community format. Cisco is also launching a similar community for users.

Along with new program options, Cisco is rolling out a new series of entry-level IP telephones, the IP Phone 6900 series. The new series, which comes in black and white, offers three new models, the two-line 6921, the four-line 6941 and the 12-line 6961. McLeod said all three are designed to be eco-friendly, featuring a deep sleep mode that reduces power consumption up to 50 percent while the phone is not in use.

McLeod said the new devices give partners down-market reach into companies that require entry-level desk phones at an affordable price-point, ranging from $235 to $295 plus licensing. Partners can also engage customers that require robust phones without the rich capabilities of video and application integration that other Cisco phones offer.

Cisco also revealed plans to enhance its videoconferencing capabilities to bridge the gap between legacy video and immersive TelePresence video. The enhancement offers high-definition video up to 1080p across Cisco's collaboration portfolio, enabling true "any-to-any video," McLeod said. Cisco Unified Videoconferencing 7.0 is designed for high-definition multiparty videoconferencing.

In addition, Cisco unveiled new licensing models, offering dial tone and basic mobility, enabling UC partners to target entry-level unified communications and collaboration deployments. The new licensing model offers Unified Communications Manager support for one hard phone per user, with unified mobility with single-number reach through Cisco IP Communicator for a list price of $245 per user in the U.S. McLeod called the new options an "on-ramp to unified communications." McLeod said the new offering gives partners a targeted solution for emerging market customers in areas where mobile phones are pervasive.

All told, McLeod said, the new products and programs give partners the opportunity to move into new markets and have new conversations as their customers evaluate the business value of collaboration and unified communications.

"It gives them a seat at the strategy table," he said. "They're having whole new conversations, offering more services and application integrations and offering operational business information consulting."

Lou McElwain, executive vice president of sales for BlueWater Communications Group, a New York-based solution provider, said he's looking forward to furthering the collaboration and unified communications discussion at Partner Summit this week. He said, so far, Cisco has done a good job with its messaging around its video plans, but said he needs information on realistic applications of it and what it can do for his business.

"The third leg of it needs more detail around video," he said. "How will video play? How do we take what we see in TelePresence and bring it down to the desktop? How will this continue to be tied together?"

McElwain said he's looking for guidance on how to tap into new business through video and collaboration tools, and realize the true power of IP beyond just voice and data.

McLeod said the new products and programs will give partners the opportunity for deeper intimacy with their client base and new customers, enabling them to guide clients with a full unified communications and collaboration story that fires on all cylinders from the midmarket to the large enterprise.

"It's truly reinventing the relationship and boosting growth and profitability," McLeod said.

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