Cisco Continues SMB Onslaught With New Services, Gear

The new products and services, which include additions to the Cisco Small Business Pro series, arm the channel with the capabilities to install and manage systems that hit the needs of smaller companies.

"Small business to Cisco is definitely big business," said Rick Moran, Cisco's vice president of small business networking.

Cisco's SMB push took hold in earnest late last year when the San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant said it planned to funnel $100 million into SMB initiatives and kicked off the rebranding of its Linksys small business products as Cisco Small Business, while also wrapping its Linksys small business partners into the Cisco channel. This year and next year is when partners will see Cisco executing on its SMB initiatives, said Andrew Sage, Cisco's vice president of worldwide small business sales.

"Fiscal Year 2010 is the year of execution for sales and the channel, the product suite and services for the SMB," Sage said. "Last year we were as committed, but now it's more concrete."

At Cisco Partner Summit on Thursday, Cisco launched a handful of new services for partners selling into the SMB market.

First, Cisco unveiled the ESW 500 Series Switches. Part of the Small Business Pro portfolio, the switches integrate with other Small Business Pro products and the Cisco Smart Business Communications System to build a solution for small businesses. The ESW 500, which comes in 24- and 48-port models with optional PoE, includes a five-year warranty that ties in next-business-day hardware replacement, free software fixes and 90 days of free tech support with one-year click-to-chat support, said Ian Pennel, senior vice president of Cisco's small business technology group. The series is available now and ranges in price from $659 to $3,299.

And for partners looking to transition their SMB clients to VoIP, Cisco unveiled the SPA8800 IP Telephony Gateway, a Small Business Pro box that lets small businesses connect their open-source IP PBX to their existing analog phones and faxes. The SPA8800 lists for $600 and will be available in the U.S. in late June.

On the Cisco Small Business side, Cisco added the PVC300 IP Camera, an IP video surveillance camera that captures live video that's viewable on any screen, including Web-enabled mobile phones. The camera has pan, tilt and zoom capabilities and software to manage up to 16 cameras from one location. In addition, it sends alerts when motion is detected and integrates with alarms, door sensors and security systems. The PVC300 IP Camera integrates with the Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems for video storage and backup. The PVC300 is available now for a list price of $794.

Cisco also debuted the latest version of its Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS), version 1.5, a collaboration and communication system that ties together offices, employees and customers. The newest version adds WebEx PhoneConnect for single-click online meetings and conferences directly from Cisco IP phones; Cisco TimeCard View, which lets users clock in and out and track hours and payroll information from IP phones; and single-number reach and third-party networking monitoring and management applications. SBCS version 1.5 starts at about $450 per user and is available now.

Pennel said the goal of the new products is to make it easier for partners to sell, design, install and support solutions in the SMB market.

Next: Cisco Debuts New SMB Services, Support Options