10 . Cisco Moves SMB Under Indirect Team As Segment Becomes ‘Fastest Growing’  

2022 saw Cisco significantly up its SMB focus, but in a different way than the tech giant’s small business plays of the past that saw limited success.

Cisco in April cranked up its small business segment by moving in under its Global Partner Organization under the leadership of Cisco Channel Chief Oliver Tuszik. SMB was the fastest-growing segment for Cisco during 2022 with 28.5 percent growth in bookings for its 2022 fiscal year that ended in July. The unprecedented growth proved that Cisco, with its partners, have only begun to scratch the surface of this market, Cisco Channel Chief Oliver Tuszik told CRN in November.

“The SMB market is by far the biggest opportunity to grow or even double its market share,” Tuszik said. “We’re very strong, thanks to our partners, in the enterprise space and even in the public sector, but when we go down into the SMB space, this is an area where we only have a small market share …

And interestingly enough, [in SMB], this is 100 percent partners,” he added.