Cisco Strides

Afocus on SMEs coupled with the launch of new products and unwavering efforts
to increase customer satisfaction helped Cisco capture the market share to
higher numbers.

 With a 100 percent channel-leveraged model, Cisco was able to penetrate
the Indian market and sold its goods in growing areas such as IP telephony,
IT-enabled services and financial services.  

CHANNEL FOCUS

Partners of Cisco could choose any technology area for specialization. They
had to earn a minimum number of points to become Gold, Silver or Premier
Certified. The Gold and Silver badge confirms that the partner employs a
required number of Cisco certified individuals, is capable of both pre-sales and
post-sales support, and provides value beyond just the sale of Cisco products.

For Rajeev Chopra customer satisfaction is Cisco’s top priority
Strengths
	Marketshare for routers and switches touches 92 and 55 percent respectivelyÂ
	Opened 14 Cisco regional networking academies in IndiaÂ
	Addition of two Rapid Fulfillment depots in Calcutta and Bangalore

SALES THROUGH SIs

Though the systems integrator channel consists of just around 16-17
partners, including the likes of HCL Comnet and Wipro, it accounts for nearly 75
percent of Cisco business here in the country. Cisco has more than 1,500
partners across 100 cities in India.

The company places a great deal of emphasis on value-add, technical expertise
and customer satisfaction. As part of its channel program, resellers are taken
through rigorous training programs and hands-on demos to train them on
implementation and specialization on key technologies. These programs encourage
partners to deliver value-added

expertise in specialized networking areas like security, VPNs and wireless.

Cisco has set up Rapid Fulfillment Depots in six locations across the country
to ensure that spares reach the customer site without delay. Of these, two were
established just last year. Says Chopra, "We have invested in the country
even in poor economic scenario."

MORE THAN BUSINESS

In January last year, Cisco committed to establish 34 Cisco Regional
Networking Academies in India in partnership with the Indian government and
educational institutions in every state and union territory. This commitment was
made during the visit of John Chambers, President and CEO, Cisco Systems. Of
these 14 have been set up in 14 cities.

Chambers also announced the plan to invest $200 million in India during the
three years to follow. Cisco´s investment will go toward expanding the Cisco
Global Development Center in Bangalore, which currently employs over 400
engineers. In addition, the investment will promote five development centers
with HCL, Infosys, Wipro in Bangalore and Chennai. Added Chopra, "The
investment is well on its way and on schedule."

It was during this period that when most organizations were cutting down
staff strength, Cisco honored all the 100 campus job offers that it had made to
Indian students. Says Chopra, "We have not scaled back anything."
Cisco officials feel that it would expand its engineering workforce in India by
300 percent by 2004 to meet the demands of the growing market.