Cisco unveils 'Network on Wheels' to tap the SMB segment in India

New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) To tap the burgeoning Small and Medium Business (SMB) segment in India, Cisco systems today unveiled its 'Network on Wheels' (NOW), a mobile showcase that will provide networking technology to the SMBs to help them generate business growth.

Cisco's eight-month long, 50 city roadshow will take networking solutions, including advanced technologies like security, wireless and unified IP communications, to the SMB customers throught its partners across the country.

''We have invested close to a quarter million dollars in putting NOW in place and we hope to increase that amount, depending on the feedback we get from our customers,'' Cisco Systems India&Saarc Marketing Vice-President Ranajoy Punja told reporters here.

The van will demostrate for SMBs, technology solutions designed to enhance their competitive advantage, maximise productivity and ROI and reduce operations costs, ultimately resulting in business growth.

Asked about why they have targetted the SMB segment for this initiative, Mr Punja said, ''SMBs face the problem of competition with peers and need an IT infrastructure and internet access to grow. We will provide them an end-to-end solution to allow them to profitably run their businesses.'' The roadshow, that will travel across 50 cities beginning with Chandigarh in two weeks, is expected to cater to an average of 100 customers a day in each city. The cities have been selected on the basis of PC penetration and population density as ''this results in the generation of commerce and business,'' Mr Punja said.

According to an Access Markets Internartional (AMI) study, there are an estimated 7.6 million SMBs in India, which are growing at the rate of 43-45 per cent -- a number expected to jump.

The company's annual turnover last year was Rs 2,700 crore, out of which one-third comes from the SMB segment, Cisco SMB/Commercial National Sales Manager Kaushik Bellani said.

''We have grown at the rate of 40-45per cent in the last three years and we hope to increase that figure in the coming year,'' Mr Kaushik added.

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