Atlanta, Georgia -- September 27, 1995 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. todayannounced worldwide distribution and product strategies designed todeliver tailored networking solutions to businesses and individuals.
The CiscoPro(tm) product line is intended for use in popularbusiness applications such as Internet access, telecommuting,distributed databases and high-speed document transfer. The productswill be sold indirectly to businesses, institutions and individualsfor use in branch offices, medium- and small-sized businesses andprofessional home offices, and will constitute a major expansion ofCisco's presence in these markets. These markets are predicted togrow from $5 billion in 1995 to $17 billion in the year 2000,according to Dataquest, a San Jose, Calif.-based market research firm.
Cisco Systems established its leadership in the internetworkingindustry primarily by serving customers with large, complex networks.The CiscoPro product strategy is to provide customers who have basicnetworking needs with a way to obtain Cisco-quality solutions with thefeatures, price points and packaging appropriate to them. TheCiscoPro distribution strategy is to deliver solutions to thesecustomers through the sales and support channels with which they areaccustomed to working -- primarily value-added resellers (VARs) andintegrators supplied via two-tier distribution. In the U.S., CiscoProproducts are available through two distributors, Ingram Micro and TechData. Outside the U.S., where Cisco already distributes its productsthrough two-tier distribution, VARs and enterprise channels, theCiscoPro product line will be available through existing channels.
"The CiscoPro line reflects the evolution of the internetworkingmarketplace from the realm of large corporations to businesses of allsizes and even the home," said John Chambers, president and CEO ofCisco Systems. "With these initiatives, Cisco is reaching a newmarket whose most important requirements are easy-to-use,easy-to-purchase networking solutions."
CiscoPro Channel Program
A separate dedicated channel organization, headed by KevinDeNuccio, vice president of volume markets, has been established tosupport the new channel strategy. To ensure VAR success, Cisco hasdedicated specific resources to support CiscoPro including:- Dedicated VAR field managers for resellers;
- Experienced channel support;
- An expanded channel marketing team; and
- A separate channel training organization.
CiscoPro Products
The initial CiscoPro products fall into two categories -- workgroupand access solutions.Workgroup solutions include fixed-configurationand stackable switching solutions for departmental workgroups; accesssolutions include standard internetworking technology packaged forbranch office and professional office environments. Networkmanagement for CiscoPro products is provided by CiscoVision(tm)software, a complete PC-based network management solution underWindows for configuring, monitoring and managing routers and switches.Cisco offers both standalone and server-based internetworkingsolutions.All CiscoPro products are designed and manufactured by CiscoSystems, providing quality, reliability, network security andinteroperability based on industry standards. Cisco InternetworkOperating System (Cisco IOS(tm)) software, a sophisticated suite ofnetworking software, has been tailored to meet the ease-of-userequirements of the target CiscoPro customers and applications.
CiscoPro products are being shown first at the NetWorld+INTEROPtrade show in Atlanta this week.
Since creating the internetworking industry in the mid-1980s withthe first multiprotocol routers, Cisco has steadily expanded both therange of its products and the types of customers it serves. Ciscosolutions today address all of the major trends in networking,including LAN switching,AsynchronousTransfer Mode (ATM), remote access, telecommuting and multimedia.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the leading global supplier ofenterprise networks,including routers, LAN and ATM switches,dial-up access servers and network management software. These products,integrated by the Cisco IOS software, linkgeographically dispersedLANs, WANs and IBM networks. Cisco Systems news and product/serviceinformation are available at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com.Cisco Systems is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
Posted: Sep 27 11:15:00 1995
