Pankaj Lulla
Director, Partner Organization 
Cisco India and SAARC

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA

Over the last few years, everyone, from small businesses to large enterprises have been preparing for large-scale digital disruption. Cisco’s preparedness in anticipation of digital disruption has helped the company to respond to the crisis and adapt quickly. To a great extent, this has come from the government’s Digital India program, which has served as an impetus for everyone to embrace technology.

The government has been leading the charge on adopting technology to keep people safe, informed, and connected. Government bodies are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to stay on top of this crisis. Initiatives such as the Aarogya Setu COVID-19 tracker app, MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot, COVID-19 microsite, and others have been critical in keeping citizens updated continuously.

CYBER SECURITY A PRIORITY

Most enterprises across India have been working from home over the last few months, and many are looking to keep their workforces remote even beyond the crisis. However, for work from home to become a norm, data security and privacy must be considered top priorities.

Cisco has been offering several free cloud-delivered security products and services that provide zero-trust security to enable its customers as well as everyone else to keep their newly remote workforces safe and productive. Its multi-factor authentication solution, Duo Security, saw over 3,300 new organizations signing up in a single peak week globally. In India alone, Cisco has enabled more than 5,00,000 knowledge workers to work from home securely and has seen a tremendous traction in verticals such as ITeS and financial services as well as healthcare, public sector, manufacturing, hospitality, etc. for zero-trust security.

5G GROWTH AGENDA

Over the last couple of years, Cisco has seen robust growth and has continued to grow faster than the market. Its priority has been to go wider into new enterprise verticals such as manufacturing, retail, SMB, and Education, as well as go more in-depth into customers where it is traditionally strong, such as in financial services, service providers and ITeS.

Cisco is building the internet of the future, one that will further transform the way we work, learn, live, and connect. Cisco’s network architecture centers on silicon, optics, and software, called Silicon One. A first-of-its-kind programmable chip, this is built for high-performance networking for future 5G applications, helping its customers stay ahead and create innovative experiences for their users.

To help its customers accelerate their 5G deployments, Cisco has committed $5 billion in funding globally to help build 5G networks over the next three years. It has over 125 active engagements with global customers on 5G, with whom Cisco is working on architectural designs and providing packet core technology.

MEASURES TO HELP PARTNERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

During this pandemic, helping its partners keep their workforces and customers safe and productive has been a top priority for Cisco. To make the transition to remote working easy and seamless, Cisco has enabled free access to cloud-based offerings across its security and collaboration portfolios.

Its mantra of ‘perform and transform’, which focuses on helping partners achieve their daily business goals while building on new opportunities, remains intact. Through Cisco Capital, it hopes to ease their financial burden by providing a broad range of flexible payment solutions to customers, allowing partners to receive payments on time. During the pandemic, Cisco has engaged with more than 400 partners over 150+ Cisco-led enablement collaboration sessions across India and SAARC nations. 

It has helped its partners build offers under Secure Work from Home with Cisco’s Webex & Security platform. Together with the help of both Cisco and its partners, customers quickly and safely migrated to Remote Home working.

Additionally, it has reassured its partners that their Cisco certifications, specializations, and authorizations will not be impacted during this time, even if they are unable to complete their training or take exams.

Cisco has been leveraging the power of technology and partnerships to help solve some of the biggest problems of society for over three decades now. It is committed to using technology to help communities adapt to this transformation and affect positive change.