The Hindu Business Line : Cisco bullish on networks for SMEs

CISCO Systems, the global leader in networking for the Internet, is bullish on India's huge small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) section for business in the next 5-6 years.

There is enormous pressure on Indian SMEs to be on the Internet if they want to succeed globally.

This, in turn, provides a tremendous business opportunity to Cisco to provide networking products, including switches and routers.

In India, there are over 25 lakh small units, and a large number of them do not have a basic Internet network, said a senior Cisco official.

Mr Eric Floyd, Business Development Manager, Manufacturing and Emerging Vertical, Asia-Pacific Enterprise Marketing, Cisco Systems (HK) Ltd, said that there is also pressure on Indian SMEs from large enterprises to be on the Net for doing any business transaction.

This includes buying, selling and distributing products and raw materials online.

According to Mr Floyd, the company expects India and China to be the two largest markets in the coming years for Cisco in the Asia-Pacific region.

Comparing the two countries, he said that a large number of Chinese manufacturing firms, including SMEs, have an Internet network and are now providing links to their vendors and customers for doing business online.

In India, however, the basic Internet network is still missing in a large number of firms, especially SMEs.

"We want to design their network and make Indian companies competitive globally."

In India, Cisco is looking at manufacturing as a major sector for business. In the Asia-Pacific region, the biggest manufacturing markets for Cisco are China, Korea and Taiwan. It expects India to join this league in a few years.

The company reported revenues of $5.6 billion for the third quarter ended May 31, 2004. Mr Floyd refused to provide any India-specific financial numbers.

In India, Cisco will provide large manufacturing firms with advanced technology, including Internet telephony and wireless communication, and for smaller firms basic Internet networking communications, he said.

"Shorter lead times, faster turnarounds and better service are important customer-centric advantages that can make the difference in attracting and retaining customers."

Cisco's Intelligent Networked Manufacturing (INM) strategy consists of an intelligent information network that ensures data visibility and flexibility across all functional areas of a manufacturing company.

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