4/27/2004 -- Over the years, Cisco Systems Inc. has touted several different initiatives designed to appeal to small-to-medium business (SMB) customers, some of which have met with varying degrees of success.

Nevertheless, analysts say the SMB Class Solutions effort that Cisco announced last week is the real deal. “Unlike Cisco’s previous efforts, this time around the company has invested in product development and cost optimization rather than simply relying on its market presence and name recognition to carry its product to the customer,” comments Joel Conover, a principal analyst for enterprise infrastructure with consultancy Current Analysis Inc.

To that end, Cisco’s new SMB Class Solutions initiative combines Cisco products with services, financing, applications, and – perhaps most importantly -- training. The goal, Cisco says, is to help SMBs build secure, reliable and flexible networks that can scale to accommodate expected growth.

“It's about helping them create value that extends to their customers and, ultimately, to competitive differentiation and the bottom line,” said Cisco president and CEO John Chambers, in a statement.

All told, said Chambers, Cisco is investing $2 billion in its SMB Class Solutions portfolio and channel partner program.

As part of its SMB Class Solutions initiatives, Cisco plans to unveil enhancements to many existing solutions in the form of express setup features; so-called smartports; a Cluster Management Suite and Security Device Manager designed to help improve the usability of Cisco SMB Class products; and simplified monitoring and management. In addition, Cisco will offer bundles that combine integrated telephony and voice mail, routing, switching, security, and VPN features with wireless connectivity.

One of the key features of Cisco’s SMB Class Solutions effort is its financing component, which the networking giant says consists of simplified credit applications and zero percent, three year leasing options.

Also key is a new SMB Class Solution Designer tool that Cisco says can help SMBs develop high-level, customized network designs. Cisco says that the tool will be available in 90 countries, and that SMB online training curricula will be offered via the Cisco Learning Connection.

Finally, Cisco announced a new IP Contact Center Express program for managing customer voice contacts, as well as a Cisco CRM Communications Connector, which supports intelligent telephony features (such as click-to-dial and screen pops) for incoming calls.

Cisco announced a similar effort in 2002, notes Current Analysis’ Conover, but the success of that program was limited by a lackluster economy and an especially hard-hit networking sector. In the meantime, he says, Cisco has been hard at work enhancing its SMB solutions portfolio.

“The SMB Class Solutions program also gives Cisco new opportunities to draw attention to the small business offerings it has developed over the past several months, help it gain more visibility in a market segment where it has not traditionally been a strong player,” he speculates.

At the same time, Conover allows, SMB Class Solutions isn’t quite a slam dunk. “Many of Cisco’s new products, while more user friendly, still require a significant amount of expertise to deploy and maintain,” he points out. “While training may address some of these issues, ultimately Cisco needs products that are truly tailored for the SMB market, not products just adapted to serve.”

Nevertheless, he concludes, “SMB Class Solutions … is an improvement for Cisco over previous efforts in the SMB space, because Cisco has invested time and development resources in making key products easier to use, and more turnkey to deploy and manage.” -Stephen Swoyer