Cisco has intensified its cloud collaboration strategy by pooling capabilities from its cloud applications Spark and WebEx, and repositioning them under one brand: Cisco WebEx.

The company announced the convergence of Cisco Spark and WebEx platforms to provide a new WebEx meetings application and a new seamless team collaboration application called WebEx Teams (formerly Cisco Spark).

Cisco said enterprise app spend has been recorded at US$421 billion representing a 9.5% CAGR, evidence that applications are driving business, according to the software firm.

At the 2018 Cisco Partner Connection Week hosted in Nassau, Bahamas, Nirav Sheth, Vice President, Architectures, Solutions and Engineering, Global Partner Organisation, introduced Cisco WebEx and stressed the company's ongoing commitment to a cloud-agnostic, multi-cloud strategy.

Sheth said WebEx facilitates over six billion meeting minutes per month and features knowledge worker recognition.

"Because we deliver WebEx through the cloud, the one hundred million people worldwide who use WebEx do not need to take any action. They will simply get the update in the coming months," reads part of a statement released by the company.

Rowan Trollope, SVP and GM, Applications Group, Cisco, added, "Everything we do is designed with people in mind – to help them work, collaborate, and create together. That's why we have invested so much in WebEx. Our vision is to bring this amazing experience to a billion users and conference rooms all around the world."

The enterprise software firm is pushing the value of one converged cloud backbone and one core experience as part of its value proposition.

Cisco believes cloud collaboration and its multi-cloud portfolio will empower partners to effectively serve customers that continue to seek out opportunity within an app-centric environment characterised by shifting workloads.

Kip Compton, VP, Cloud Platform & Solutions Group, Cisco, said based on market research conducted with IDC, 94% of enterprises plan to use multiple clouds and 87% have taken steps towards a hybrid cloud strategy.

The company reflected on projected CAGR rates across PaaS, private cloud as well as management & orchestration through to 2020 (30%, 16% and 33% respectively) and added that customers now demand the value of end-to-end cloud solution offering to effectively support their cloud strategies.

Cisco executives claim the conversation around cloud has changed - it is no longer about whether or not to migrate to the cloud or using the cloud to manage costs.

The market has largely moved away from trying to prevent cloud lock-in and there is value in using multiple supplier partners to position cloud as an enabler of digital transformation and access all innovation possible from the cloud ecosystem.