Global networking solutions giant Cisco has announced a renewed commitment to small businesses with the offer of dedicated support, a multi-year awareness campaign and increased partner investments.

The company has also underlined its offer of what it calls a "simple, secure and flexible" portfolio under the Cisco Designed for Business brand.

According to Cisco, small businesses are facing a pace of change unlike ever before and "must address an increasingly savvy customer base who expect digital experiences, amazing customer service and simple user interfaces."

With the increased utilisation of cloud and web-based applications, a strong and secure network is the essential life blood of any small business, the company says.

Marc Monday, Global Head of Small Business at Cisco, said, "The pace of change and transformation is phenomenal. Businesses of all sizes are struggling to stay relevant, compete for customers, and manage efficiencies. Cisco's goal is to give small businesses access to the same best in class technology capabilities as our enterprise customers, but also balancing with simplicity and usability so the customer can focus on what matters most, growing their business."

The company says it will double partner investments for this market and create "an easy and frictionless experience for both partners and smaller customers with faster response times and immediate access to expertise..."

In addition to its Virtual Demand Centre (VDC) customer service/sales resource that "satisfies the demand generated by Cisco marketing activities with a low or no-touch sales motion", the networking solutions firm has announced changes to its partner programs .

The changes include a redesigned cloud and managed service program to address managed service providers selling to small business customers, and significantly accelerated approval time for deals under certain sizes allowing partners to act quickly in the fast-paced market.

South African customers

In early September 2019 Cisco announced that Garsen Naidu, its head of partner and system engineering organisations for Sub-Saharan Africa, as country manager for South Africa.

Naidu said he looked forward to aligning local priorities and vision to Cisco globally and this would ensure "that we deliver the very best solutions to our customers here in SA."

In the same month the company linked up with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to address the digital skills gap in Africa.

The partners said Digital Transformation Centres will be used to network with institutions and run digital skills training programmes in specific tech areas.