Cisco announces new SMB portfolio, managed services catalogue

Cisco has launched a new networking and security product portfolio and managed services catalogue for small and medium businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

Announced at Cisco Live Melbourne, the new portfolio includes Cisco Catalyst 1200 and 1300 Series switches, designed to simplify network setup for SMBs. They can be deployed on-premise, or as cloud-based managed solutions.

The new Catalyst switches can be managed with the Cisco Business Dashboard, a centralised network management tool designed to simplify the complex task of managing a business network by automating the deployment, monitoring and lifecycle management of networking devices.

Additionally, the Catalyst 1200 and 1300 Series switches can be set up and managed by the Cisco Business mobile app, which adds further simplicity. 

Cisco also launched the Meraki MX, an all-in-one security and SD-WAN solution that includes application-based firewall, content filtering, threat protection, VPN, cellular failover, web application and VoIP health, among other features. It is fully cloud-managed with zero-touch installation and remote management.

Meraki MX comes with ThousandEyes Enterprise Agents, providing operations teams with visibility and insights into SaaS performance and underlying network health. This native integration gives access to enhanced monitoring for distributed, lean IT sites without the need for additional hardware.

Cisco called this “a key differentiator as increasing connectivity, driven by SaaS applications, third-party services and network growth, introduces complexity and heightens the risk of disruptions”,

Cisco also introduced MSP Express for SMB, a catalogue of scalable managed services that partners can build and offer to SMBs. It uses core Cisco products for the SMB segment including Meraki, DUO, Umbrella and Webex.

“Through managed services, primarily, we think more than 50% of our technology will be delivered to an SMB as a managed service. We're probably around 35 or 40 right now,” said Andrew Sage, Vice President, Global Distribution Sales, Cisco.

On October 2023, a Cisco predicted that Australian managed services revenue delivered by partners would grow 14 per cent YoY between 2023 and 2025, based on a survey it commissioned Canalys to perform.

“We're very careful about what customers we're targeting at Cisco,” Sage said. The bakery, the barber shop probably won't react to our value proposition, nor will they react to the proposition of our partners.”

“But just a little bit of that stack - 20 users, professional services, these kinds of customers, they're using the cloud and they really will respond well to the value proposition that we bring along with our partners to help them digitize.”

CRN Australia asked Cisco about how Partner Express program, introduced this time last year at Cisco Live, has performed. Cisco’s spokesperson didn’t offer numbers, but said that the program has been taken up by Cisco globally, which they said indicated its success.

CRN Australia attended Cisco Live Melbourne as a guest of Cisco.