Cisco appears to be nudging ever closer to dropping the Linksys brand. Today it announces that it has combined the engineering teams for all its SMB products, forming a single group to develop products for the Cisco and Linksys brands. It has also retired the Linksys reseller initiaive and is urging Linksys' 20,000-strong reseller community to sign up for the Cisco Channel Partner Program.  

According to the Cisco press release: "This process includes bringing the Linksys Business Series products into the Cisco SMB portfolio and providing Cisco channel partners with access to a more diverse solution set to allow for more choice and increased revenue potential."

The 20,000 Linksys channel partners around the world have been given until Sept. 16 to become Cisco Registered Channel Partners by registering at Cisco's Web site. Cisco partners have access  to demo equipment, financial incentives, sales support via Small Business Market Managers, lead generation via the SMB website on Cisco.com, and access to marketing resources such as Cisco Campaign Builder, and Cisco Partner Central, according to Cisco.

Cisco says the small and midsize business channel represents a broader company focus on SMBs and follows moves earlier this summer by Cisco to establish a Small Business Council that aligns the company's SMB strategies with its partner programs.

Cisco adds: This SMB channel partner program expansion does not affect the Linksys consumer sales efforts. Linksys will remain focused as a Cisco division charged with developing consumer-focused solutions found through retail and online storefronts.

Read more about this on Cisco Subnet's ChannelSurfing blog.

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