Cisco Channel Watchers to Meet in Dublin

Heading to Dublin, Ireland this weekend for Cisco’s annual Worldwide Channel Analyst Day. These events are usually a good opportunity to get updated on the overall go-to-market strategy with a special emphasis on how the programs translate from one theater of operations to another. Cisco representatives from Canada, Emerging Markets, Europe, and the U.S. will all be in attendance. While the agenda is keeping the details close to the vest, all of the key segments are listed: security; services; SMB; and unified communications. I’m expecting Cisco will continue its work around program and product simplification to better support the SMB segment. Since Cisco’s strength has always been in the enterprise, SMB has emerged in recent years as a special project with a number of key initiatives to build higher value into a market in which customer decisions are often based on price. We’ll likely hear more about the new wireless products that were rolled out September 4th, including the Aironet 1250 access point and the Cat 6500-based wireless LAN controller. Unified Communications is always a hot topic, and I imagine we’ll hear more about channel opportunities in this space. No doubt we’ll hear more about services and solutions; two key elements to Cisco’s strategy to continue its growth. And as channel partners look in that direction, they’ll need more vendor support for how they can collaborate with one another. As Cisco seeks to establish the network as the primary IT platform, IBM will continue its server-focused position, and Microsoft will continue a software-focused push. Some folks are expecting a battle of the titans; others are expecting that matters will evolve through co-opetition. The end results will likely fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll be sending dispatches from the Emerald Isle, so stay tuned.