Computer networking giant Cisco Systems announced a slew of products
aimed at the small to medium-size business market, building on an
announcement that the company would invest $100 million on providing
products and support for midmarket companies.
Among the products announced was the Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker, a
security appliance that provides protection for a business's network
and critical data from viruses and malicious e-mail attacks while
mitigating spam, the NSS2000 and NSS3000 network storage systems and a
collaboration and communications system, the Smart Business
Communications System (SBCS) Release 1.4.
“We understand that small businesses need to see the immediate business
benefits from their technology investment, especially during these
tough economic times, and that's why we've built these new products to
address their essential business needs of security, connectivity and
productivity,” said Cisco’s senior vice president of the small business
technology group, Ian Pennell. “Our new products combined with our
existing broad portfolio of solutions give small businesses the options
and flexibility to find technology that's just right for them and their
specific needs."
A Forrester Research report
released earlier in January found small to medium-size businesses are
planning to spend a healthy percentage of their 2009 IT budgets on
security, with data protection listed as a top priority. Cisco is
hoping that Web and e-mail protection will also find its way to the top
of SMB priority lists: It touts its spam and virus blocker as
user-friendly and extremely accurate, claiming only one in 1 million
false positives, and requiring only a four-step installation that the
company claims completes within minutes for most networks.
The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker price ranges from $2,599 to $5,399,
depending on the number of users (50, 100 or 250) and subscription
length (one or three years). Cisco’s network storage devices start at
$595, while the SBCS Release 1.4 will vary in price depending on a
business's specific needs. All prices may vary by region, Cisco says.
In December, the company announced the debut of the Cisco Small
Business Technology Group (SBTG), led by Pennell and charged with
developing technologies focused on six areas Cisco says SMBs
consistently highlight as top priorities for enabling business growth:
connectivity, security, remote access, productivity, customer
interaction and customer support. The SBTG focuses solely on the
small-business segment and is composed of sales, marketing, services
and technology groups.
On the community front, Cisco also introduced the Small Business
Support Community, modeled on the Cisco Learning Network. The online
community is designed to be a collaborative space where partners and
SMB owners can share their knowledge and expertise on small-business
networking and communications.
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