By Karrie Ilagan, Managing Director of Cisco Philippines
As businesses are reopening in the new normal and beginning to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, technology is seen to play key roles. One of these key roles involves maintaining connectivity and productivity for work-from-home staff, as many employees will likely continue remote work.
In the latest global survey commissioned by Cisco with Dimension Research, 58% indicated that they will be working from home at least eight days more each month. Moreover, 95% of workers are still fearful of returning to the office due to the possibility of contracting COVID-19.
Consequently, the need to enhance security in this emerging hybrid work environment rises. In fact, before the pandemic, a survey by IT security firm Netwrix highlighted that 74% of organizations named data security as their top IT priority for this year.
In our continuing commitment to address the digital needs of our small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for 99.5% of businesses in the country, we at Cisco Philippines are bringing the technology leader’s newest products and solutions that will greatly help small businesses. Our newest offerings under the Cisco Designed portfolio are designed to support SMEs towards safe, secure, and efficient hybrid work environments.
As small businesses struggle with data protection and mobile management, security is seen to mainly constrain them from accelerating remote work adoption. The updated Cisco Designed portfolio of small business-focused solutions directly addresses these needs — enabling secure workplaces, better collaboration, simplified manageability, and organizational productivity empowerment among these organizations at prices they can afford.
Modern collaboration tools have become a must-have in the new normal, making it possible for professionals to stay connected and be productive anywhere. With Cisco’s Webex Work, a cloud collaboration solution that combines calling, meeting, and messaging services in a single subscription, businesses can be more assured that work moves forward wherever employees are.
Another solution in our portfolio is the new version of Cisco Business Dashboard, with a streamlined user interface to manage the entire network with integrated lifecycle management and automated alerting. With zero-touch plug and play deployment and hosted in the cloud or on-premises, Cisco Business Dashboard allows organizations to set up, monitor, and operate network devices from a simple interface on any device.
As businesses will reevaluate their office footprint in the new normal, the new Business Switches in the Cisco Designed portfolio provides flexible, effortless, and secure connectivity for businesses who are connecting remote and in-office workforces. These new series of switches provide essential functionality along with advanced security options.
Further enabling businesses to manage their network in the cloud, Cisco Meraki Health and Meraki Insight allow customers to monitor all aspects of the network and applications from their Meraki Dashboard and API, as well as to detect and fix issues in a matter of minutes. This new addition to the Cisco Designed portfolio will help small businesses easily monitor and troubleshoot their network infrastructure in the cloud.
Lastly, with e-mail remaining the number one threat vector for all businesses, Cisco is also offering solutions for enhancing email security.
Customers have enjoyed the benefits of the newly released solutions under the Cisco Designed portfolio. For a drone delivery company, for instance, our Cisco Meraki has allowed them to leverage on enterprise-level internet infrastructure with minimal IT staff and management. Another business, meanwhile, was able to move its entire company to remote in two days with the help of Cisco’s secure collaboration technology.
In addition to securely enabling a remote workforce, Cisco and our partners are also committed to supporting small businesses in terms of enabling secure meetings and collaborations between employees and customers, as well as safeguarding from identity theft, hackers, and internet attacks. We also commit to providing easy installation and reliable IT services using cloud technology; enabling safe and real-time workplace monitoring; and improving productivity and security at shared physical workspaces.
Supporting SMEs financially
As we roll out these new solutions, we at Cisco Philippines have been doing our part in lightening the burden of SMEs through our 0% Financing Programme, which seeks to equip them with the necessary tools and solutions to accelerate their business in the new digital era.
Furthermore, the 0% Financing Programme provides SMEs access to necessary technological enablers from Cisco without breaking their budget. These include tools for virtual meetings and collaboration, cybersecurity solutions, and networking equipment. SMEs will enjoy a three-year, full payout lease plan where they pay equal 36-month payments on their Cisco purchases that costs between USD20,000 to USD300,000. Another perk for SMEs is that they can fully own the equipment at the end of the contract period.
With Cisco’s latest services and products, SMEs can be more equipped and empowered to bounce back and thrive in the new normal. Find out more about the new Cisco Designed portfolio on https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/small-business.html.
Explore Cisco’s hybrid workplace blueprint at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collaboration/hybrid-workplace.html.
