Cisco launches India Webex infra, sees permanent shift to hybrid work model

Facility's dedicated data centre will enable Cisco to offer India-specific pricing for its customers, taking down costs by over 50%

Network solution provider Cisco on Tuesday announced a dedicated India Webex infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of its unified communications platform Webex, as the company expected a permanent shift towards a hybrid work model across sectors in the country.

The multinational IT and networking company said it has invested in India Webex infrastructure, which includes a dedicated data centre backed by Cisco Secure products and solutions. The new data centre, mainly operated from Mumbai, will enable Cisco to offer India-specific pricing for its customers, taking down the costs by over 50 per cent. However, the company did not disclose the amount of investment it made in setting up the new infrastructure.

Webex offers cloud-based collaboration solutions including video meetings, calling, messaging, events, polling, asynchronous video, and customer experience solutions like contact centre s and collaboration devices.

Cisco has seen a subsequent rise in preference for hybrid work in India. The country serves as the second largest user base for Webex after the US, since the start of the pandemic.

According to the Cisco Hybrid Work Study 2022, almost three out of four Indian employees favour a hybrid working environment in the future. Cisco said there was a “massive and permanent shift towards hybrid work models.”

The company said that it has received the necessary regulatory licenses for the new infrastructure. It added that this was the first-of-its-kind investment dedicated to collaboration solutions in the country.

“This is a significant milestone in our endeavour to power hybrid work at scale and speed. As more companies go hybrid, the demand for secure and adaptable hybrid work solutions will increase. With this investment we are looking to capture the growing market that is expected to reach over USD 250 million in India by 2025,” said Daisy Chittilapilly, President of Cisco India & SAARC.

The new data centre will help Cisco to sustain continued growth, facilitate a rich user experience, and deliver security and management across the Webex suite. It will also lower operating costs, increase technical efficiency, and enable lower cheaper pricing options.

Dave West, President of Cisco for the APJC region, said: “Our goal is to create more inclusive work experience for the threefold growth expected in the number of digital workers in India by 2030. With hundreds of millions of monthly participants, Webex is one of the few platforms with the global scale to drive this transformation and the new data centre  is the latest in the series of investments Cisco has made to support an accelerating shift to hybrid work in India.”