IP telephony leads Cisco growth

India has emerged as one of the top three markets in IP (internet protocol) communications for Cisco, apart from China and Russia as a lot of ITeS and BPO industries move towards IP based next generation crore networks.

"Cisco has been focusing on bringing a lot more technology solutions for customers to address various areas like security, disaster recovery, mobility and infrastructure," said Ashok, senior vice president, ITS, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC.

According to the company sources, Cisco which has recently hived off India into a separate region, a status previously reserved for China.

"We are soon going to have more executive briefing centres, rapid fulfillment depots, stock depots and customer engagement centres in India," B Ashok, country manager - ITS, Cisco Systems India told Business Standard on the sidelines of the Cisco ITS Summit 2006.

The company is also ramping up its India operations in a big way. It is investing $50 million in setting up a new campus in Bangalore, which will be ready by June 2007. This is in addition to the company's global development centre in the city, which is one of the largest outside USA.

The company is also going to increase its headcount in India from the present 1,400 to 3,000 in the next three years, according to company's sources.

Presently, Cisco Systems India has an exclusive customer proof of concept lab (CPOC) based out of Bangalore, which is one of the seven such labs that provide live demonstrations of its various products to the customers.

In fiscal 2005, the company's turnover has grown by 46 per cent to reach Rs 2,703 crore. In the same period, Cisco Systems' net revenue globally was $24.8 billion with an year-on-year growth of 12.5 per cent.

"We belive that India has strong potential for growth with demand present in different sectors like the consumer market, government and defence, IT Services, enterprises and service providers," said Ashok.

Some of Cisco's key customers in India in the ITS sector include Unisys, 3G Global Services, Symphony Services, Nirvana Business Solutions, vCustomer, Transworks, Manjushree Infotech, Phoenix Global Interactions and Talisma.