Networking, cloud and cybersecurity major, Cisco is bullish on India, which is one of the top 10 markets for the company, said Daisy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India. The company is seeing increased adoption of its entire product portfolio across industry verticals in the region.

Speaking to businessline on the sidelines of the Cisco India Summit, the leader said that growth is visible across all of Cisco’s product offerings as it plans to make India one of the top five markets for Cisco by 2025.

“We see growth in all pockets of our business, so it’s fairly democratic across product families, and customer segments, and that is what we prefer. Companies always like to de-risk,” said Daisy.

In terms of the share of each portfolio, since the company brings out capabilities both internally, organically, and through acquisitions, its portfolio mix is always changing. “Our focus is to ensure that in all of the spaces we play, we want to be number one or two. So either we are already there or our plans and intentions are clearly to get there, but the mix will keep changing because we are an innovative company,” she said.

Strategy

According to Samir Kumar Mishra, Director, Security Business, Cisco India & SAARC, the company’s idea of innovation is a result of several factors such as building assets, working with multiple partners across the globe, and buying and investing in various start-ups and companies.  

As to its strategy, while considering inorganic growth opportunities, Daisy said, “We buy companies where it’s either an addition to our current portfolio or it is an adjacency to our current portfolio that our customers and partners often want us to be a part of.”

Moreover, she noted, “From a skill standpoint of view, we at Cisco are constantly watching the space in five areas -artificial intelligence and machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, automation, and observability.”

To date, Cisco has acquired four Indian companies. “In India, we’ve invested in several companies and have also acquired several India-based start-ups and emerging companies. We are constantly evaluating and looking out for start-ups with immense potential.” The list includes 42Hertz (2019), Cloud Cherry (2019), July Systems (2018), Cmpute.io (2017), and Pawaa (2015).

India remains a critical market for Cisco and has its second largest R&D centre outside the USA. It has a headcount of 15,000, of which 8,000 are its pure engineering base. “These employees are instrumental in not only aiding the innovation of cutting-edge security solutions but also supporting Cisco’s business model transformation towards software and subscriptions,” the company said.

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