Cisco Updates Small-business Switches, Phones, Cameras

From PC World: Cisco Systems is updating parts of its product line for small businesses, a world where IT needs have grown up over the past few years.

In a broad product rollout set for Wednesday, the company is introducing new managed Ethernet switches, IP (Internet Protocol) phones, security cameras and other products. Cisco faces a wide range of competitors in this market segment, which the company defines as companies with 100 or fewer employees. Those rivals include well-known names such as D-Link and Netgear. But it also needs to keep up with small-business technology concerns that have grown up, according to analyst Steve Hilton of Analysys Mason.

"Networking for small business, and IT for small business, is starting to incorporate concepts from large enterprises and from consumers," Hilton said. In just the past few years, small businesses have become more concerned about security, business continuity, virtualization and VoIP (voice over IP), though they may not use those exact words, Hilton said.

On Wednesday, Cisco will start shipping the Cisco 300 Series Managed Switches, fitting them in between the low-end 100 series unmanaged devices and the 500 Series at the high end. The switches are designed to tackle at least two issues that large enterprises already face and SMBs are starting to see, power consumption and IPv6. Cisco said it designed the 300 Series for low power consumption and that the systems save as much as 74 percent on energy compared with earlier products. The new switches also are designed for use with IPv6, the new version of IP that is likely to become more important and widely used over the next several years as IPv4 addresses are used up.

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