Cisco to expand India operations, eyes buyouts and JVs
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 15:02 IST   |    1 Comments
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Shanghai: Global networking major Cisco is set to expand its India operations. As the company plans higher levels of engagement with the country's public institutions and political establishment for the execution of its vision of smart, it has acquisitions, joint ventures, and startups on its menu, reports Asha Rai from The Economic Times. The $40-billion company has its East Globalisation Centre's leadership based out of Bangalore. Wim Elfrink, Chief Globalization Officer and Executive Vice President, Cisco Services, said, "We are looking at ten, twenty start-ups in the company . We are looking at partnerships and joint ventures. As we look to expand, we are looking at a whole lot of options including acquisitions." While speaking on the side-lines of the World Expo 2010 at Shanghai, China, where Cisco is the only global IT company to have a corporate pavilion, he said, "We want urban planners to treat technology at the fourth utility when they plan cities. As the internet is to the industry and network to computing, technology will be for the smart cities," he said, adding, "I call this the industrialization of the internet." Cisco at the Shanghai Expo is show-casing its concept of 'Smart+Connected Life' in which technology can be used to build better cities so that people can enjoy better lives. Elfrink said that Cisco will work with a host of partners to build an enabling eco system, "for we don't believe we alone can do this." Companies like Cisco who primarily deal with other corporates as their primary customers are increasingly building relationships with partners in the public space, in the NGO sector and with governments to make their vision of smart and connected life in the urban sphere a reality. Asked whether companies like Cisco had the bandwidth to deal with the political establishment - whose buy-in is critical to make this proposition work - Elfrink said, "We are building these capabilities . We are building relationships with the public institutions. We are also going with partners." In India, Cisco is actively engaged in doing a number of pilots within various verticals like education, health care, realty etc. When asked how viable is the model of smart cities, how they will be financed and how will citizens be charged for the services, Elfrink said, "We don't have all the answers yet on how this will pan out. New, interesting models are being created and will also emerge in the future." The business opportunity offered by what Cisco calls 'Smart+Connected Life' over the next ten years is around $ 1.2-trillion , said Elfrink.

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