Cisco accords tier I status to Pune

The booming economy of Pune, especially the presence of verticals in education, information technology enabled services (ITeS) and manufacturing, have compelled internet networking giant Cisco to set up its marketing and sales office in the city and classify it as a tier I market.

"We have recently set up our own sales and marketing office in the city with a team of five people as the city presents a tremendous potential. The importance given to the city is now on par with other metros such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad," said Jangoo Dalal, senior vice-president (enterprise), Cisco Systems (India & Saarc).

The Pune office covers whole of Maharashtra, excluding Mumbai and Goa. A classification as a tier I town signifies, "How we approach the market, the frequency of training with regards to level and depth, maintaining a rapid fulfillment spares depot for servicing the critical network needs of our clients here and the benchmarking of the city for potential business," said Dalal.

The business potential of the verticals currently stands at "ITeS and manufacturing contributing 30-35 per cent each to the overall revenues in the region, banking and finance - 20 per cent and education and research at 10 per cent," he said.

Another reason the company needed to be present in the city, he said, "Companies here were not only using Cisco products for networking but were deploying it for strategic business advantage, hence services provided by us such as design and support, maintaining a spares supply depot were critical," said Dalal.

Emphasising the importance of the emerging market in Pune, he said, "We already have about 200 customers here, right from Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto to the auto ancillary units, small and medium business houses, corporate banks, software export houses, ITeS companies and educational institutes, which represent a complete set of customers."

He added, "Besides, we expect a business growth of over 70 per cent. There are chances that we may also double our business here in the coming year."

With this redefining of tiers, the company has also renewed its focus on the tier II towns, "We have classified 50 tier II towns and have a aggressive roadshow campaign to cover them," said Dalal.

THE LINE UP

TIER I: Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and now Pune

TIER II: Nasik, Nagpur, Aurangabad

TIER III: Satara, Solapur and Sangli