It's A Small Networking World

The magic word these days for buying network products is SMB. If you're in a small or medium-sized business, you've been bombarded the last in the last few weeks by a dizzying array of new products and services, many of them offering the kinds of capabilities previously only available to large enterprises.

The 800-pound gorilla of the networking world, Cisco, led the way with a new line of switches and services for small and medium sized businesses aimed at helping companies with 100 to 1000 employees deploy converged voice, video and data networks.

Released were entry-level versions of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series of modular switches, including the new Supervisor II-Plus-TS that allows for integrated connectivity to servers, wireless access points, IP phones, printers or users. Also rolled out were Catalyst 4948 fixed switches optimized for server aggregation, and the Cisco Network Assistant, software that offers centralized management of Cisco SMB-Class networks to help simplify deployment and on-going maintenance.

The key here is that Cisco is taking the kinds of products previously targeted at world-spanning enterprises, and gearing them to SMBs at significantly lower prices. Cisco is doing more than just lower the price point, though. It's also making the products easier to deploy and manage, because small businesses don't have the big IT staffs prevalent in larger companies.

The release is part of a continuing effort by Cisco aimed at small and medium sized businesses. Cisco officials say the company expects to target $2 billion in spending over the next two years at the market, and plans to deliver a total of 30 products for it in 2005.Cisco wasn't alone in releasing new products for SMBs. Emulex Corporation and Brocade Communications Systems introduced a storage area network management wizard that will help drive SAN technologies in the small and midrange business market. Again, this brings to SMBs the kinds of technologies previously only available to much larger companies.

McAfee also rolled out an intrusion prevention appliance for the SMB market, and Proxim debuted new wireless entry-level access points and management tools for small and medium-sized companies.

Why the product blitz for SMBs? In a word, money. SMBs represent a sizable and fast-growing technology market. Cisco estimates that the market for SMB networking is $10 billion today, and growing at a compound annual rate of 15 to 20 percent.

So if you're in a small or medium-sized business, expect more of the same - more products with more capabilities at lower prices. If you're looking to buy networking products, it's a great time to be in a small business.

Cisco Targets SMBs with New Switches and Software
Products are aimed at helping small and medium sized businesses deploy converged voice, video and data networks; Cisco plans $2 billion in SMB spending. Firms Release SAN Management Wizard For SMBs
Joint effort is aimed at helping drive SAN technologies in the small and midrange business market.

McAfee Rolls Out SMB Intrusion Prevention Appliance
The intrusion prevention appliance features four 10/100 Ethernet ports, fail-over capability, remote Web-based management, and detection and blocking of a range of peer-to-peer traffic.

Proxim Aims New Wireless Products At SMBs
Moves SMB customers toward wireless LANs, with rollout of a new entry-level access point and management tools

NetGear Releases 48-Port Gigabit Smart Switch Aimed At SMBs
Switch includes optional fiber connectivity and a suite of network management tools.

DEEP BACKGROUND Cisco Strengthens SMB Story
Cisco's new switches offer many features, but will their price points appeal to small businesses?

Golden Times For SMBs
If you run a network in a small to medium-sized business, you've got a lot to smile about. Everyone wants your money, and they're throwing new products and software at you so fast, your head will spin,

Cisco Moving To Clarify Linksys Role
Linksys will focus on customers that rely on VARs to manage their networks, and Cisco will focus on customers with professional IT staf.

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