Cisco announces new investment to power hybrid work across India

Doubling down on its commitment to India, Cisco announced that it has invested in a dedicated India Webex infrastructure and necessary regulatory licenses to accelerate Webex adoption across the country. The India Webex infrastructure, the first-of-its-kind dedicated to collaboration solutions in the country, includes a dedicated data center and is backed by Cisco Secure products and solutions to ensure best-in-class data privacy and security.

The data center will offer a host of services to customers and allow Cisco to sustain continued growth, facilitate a rich user experience, and deliver industry-leading security and management across the Webex Suite. In addition, local dedicated Webex infrastructure will lower operating costs, increase technical efficiencies, and enable Cisco to provide India-specific pricing for customers. Furthermore, the data center will allow Cisco to partner with more start-ups, customers, partners, and service providers in India and bring new innovations to market faster.

This development comes in response to the massive and permanent shift towards hybrid work models. According to the Cisco Hybrid Work Study 2022, almost 3 in 4 Indian employees favor a hybrid working environment in the future. Cisco has seen a subsequent rise in preference for hybrid work across sectors, with Webex in India consistently recording the second-highest usage after the U.S. since March 2020. Recognizing the growing need for more flexible work models, the Government is also taking the lead in building regulatory frameworks to facilitate hybrid work across the nation.

Dave West, President, Cisco APJC: “Our goal is to create a more inclusive work experience for the three-fold growth expected in the number of digital workers in India by 2030. If we do this right, we can level the playing field and create new opportunities, regardless of geographic borders, socioeconomic background, or language. With hundreds of millions of monthly participants, Webex is one of the few platforms with the global scale to drive this transformation, and the new data center is the latest in a series of investments Cisco has made to support the accelerating shift to hybrid work in India.” 

Daisy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India & SAARC: “This is a significant milestone in our endeavor to power hybrid work at scale and speed. As more companies go hybrid, the demand for secure and adaptable hybrid work solutions will increase. With this investment we are looking to capture a growing market that is expected to reach over USD 250 million in India by 2025. With dedicated India Webex infrastructure, we can now offer enhanced performance at a much lower cost to our customers, and empower their move to a successful hybrid working future.” 

Sandeep Mehra, Managing Director, Collaboration, APJC: “Webex by Cisco already has a widespread global data center footprint in the industry, which complies with a range of certifications and country-specific regulations. With this announcement, Cisco has invested in a 360-degree approach to privacy, security, and compliance, marking a significant step towards helping Indian businesses unlock the potential of their hybrid workforces.”