With more than 26 million end-users reliant on the BroadWorks platform, it’s safe to say that this solution plays a big part in Cisco’s portfolio. However, the company is also investing as much as possible into the Webex landscape too.
Over the last year, the communication leaders at Cisco said that they’ve noticed an incredible surge in use of tools like Webex as more people work remotely and from home. Volumes of meetings on Webex have increased by as much as 24 times, and demand for convenient cloud-based tools for productivity is growing.
Cisco’s decision to launch Webex for BroadWorks opens a new door for the brand. Service providers will use the existing BroadWorks platform in their stack for call control, whilst accessing Webex as a cloud system for collaboration, messaging, and meetings.
Offering Unique Support for Service Providers
To empower their service provider community, Cisco are doing everything they can to make Webex for BroadWorks as accessible as possible. The SPs that want to access this new functionality will be able to use a wide range of onboarding, training, and support tools to assist them. There’s also support for bringing customer bases into the Webex environment with programs like:
- Administration training: Online courses will provide service providers with a complete overview of the technical implementation elements of Webex for BroadWorks
- Planning: Onboarding and go-to-market project plans will assist SPs in making the first steps on their new sales journey
- Sales enablement: Cisco will be providing complete online training programs for sales, helping to bring sellers up-to-date on the offers available to them
- Marketing tools: Cisco service providers will have access to brandable marketing resources, along with pre-made messaging toolkits and campaigns
- End user support: A powerful online help centre curated for the Webex for BroadWorks environment will help end-users in a self-service environment
A Powerful New Option for Service Providers
According to industry analysts like Cavell’s Dominic Black, it’s obvious that Cisco has been keen to include BroadSoft as a bigger part of its central strategy for a while now. If the combination of the BroadWorks and Webex environments is successful, this should ensure that service providers have a valuable and reliable alternative to help them compete against Microsoft Teams-based offers.
Currently, Microsoft stands out as the biggest threat to those in the Cisco installed base. Implementing Webex for BroadWorks will make Cisco more of a force to be reckoned with, and it’s likely that Cisco will also look for new ways to link in their wider sets of products too, such as Meraki. Cisco’s enhancements and improvements to the portfolio are sure to delight service providers in a world where the world of work is rapidly changing.
