Tandberg a 'significant' deal for Cisco

New announcements around Cisco telepresence to come says New Zealand Country Manager.

Last week Cisco acquired fellow telepresence firm Tandberg in a deal that Cisco's reseller partners have been hoping for and urging for some time.

The US$3.3 billion deal, according to Geoff Lawrie, New Zealand Country Manager for Cisco, is “significant” – the company spends US$6 billion on acquisitions each year. He says it “fills out the video partner portfolio” by bringing telepresensce down to the single desktop and the phone.

He added that so far telepresence has had good traction in the New Zealand market and it plays directly into the government’s objectives for productivity within businesses in New Zealand.

Video has been one of the four pillars of focus for Cisco at its partner conference this year and the company plans to run the Tandberg channel program in tandem with the Cisco telepresence partner programme for the time being. The company is set on creating a best of breed program for partners over the next six to nine months, with an eye to investment protection for partners and value, not volume.

Lawrie told The Channel there will be some other “pretty significant” announcements regarding telepresence in the coming months.