Cisco Extends Borderless Network Offerings with New Compact Switches

| Jan 12, 2011 | Enterprise Networking
| Analyst: Mike Spanbauer

Event Summary

January 10, 2011 -- Cisco announced a new line of compact switches extending the 2960 and 3560 switch families. These devices come in PoE and non-PoE variants and support the same feature set as their full-sized brethren. The switches eliminate the need to wire all endpoints centrally, which greatly reduces wiring costs in stores or classrooms, in some cases enabling the devices to pay for themselves. Available in March, prices range from $745 to $1,999.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Cisco’s new switch introduction, because the compact switch market is one that has been under-served by enterprise switch vendors for years. These new switches complement the vendor’s portfolio and offer customers greater deployment flexibility with fewer wiring requirements (e.g., a switch in a classroom vs. a centralized wiring closet).

• Vendor Importance: High to Cisco, as these new compact switches provide a form factor and a few new features that did not previously exist in the enterprise-class offering. With the ability to push a consistent software image out from closet to classroom (or other deployment), the C family of products enables customer choice. This is one of the key points of the Borderless Networks architecture.

• Market Impact: Moderate on the enterprise networking market, because this product class, and in particular the 3560, now enables enterprise-class services all the way to the “extended” edge. In the past, customers would deploy a simple Layer 2 switch with no security or limited security capabilities, resulting in network administration challenges and possible security risks.

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Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses

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Analytical Perspective

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