Bangkok--11 Sep--PC & Associates Consulting Cisco is planning to focus its efforts in Thailand in its financial year 2008 (August 2007 to July 2008) to help individuals and organisations in the country to gain more advantages from information and communications technology (ICT). This can eventually contribute to national transformation for Thailand. Globally, the company recently reported FY07 revenues of US$34.9 billion, an increase of 23 per cent year-on-year. These results that were driven partly by the trend of the network becoming the center of all communications and IT as well as the growth of Web 2.0 technologies. “Cisco’s vision that the network is becoming the platform for all forms of communications and IT is evident by the convergence of data, voice, video and mobility onto Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks. This is Cisco’s core competency and we have industry leading IP expertise in all functions of the company,” said Dr. Tatchapol Poshyanonoda managing director for Cisco Thailand. “Nations and cities around the world are beginning to use ICT to create sustainable economic development, bridge the digital divide and build a platform for more efficient and citizen-centric government. They are doing this for a simple reason. ICT acts as a booster for productivity growth. A productivity increase of 3 per cent doubles your standard of living in 25 years but a 5 per cent increase doubles your standard of living in 15 years. There is a real risk that Thailand can be left behind if we do not start putting in place the systems and tools that will benefit all individuals and organisations. Cisco and its industry partners have the expertise, the technologies and solutions, and the commitment to help the country drive towards national transformation through ICT,” he added. Cisco’s focus in Thailand in FY08 will be on three main fronts: customer segment; industry verticals; and technology. At the customer segment level, Cisco will continue to work with service providers and large enterprises to build the platform to enable high-speed and highly secure IP networks as well as develop the services that will quickly lead to benefits. The commercial segment, including small and medium businesses, is also a key market for Cisco in Thailand and one of its fastest growing segments. In addition to customer segments, Cisco Thailand has created special teams to focus on selected industry verticals such as government, finance, education, healthcare and a relatively new area for Cisco, which the company calls TREC (tourism, real estate and construction). While Cisco Thailand will continue to drive Cisco’s technologies across the full range of its product and solution offerings, greater focus will be placed on Unified Communications, Data Center and Cisco Connected Real Estate (CCRE).Unified Communications and Data Centers The Cisco Unified Communications system is a suite of voice, data and video products and applications specifically designed to help organizations of all sizes to communicate more effectively. It allows customers to integrate their communication system with their IT infrastructure, streamlining business processes for the way effective businesses need to work today. “Unified Communications is at the heartbeat of how ICT can enable collaboration across operations dispersed geographically. Cisco TelePresence, for example, has generated tremendous excitement among our customers because they understand how this technology can change the way they collaborate. We now have TelePresence orders from approximately 50 customers around the world. These customers are realizing that the life-like experience unique to TelePresence is enabling business transformation that could drive top and bottom line growth,” said Dr. Tatchapol. Cisco’s Data Center solutions is also helping customers generate tremendous productivity increases and cost reductions. “The heartbeat of any organization today is in the data center. In the never-ending pursuit to reduce the complexity of IT resources management and to lower the total cost of ownership, the industry has focused a great deal of attention on solutions that consolidate and virtualize IT assets. Cisco’s solutions for the Data Center improves efficiencies and lowers power consumption by reducing the number of components and devices thus making data centers ‘greener’,” said Dr. Tatchapol.CCRE for TREC The Cisco Connected Real Estate (CCRE) solution for the Tourism, Real Estate and Construction (TREC) industries, is a framework that positions the “Network as the Platform”; this concept will ultimately facilitate the transformation of the real estate industry. Cisco Connected Real Estate benefits all stakeholders in the design, construction, and real estate industries, as well as the users and tenants of the final built environment. The TREC industries are non-traditional areas for Cisco but the company believes that it has the solution to enable these industries to benefit from the power of IP networks. “With CCRE, a converged IP network is built into the fabric of every building, and acts as the platform supporting all other real estate requirements, from business processes to revenue generating occupant services and building and business utilities. The Cisco network becomes the “Information Utility” — as fundamental as plumbing, piping and wiring,” said Dr. Tatchapol.About Cisco Systems Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco products are supplied in Thailand by Cisco Systems International, BV. Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not indicate a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information. For more information, please contact: News Release issue by: Suchitra Kovitwanichkanont. Sunisa Kaewthai Cisco Systems (Thailand) Ltd. PC & Associates Consulting Co., Ltd. Tel: 0 2263 7055 (Direct) Tel: 0 2971 3711 Fax: 0 2253 8440 Fax: 0-2521 9030 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]