Bringing Cisco and BroadSoft Together: An Update from BroadSoft Connections

BroadSoft Connections has long been established as one of the largest communication and teleconference events in the annual calendar. However, this year, the excitement was palpable, after an incredible and innovative announcement that confirmed that Cisco was buying BroadSoft for $ 1.9 billion.

I was there to attend Connections this year, and I heard directly from Cisco Vice President Rowan Trollope and BroadSoft CEO Michael Tessler about the impending purchase and what it means for partners. and the final customers.
Create improved collaboration and communication

Rowan was the first to speak and talk about the journey that Cisco has undertaken so far to create a simpler and more complete solution for a UC & C stack. Rowan suggested that Cisco has a long-standing focus on improving its strategy. Collaboration in a "flexible" manner and noted that the new acquisition of BroadSoft could give the brand access to solutions it did not have before.

As the modern computing environment becomes more complex and distributed, companies such as Cisco and BroadSoft have been looking for solutions that make speed and scalability more accessible. In 2012, Cisco purchased Meraki for $ 1.2 billion, not only to operate its wireless solutions, but also to take full advantage of its infrastructure management technologies. Now this acquisition will be even more important since they cover the base installed by 18 million BroadSoft users.

By placing BroadSoft at the center of its strategy, Cisco can provide richer and more scalable solutions to a wider audience around the world, which can make it the largest competitor in the unified communications market.

An evolution of the BroadSoft strategy

After a positive message about the future of Cisco and its evolution of UC, Rowan spoke with Michael Tessler, who pointed out that, so far, BroadSoft has focused mainly on SMEs. However, with Cisco, BroadSoft will be able to drive some of its "high-end" technologies, especially its three strategic foundations: "BroadSoft Business", "BroadCloud" and "Powered by BroadSoft".

Tessler noted that BroadSoft has always focused on end-user productivity in its suite of applications, making it easier for companies to seamlessly transition to the cloud. They will continue with their open solution for "bOpen" integration, as Michael pointed out that one of the most important elements of BroadSoft's success has been its "open ecosystem". When you explore the BroadSoft Connections broadcast, it's easy to see a wide variety of partners and diverse solutions with BroadSoft integrations.

Address conflicts in a large acquisition

Of course, combining two brands the size of Cisco and BroadSoft is not without its difficulties. In the question and answer session that followed the speeches by Tessler and Trollope, both members debated about the "Spark" overlay and what it would take to combine business collaboration. Rowan said that rationalization will have to start in the portfolio. For now, HCS will continue as a corporate gaming solution, while everything else below that level remains tuned to BroadSoft technology.

One point of concern is the apparent containment of channels between BroadCloud and Cisco HCS. However, Rowan and Michael seemed confident that the two brands could work together to serve the market in the corporate space of HCS using BroadSoft, while larger deployments in BroadCloud could potentially become HCS. Rowan even discussed the idea of ​​partner conflicts over IP endpoints and video and said

    "We have to continue adopting BroadSoft's winning strategy: we have to give customers the option."

However, the pair did not have an answer for everything. Michael Tessler deftly asked a question about "BroadSoft My Room" and "Meet," noting that it was too early to comment on the changes to the "Powered by BroadSoft" brand. In addition, many participants wondered what companies would do to deal with the dramatic differences in their price structures.


Design a common vision for the future

One of the most important issues that BroadSoft and Cisco have adopted together in their future potential is the idea of ​​allowing customers to have more "options." Rowan and Michael seemed to be connected at this point, which has long been a key part of Broadsoft's USP.

Rowan said Cisco and BroadSoft would invest much of their investment in the customer experience area to offer a simpler solution to their customers and develop synergy in terms of sales incentives, cross-selling, etc.

For now, Cisco has suggested that they did not intend to continue with additional UCaS acquisitions, at least not in the immediate future. However, the pre-existing relationship between Cisco and Apple could open new doors for BroadSoft to work with Apple and create new technological solutions for the network.