The pandemic has affected small businesses dramatically. Larger organizations have tapped into federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) other resources. On the other hand, small businesses have had to compete with tens of thousands of others for limited Small Business Administration (SBA) and local city and state disaster relief funding. Further compounding their challenges, many small businesses are service oriented and adversely impacted by shelter-in orders and essential business rulings. For these reasons, I was excited to moderate a recent virtual session with a Cisco small business executive, small business partner and customer. I want to share some insights from that discussion. If you missed it, you could find the replay here.
Port53 and Cisco deliver simplified security
Omar Zarabi, CEO of Port53 Technologies, provided his pandemic perspective during the session. As a Cisco business partner born in the cloud, Port53 delivers a suite of security solutions for small businesses that function as an enterprise-grade security operations center (commonly referred to as a SOC). It is a compelling offering delivered as a service – simplifying the deployment and management of secure networking utilizing Cisco Umbrella. I believe that the cloud-native aspect of Umbrella provides the right level of scalability for businesses of all sizes. I also applaud Cisco for offering free trials and no-cost short term Umbrella licenses starting in mid-2020 as Covid-19 reached its apex. I wrote about that in a Forbes article. If interested, you can find it here.
Mr. Zarabi also spoke to the financing programs offered by Cisco Capital that provides needed credit facilities for his clients. Cisco offered a Covid-19 program tailored to small businesses’ specific needs that included upfront deferment of payment and low-interest rates. From my perspective, this was significant as the SBA struggled in the early days of the pandemic to process needed loans to keep small businesses in operation.
Cheetah Technologies lands on its feet
Cat pun intended! Before the pandemic, Cisco’s small business customer, Cheetah Technologies, was supplying restaurants with needed supplies. With shelter-in orders and dine-in restrictions implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19, Cheetah had to find a way to pivot or risk closure. Cheetah CEO Na’ama Moran quickly identified an opportunity to shift to consumer delivery of food and supplies in the Bay Area, and the rest is history. Cheetah turned its fleet of refrigerated trucks into micro-distribution centers allowing consumers to place contactless orders via its app. Even more impressive, its “Cheetah for People” initiative also services retirement homes, assisted living centers, and homeless shelters with needed provisions. Cisco networking infrastructure is the glue that provides the scale for Cheetah to move from servicing ~3,000 restaurant owners in the past to tens of thousands of consumers today.
Wrapping up
Denise Lee, who leads Cisco small business globally summed it up well in addressing five critical steps for small business success as the session concluded. It includes:
· Identification and prioritization of critical business processes to automate,
· Evaluation of the right mix of technology investment,
· Investment in digital talent and skills,
· Determining the right technology partner and,
· Formulating a plan to simplify, start small, learn, and scale.
From my perspective, Cisco and its extensive network of business partners are well-positioned to facilitate small business resilience and success. The networking giant can lean into its deep networking experience, broad portfolio, and flexible financing options to ensure the ongoing connectivity needs for businesses of any size. As we begin the process of putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror, there are positive lessons learned. Hosting the session with Cisco, Port53, and Cheetah Technologies went far to provide some impactful examples of American small business resiliency.
Will Townsend leads the Networking Infrastructure and Carrier Services practice for Moor Insights & Strategy. Mr. Townsend advises some of the largest networking infrastructure providers and carriers in the world. He has been featured on NPR, CNBC, in the Wall Street Journal, and frequently contributes to Forbes.com and other outlets providing insights into enterprise networking and 5G.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/resiliency-american-small-business-will-townsend-1e/
