These are times of unprecedented change for small businesses. Consumers are more demanding than ever before. Online transactions have accelerated. While this new digitization promises greater reward, it also requires small businesses to accelerate digital transformation.
At the same time, many employees are working remotely, and this trend is likely to continue. This requires business continuity that provides employees with fast, reliable access to critical cloud-based business applications. Accelerating digital transformation while ensuring business continuity across a remote and in-office workforce is now more important than ever. New technology will play a key role in supporting new ways of doing business.
Connecting the technology that keeps your business running
Cisco recently announced the expansion of the Cisco Designed family of products and solutions to support small businesses. Chief among them: Cisco Business Switches, which provide a reliable building block for the small business network. These new switches consist of Cisco Business 250 Series Smart Switches and Cisco Business 350 Series Managed Switches.
Benefits for your small business
Many small businesses have limited IT resources and technical know-how to address complex networking challenges. Often, small business owners need a do-it-yourself approach. Designed with small business in mind, Cisco Business Switches provide simple, flexible, and secure connectivity across a remote and in-office workforce. Importantly, they’re priced especially for small businesses.
- Simple to set-up: Plug-and-Play (PnP) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) auto install provide automated set up and provisioning. The PnP agent on Cisco Business Switches enables zero-touch deployment. It securely acquires device images and configurations from a Cisco PnP server, while DHCP auto install provides a convenient way to configure switches in a local network through a TFTP server.
- Flexibility: True Stacking enables up to four Cisco Business Switches to be “stacked” as a unified unit with a single management interface. You can form a small network around a single stackable unit. The network can grow with additional units over time as needed, with little added management complexity and ultimate flexibility.
- Intuitive dashboard: Cisco Business Switches can be easily managed by the Cisco Business Dashboard, a centralized network management tool for Cisco Business switches, routers, and wireless access points. The Cisco Business Dashboard simplifies traditional challenges in managing a business network while automating the deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management of networking devices. Cisco Business 350 Series Managed Switches also support a full Command-Line Interface (CLI) option for users that prefer it.
- Security: Cisco Business Switches support advanced security features such as IEEE 802.1X authentication, port security, and Secure Core Technology (SCT). The Cisco Business 350 Series provides superior Layer 2 threat defense capabilities and IPv6 First Hop Security for mitigating man-in-the-middle attacks (such as MAC, IP, and Address Resolution Protocol spoofing).
- Enhanced connectivity: Cisco Business Switches support 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) and 802.3at PoE+, with up to 48 PoE ports. Powering endpoints over a single Ethernet cable accelerates the deployment of networking or IoT technologies, such as wireless access points, cameras, and surveillance systems.
- Monitoring: The Cisco Business 350 Series Switches support hardware-driven sampled flows (sFlow) to provide statistics for network traffic monitoring, accounting, and traffic planning. sFlow is a valuable source of analytic information about network users and applications, peak usage times, and traffic routing.
Learn More
We recognize that small businesses are undergoing unprecedented changes and we are here to help. Please share your experiences with us in the comments section below. We’d love to hear what you’re doing to keep your business running.
You can learn more about Cisco Business Switches by visiting our product pages: Cisco Business 250 Series Smart Switches, Cisco Business 350 Series Managed Switches, and Cisco Business Dashboard.
Missed Cisco Live? You can catch up with these small business focused sessions:
- The Cisco Designed Portfolio: Right-Sized and Right-Priced for Small Businesses
- Get Your Office IT Set Up Quickly and Securely
- A Simple, Flexible, Secure Solution Designed for Small Businesses
- Cisco Business Switches: 250 & 350 Series demo
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