If you love watching Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, welcome to my world. And I don’t just mean that I love those shows, too – what I really mean is that my job is to literally listen as startups pitch their ideas. I then get to validate those ideas before working with and mentoring the startups as I try to get them successfully through Cisco’s Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partnership program.
The ISV program is basically built to develop, market, and sell software that the startups create with Cisco integrations. Being a part of the team that addresses the future of work and working with startups is one of the reasons why I love working at Cisco. It’s great to see the type of impact I can have with startups trying to solve real world problems and improving people’s quality of life.
A part of my role as a Product Manager is to also help run the Webex Ecosystem Program for Webex Rooms as well as the Webex for Startups Program which provides Webex startup packages building integrations to our platform. I get to work with budding entrepreneurs that develop integrated solutions through Webex API’s, particularly with integrations to Webex Rooms devices.
Ever watch Silicon Valley, The Martian or have found yourself trying to identify the video device that’s on Elon Musk’s desk? Those are all Webex Room video conferencing devices, and those products are made at our Cisco offices in Oslo, Norway! Through all the great innovation that’s developed in Oslo with our video conference endpoints, we have also partnered with Capital Factory, based in Austin, Texas to help us connect with startups to address the future of work use cases.
Capital Factory is a coworking space and tech investor as well as a Cisco Innovation Hub Partner. Together, we collaborate to accelerate Cisco Cloud solutions like Webex, Meraki and DNA Spaces alongside with Devnet to address trends in the future of work that are bringing radical shifts to how we live and do business.
Here are a few use case integrations with Webex devices and our startup partners that I’ve worked on:
1. M.io: M.io came out of the Y Combinator program and was headquartered at Capital Factory. We were able to hear them pitch their cloud solution where they integrate and sync communications between Webex Teams, Slack and Microsoft Team. They are now one of our top Webex ISV partners.
2. 3Data: A VR company which created a real-time 2D & 3D virtual Network Operations Center pulling Meraki analytics data and presenting it to remote users over Webex, as shown here on a Webex Board.
3. Phunware: A wayfinding company which provides turn by turn directions to find an available conference room.
4. Joan: Room Booking is another startup which provides a tablet outside the conference room and can de-book ghost meetings based on presence sensor technology on the Webex endpoints.
5. SplashAccess: A startup that focuses on Wi-Fi guest onboarding and analytics that can also pull Webex devices sensor data to relay how many people are in the conference room.
What’s great about these partnerships is that they’re mutually beneficial – Cisco brings these solutions to our Enterprise customers to address real-time issues they’re experiencing. And together we make the future of work a much brighter, more efficient space to create in.
Being able to help connect the dots by bringing them into these settings is such a rewarding job. I love seeing them land their first deal after their years of hard work, and – together – making an impact across the globe that benefits everyone.
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