The CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, has published a letter to customers and partners, offering reassurance and updates on the actions the company is taking in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Robbins described the pandemic as ‘dynamic and intense’ for everyone in the past few weeks, saying: ‘Our first priority has been to help our customers and partners around the world to keep their teams safe. One way to do this, according to medical professionals, has been to encourage social distancing. Like many of our customers, we have implemented work from home policies to limit our employees’ exposure, but it’s been crucial to do this without compromising the ability to remain connected, productive and work securely. To get customers up and running quickly, we have been providing free offerings and cloud-based services across Webex, security solutions and more that have kept newly remote workforces running productively.’
He promised that, regardless how complex the situation is, customers and partners have his full support. Business continuity is something to which the company has given a lot of consideration over the years. ‘Since the start of the pandemic,’ he said, ‘we have made our advice on remote business continuity more widely available on our Supporting Business Continuity site, which gives you access to a number of best practices we employ ourselves and with customers. I hope you find this resource useful.’
In addition, Robbins reassured that the last few months have seen partner, supply chain, customer support, and IT teams preparing for this pandemic. Manufacturing, component suppliers and logistics operations teams have been focused on rerouting orders, expediting alternate supplies, and manufacturing capabilities have been added around the world. ‘Our teams are managing contingencies on a daily and even hourly basis,’ said Robbins, ‘and I am confident that you will have access to the equipment and connectivity you need to combat and contain the coronavirus and stay productive.’
The company has also been engaging with heads of state and government agencies to support policies that keep their economies, medical professionals, and schools productive while ensuring public safety. ‘With help from our partners,’ said Robbins, we have brought video conferencing and networking solutions to medical facilities and doctors as well as schools in China, Italy, and South Korea. In total, we have donated over $1m worth of collaboration and networking technologies globally, with more to come.’
Last year saw Cisco acquire Acacia Communications as part of its initiative to make networks smarter, simpler and more secure.
