Cisco Touts SMB Finance Deals To Encourage Spending

Cisco is attempting to kick-start IT spending by offering an attractive three-year, and zero-percent financing offer. The offer is available for customers in the United States and Europe.

The deal, from Cisco Capital SM (its capital financing division) is for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The financing offer applies to all Cisco products and services from $1,000 up to $250,000 in the US. The company said the offer is designed to help businesses adopt state-of-the-art Cisco solutions quickly and easily through leases, with flexible terms and fast credit processing.

In Europe, the EasyLease zero-percent finance offer is available in Europe to all products and solutions up to £200,000 or 250,000 euros, until the end of July 2010, for agreements running a maximum of three years – or 42 months in Italy. The offer is currently available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

If customers purchase at least one Cisco Smart Business Architecture (SBA), they may also be eligible for a three-month payment deferral, the company noted zero-percent financing is available through Cisco Certified Partners until 31 July, 2010. The offer is the latest element of Cisco’s Navigate to Accelerate initiative, designed to help Cisco channel partners navigate the challenging economic environment and accelerate their business with Cisco. The company recently celebrated the anniversary of its $100 million (£62 million) small-business investment with a variety of small-business-specific partner profitability initiatives, service and support options, and a broad SMB technology portfolio.

“At a time when capital budgets are limited, our ability to provide a variety of financing options can help our customers acquire the technology they need to boost productivity and distance themselves from their competition, especially as the economy recovers,” said Cisco Capital president Kris Snow.

Kristin Rogers, executive VP of sales and marketing for PC Mall, said with pressure on cash flow and competing demands for budgets, funding new technology investment can be difficult for many customers. “However, spreading the cost of technology acquisition over time simplifies budgeting and increases flexibility,” she said. “With zero interest and manageable payments from Cisco Capital, we can grow sales, unlock larger deals and increase profitability.”

In December 2009, Cisco announced partner presales technical support and a hardware advanced-replacement service specifically designed for partners selling to the small business market. Cisco also announced it is expanding the industry’s broadest portfolio of small business technology with enhanced networking, security and collaboration solutions. In addition, Cisco announced it was continuing its partner profitability and financing programs to help partners and small businesses accelerate their business and boost the economy as it recovers.

“Cisco is actively working with our channel partners to navigate the current economic challenges while investing for future growth,” said Cisco’s senior vice president of US and Canada Channels Wendy Bahr. “The expansion of this zero-percent financing offer will help our US channel partners prepare to ‘accelerate’ during the economic upturn.”

This story was updated to add information about the offer’s availability in Europe.