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In a bid to empower a growing hybrid workforce in India, networking major Cisco on Tuesday announced significant investment in a dedicated India Webex infrastructure, that includes a new data centre, and necessary regulatory licenses to accelerate Webex adoption across the country.

A dedicated India Webex infrastructure will enable the company to offer India-specific pricing for customers, lowering the cost by over 50 per cent.

Cisco has seen a subsequent rise in preference for hybrid work across sectors, with Webex in India consistently recording the second-highest usage after the US, since March 2020 when the pandemic began.

"Our goal is to create a more inclusive work experience for the three-fold growth expected in the number of digital workers in India by 2030. If we do this right, we can level the playing field and create new opportunities, regardless of geographic borders, socioeconomic background, or language," said Dave West, President, Cisco APJC.

The India Webex infrastructure is backed by 'Cisco Secure' products and solutions.

Webex is one of the few platforms with the global scale to drive this transformation, and the "new data centre is the latest in a series of investments Cisco has made to support the accelerating shift to hybrid work in India," West added.

The data centre, said the company, will offer a host of services to customers, facilitate a rich user experience, and deliver industry-leading security and management across the Webex Suite.

Furthermore, the data centre will allow Cisco to partner with more startups, customers, partners, and service providers in the country.

According to the latest 'Cisco Hybrid Work Study 2022', almost three in four Indian employees favor a hybrid working environment in the future.

"With this investment we are looking to capture a growing market that is expected to reach over $250 million in India by 2025," said Daisy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India & SAARC.

With dedicated India Webex infrastructure, "we can now offer enhanced performance at a much lower cost to our customers, and empower their move to a successful hybrid working future," she added.

Webex is a leading provider of cloud-based collaboration solutions which includes video meetings, calling, messaging, events, polling, asynchronous video and customer experience solutions like contact center and purpose-built collaboration devices.

"With this announcement, Cisco has invested in a 360-degree approach to privacy, security, and compliance, marking a significant step towards helping Indian businesses unlock the potential of their hybrid workforces," said Sandeep Mehra, Managing Director, Collaboration, APJC.