Cisco IoT Leader On Why Partners 'Need' To Hire OT Domain Experts

Cisco channel partners looking to drive Internet of Things sales and new opportunities should hire domain experts in the IoT vertical they're looking to attack, says Bryan Tantzen, general manager of Cisco's Industries Product Group and Connected Industry & Manufacturing business unit.

"Bring in and hire industry domain expertise," said Tantzen, addressing channel partners in an interview with CRN. "You need to get a couple of people in the manufacturing space – other key verticals like energy, utilities, oil and gas – people that come from the vertical that speak the language, that can talk the talk, and they can really equip your broader teams to deploy into this $2 billion market."

Some channel partners, such as New York-based Logicalis, have already hired domain experts in the healthcare arena like doctors and nurses to increase IoT sales and opportunities.

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Tantzen said there's a $2 billion IoT market opportunity for channel partners in manufacturing and related verticals like oil and gas. He said Cisco's market share in the IoT manufacturing industry currently sits at 15 percent, with the ability to jump to upwards of 70 percent share through channel partners.

"Working together [with partners] we should be at 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent – so this is a huge market opportunity right now that's growing at over 20 percent a year," said Tantzen.

In a video interview with CRN, Tantzen explains other techniques for partners to drive net new IoT sales including forming new partnerships and getting trained on more Cisco IoT products.