Cisco leading Latin America's IT evolution. (Focus On: Special Advertising Feature).

Around the world, technology is boosting corporate productivity, helping organizations lower their costs, penetrate new markets and generate greater returns for their shareholders. In the United States, for instance, an estimated 40 to 50 percent of future annual productivity growth will come from investments in information technology (IT).

In Latin America, political and economic disruptions have slowed investment in new technology. As a result, many IT companies have reported disappointing financial results, while others are re-evaluating their participation in the region.

In contrast, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, is fully committed to helping Latin American businesses, governments and other organizations realize the many competitive advantages of today's networks.

"We believe the Internet and network-enabled business solutions are a key component in improving economic conditions in Latin America," says Keith Goodwin, president, Americas International (Canada and Latin America) region. "Although many of our competitors are cutting investments in the region, we are here to stay."

With its strong financial position (no debt and US$21 billion in cash), Cisco is boosting its market share in Latin America and expects to grow 10 percent faster than the overall market in 2002.

"We believe our closeness with our customers is a key to our market success," says Goodwin. "Our clients are looking for greater profitability, stronger cash flow and improved customer satisfaction -- the same drivers that apply to our business in others parts of the world as well. The technology message is even more compelling in Latin America's difficult economic climate."

While Latin companies that invest in new IT and Internet technologies are likely to be far more competitive in the global marketplace, the region overall is lagging other parts of the world. Only 1.7 percent of Latin America's gross domestic product (GDP) is invested in IT, compared with 5.2 percent in the United States, 3.5 percent in Europe and 2.4 percent in Asia.

"As countries and companies within the region begin to recognize the linkage between investment in IT and productivity and competitiveness, we'll see an increasing investment in these areas going forward," says Goodwin. "The prognosis for the region is very positive."

Cisco is leading the global convergence around Internet protocol (IP) based technology. Service providers and enterprises are building their backbone networks based on P solutions that allow voice, data and video communications to be provided on the same network. Evolving services like IP telephony, virtual private networks, data storage and security-related services offer huge potential benefits for Latin organizations.

IP telephony, for instance, is an enabler of applications like smart customer contact and customer relationship management (CRM), increasing productivity and customer satisfaction. "We are helping telecom and Internet service providers develop new services they can bring to the enterprise and small to mid-size companies, while growing their revenue and profitability."

With four operational divisions in Latin America, Cisco works with a number of partners to bring customized technology solutions to customers throughout the region. While Cisco concentrates on its core competencies in basic network infrastructure technologies, its partners provide professional services, consulting, systems integration and other services to customers. The company's partners also manufacture Cisco's equipment in Latin American facilities.

Cisco is contributing to Latin America's future by establishing nonprofit Cisco Networking Academies. More than 20,000 students are learning IT skills at 450 academies in the region.

"This is a great collaboration involving Cisco, local communities and educational institutions designed to create new, high-paying jobs," says Goodwin. "This is a win-win situation and another example of Cisco's long-term commitment to Latin America."

For more information, visit www.cisco.com.