The Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) helps customers turn their technology investments into strategic assets that increase productivity, reduce costs, and create new revenue sources. To accomplish this in a broad geography with differing industrial structures requires employing experts from contrasting localities who truly understand the regional differences within Europe. The networking technology strategies for France's highly centralized national flag carriers, for example, contrasts sharply with the aspirations of thousands of successful small to medium-sized enterprises served by banks in northern Italy or the Levant.

The European Markets team within Cisco IBSG, capable of advising customers in languages from Swedish to Portuguese, is drawn from premier consulting and technology firms in each region. Engagements range from advising Finnish logging companies on supply-chain management, to helping the UK National Health Service with their Connected Health strategy, to rolling out workflow systems that empower financial intermediaries for the world's largest insurance companies.

In the past four years, the Cisco IBSG European Markets team has created "customer partnerships" with board visibility in more than half of the 200 or so Fortune Global 500 companies located in the region. Each of these partnerships has involved strategizing with senior executives to design and roll out Web-enabled business solutions.