Cisco on Cisco

Sometimes, being an early adopter is both a blessing and a curse. Ask Paul Magnaghi, a Cisco product sales specialist who specializes in positioning and selling Cisco WebEx Connect.

“I was an early adopter and evangelist for WebEx Connect, so I quickly became the go-to guy for a lot of people who wanted to discover what all of the fuss was about,” says Magnaghi. “The problem is that evangelizing Connect isn’t my only job. And before long, I found myself overwhelmed by requests for more information.”

He determined that the best way to demonstrate the power of WebEx Connect was to let the technology speak for itself.

“I created a workspace within WebEx Connect that would offer detailed product information and compelling use cases,” he says. “Then I made that space accessible to anyone at Cisco who wanted to see WebEx Connect in action. After all, what better way to teach people about online collaboration than by collaborating with them?”   

A Shared Space with Enormous Potential
Cisco WebEx Connect is an open development platform that delivers flexible, dynamic collaboration within shared workspaces. Magnaghi’s primary workspace, called the Connect Use Case Space, enables Cisco employees to share how they have used WebEx Connect on a wide range of projects, from account planning initiatives to customer relationship management (CRM) integration. Within Magnaghi’s space, users can ask questions or raise issues on a discussion board, post video demonstrations, or contact each other instantly using a variety of communication options including instant messaging, email, and PC-to-PC calls.

Moving Beyond PowerPoint
The Connect Use Case Space has helped a large number of Cisco employees make their first steps toward exploring the potential of collaborative spaces. “Initially, people would send me an email asking for a PowerPoint presentation to explain how we’re using WebEx Connect,” says Magnaghi. “The problem is that we’re learning new things about this technology every day, so a PowerPoint presentation would become obsolete fairly quickly. So what did I do? Instead of sending the file they requested, I would just invite them to the space. That way, they could gain access to the latest product information while seeing the potential of WebEx Connect firsthand.”

A Grassroots Effort—a Viral Impact
Magnaghi’s space began with 15 members, but it grew to include more than 200 in only two months. “I gave everyone administrative privileges, so the space has gone viral,” he says. “All users can invite other users. They can post their own use cases and initiate discussions on how they’re using Connect. You might call it the self-service approach to exploring a new technology.”

This self-service approach helps Magnaghi scale his own resources and optimize his time. “It wasn’t difficult to get my colleagues excited about this technology,” he says. “Once a few people became interested, their interest began to proliferate throughout the organization. That meant I was no longer the gatekeeper. I could contribute to the ongoing conversation on WebEx Connect while spending more time maintaining my own productivity and engaging with customers.”

Applying Collaborative Strategies to Mission-Critical Projects
Magnaghi has also used Cisco WebEx Connect to help organize and deliver mission-critical projects within extremely compressed timeframes. “We needed to craft a complex RFP [request for proposal] for a major customer, and we needed to do it in a matter of days,” he says. “That meant collaborating with product specialists, account managers, and sales engineers, many of whom weren’t in the same location. We knew that email would only slow us down and cause confusion. When you’re sending files back and forth between seven or eight people, you just can’t maintain strict version control.”

To accelerate the RFP process, Magnaghi and his team created an RFP Optimization Space, uploading key documents and tracking all versions, additions, and deletions throughout the course of the project. “With WebEx Connect, we avoided the endless back-and-forth of email, and we didn’t need to do constant conference calls to keep everyone on track,” he says. “And since all of the documents and discussions were in a centralized location, we could introduce new people into the process without creating chaos.”

The Payoff: RFP Delivery in Half the Time
The results were dramatic. By managing the RFP entirely within WebEx Connect, Magnaghi’s team reduced overall project completion time by an estimated 50 percent, from one week to 2.5 days.

“With WebEx Connect, we eliminated a huge number of conference calls and email exchanges, saving many hours and even more headaches,” says Magnaghi. “I’ve never seen an RFP go so quickly or so smoothly. And best of all, the whole process was entirely seamless from the customer’s perspective.”   

Pushing the Boundaries of Collaborative Technology
By using the Connect Use Case Space to explore collaborative technology, Magnaghi hopes to build up a solid foundation of proven strategies and best practices to share with Cisco customers in the future. “We’re actively expanding our collective knowledge set regarding this new technology,” he says. “At this early stage, only one thing is absolutely clear: the potential is enormous.”