At its annual partner conference, Cisco announced the launch of a new, global services partner program designed to accelerate Cisco channel partners’ sales revenue and profit.
The Cisco Services Partner Program will provide access to Cisco’s smart services portfolio and compensate partners for the value of services they offer customers, the company said.
Services now account for up to 50% of the average Cisco channel partners’ business, up from 20% five years ago and Cisco expects to accelerate this trend through the Cisco Services Partner Program and the ability to embed Cisco smart services capabilities into partner service offerings, representatives said.
According to Cisco, the new program consolidates 47 programs into a single, globally consistent services business relationship and rewards the quality and value of the partner-to-customer relationship and provides greater rewards for partners’ investment with Cisco.
The compensation model is evolving to a discount plus pay-for-performance rebate program to deliver predictable rebates that strengthen partners’ bottom line, it added.
Cisco added that through the initial pilot with 2,500 partners across the U.S. and Canada, the company found that partners experienced 15% increase in the portion of their bookings eligible for rebates, in addition to which, Cisco experienced three fold increase in the number of partners earning rebates compared to the previous programs. Currently, more than 4000 partners are participating across the United States, Canada, Israel and Asia Pacific.
The new program is expected to be available to all partners in all geographies within the next 12-18 months.
Cisco also said that with the Service Partner Program, partners will have access to Cisco’s innovative smart-enabled service portfolio, including both Cisco branded and collaborative services, while, qualified partners can take advantage of a new collaborative smart service, Partner Support Service, to further differentiate their business.
Partners can access Cisco intellectual capital to cost effectively build their own unique offers from smart capabilities that provide extensive installed base and contract management, utilise APIs and tools for workflow integration and deliver scalable proactive support for large, complex customer networks, the company said.
Partner Support Service is currently in limited availability and will be aligned to the global rollout of the Cisco Services Partner Program, it was reported.
Nick Earle, senior VP, worldwide services sales and channel, Cisco said, “Cisco is building the IT industry’s most partner-friendly services model. To do that effectively, we need to be clear, consistent and predictable in the way we approach our relationships with our channel partners.Today, we are delivering a global services program that will help partners build even more profitable business models based on Cisco smart services.”
