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Follow UsCisco’s new partner program is based on the value a partner brings to the table rather than just the volume of business. It would help the company to reach out more effectively to the customer and also give partners an opportunity to better their growth within Cisco. At least this is what Surinder Brar firmly believes
Cisco has made some revisions to its channel program following the 2006 Partner Summit. What are they?
True. We have made some major enhancements to our channel program. For starters, all Cisco partner tiers have been based on how much ‘value’ partners add to the business rather than their ‘sales volumes.’ So identifying partner capabilities has become very important for us.
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Surrender Brar |
The program now includes recognition in the breadth of technology offerings for partners to reach higher breadth
levels (entry level is Premier, intermediate is Silver, and the top rank is Gold). In order to help partners reach those higher levels we have now also created tiered specialization tracks that offer partners (VARs and solutions providers) additional benefits while doing business with Cisco.
Elaborate on the specialization tracks and how partners can achieve the same?
Based on customer feedback we realized that our partners must have the capabilities to integrate our products into solutions. Additionally, they must have enough technology expertise to support Cisco’s technologies end-to-end.
In order to help partners do that, we have enhanced our partner model and created specialization tiers for them to scale up the value chain. The entry level for specialization track is Express, the next level is Advanced and the highest level is Master.
In order to enable partners to achieve the various specializations, we offer them training on both products as well as on soft skills. This depth of technical capabilities along with a provision for vertical-specific solution growth in our new channel program should help partners reach out to more customers effectively.
Having revised you channel program, what are your focus verticals for growth? How can partners benefit from the opportunities there?
At Cisco, partners are our biggest strength. We believe that our partners know best about the specific needs of their customers and also how to maximize on
the market opportunities. Our approach to verticals therefore is a bit different. We allow partners to identify their focus verticals and also create a relevant solution to tap that vertical.
Once they do that, they would get the solution
pre-approved by us and then register the opportunity to get rewarded for delivering it. This way we encourage our partners to sell our products, which are integrated into solutions based on customer needs.
While partners chose their verticals, we also enlist certain focus verticals for them. We believe BFSI, government and defense hold good opportunity for us to grow in India.
Are these programs open to non-Cisco partners also? If so what criteria would they need to fulfill to qualify for the same?
All our programs are open to Cisco as well as non-Cisco partners. In order to be part of the program, partners need to satisfy the required criteria— technical expertise as well as the ability to provide integrated solutions. Once that is done they can sign up to be partners within our program.
What are your future plans as far as the channel is concerned?
All the levels that we discussed above are applicable to our partners’ resale offerings. We also are planning to introduce similar models for our outsourcing and managed services offerings in the near future. We would additionally reward partners to align with customer facing strategies that we are trying to execute. These include our push into advanced technologies and customer centric solutions.
This approach helps our channel partners create recurring revenue streams for themselves by aligning their business with our strategy. They can create these streams in any business segment and capitalize on the growth opportunities that exist for their networking.
What is your channel network currently?
We have around 35,000 partners globally of which 3,000 are certified under the Gold, Silver and Premier categories. This also includes 5,800 specialized partners. There are three ways that technology is delivered from the partner to the customer. It is resold, managed or outsourced based on which model the partner offers, we give them incentives and devise go-to-market strategies.
How do you differentiate these three categories?
Categorizing reselling is simple because it means that the partner simply takes our products and provides it to the customer. Under managed services, we brand the services that the partner offers and validate their network-operated centers (NOC) under our Cisco powered program.
This validation is available for partners who have their own NOCs and we also have made provisions for those partners who don’t have a homegrown NOC. Partners falling into this category should generate a certain amount of business and should have annual services contracts. They could lease equipment for the NOC, but they should have at least one-year service level agreements.
In the third bucket, which is outsourcing, partners should have managed the client’s facility and staff. They should have a minimum three-year transaction contract and be responsible for the assets in the NOC. This is more deal-based, so we don’t need to brand our partners.
We are now making changes in our program framework to make it more flexible.
How are you simplifying your channel management processes, keeping in mind the large network Cisco has?
We have broken the processes into tool and process. First, partners have to get a specialization, then they can apply to become our partner and go for training. After clearing their exams, we certify them. Then we have channel account managers (CAM) to support certified partners and these could be dedicated to a particular channel account or might oversee several partners. Our onsite CAMs are part of a repository in a region or can even be for a specific vertical.
Do you have any mechanisms in place to gauge channel satisfaction?
When we devise any program we carry out surveys with them. All partners are required to fill in a certain number of surveys and these are set as targets depending on the country they operate in. This year, worldwide, on a scale of one to five, we registered a satisfaction level of 4.9. And to be honest, I don’t think we will ever touch five.