SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – Cisco Partner Summit – April 17, 2012 – Today 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.

Services now account for up to 50 percent of the average Cisco channel partners' business, up from 20 percent five years ago. 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.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Cisco Services Partner Program

• The new program consolidates 47 programs into a single, globally consistent services business relationship. 
• Closely aligned with the Cisco Channel Partner Program, the new services program 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.

• Through the initial pilot with 2,500 partners across the U.S. and Canada, results show:
  • Partners experiencing 15% increase in the  portion of their bookings eligible for rebates
  •  Three fold increase in the number of partners earning rebates compared to the previous programs
• The new program is expected to be available to all partners in all geographies within the next 12-18 months.
• Currently, more than 4000 partners are participating across the United States, Canada, Israel and Asia Pacific. 

Expanding Smart Services Portfolio

• With the Cisco's Service Partner Program, partners will have access to Cisco's innovative smart-enabled service portfolio, including both Cisco branded and collaborative services.
• 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
  • Utilize APIs and tools for workflow integration
  • Deliver scalable proactive support for large, complex customer networks
• Partner Support Service is currently in limited availability and will be aligned to the global rollout of the Cisco Services Partner Program.
• Cisco smart services help accelerate a partner's profitability and growth by packaging, automating, and scaling Cisco's intellectual capital. This provides the partner with greater visibility and actionable insight into a customer's network environment. Cisco smart services are based on:
  • 25 years of industry experience
  • 50 million devices
  • 6 million live customer interactions annually

SUPPORTING QUOTES:

Nick Earle, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Services Sales and Channel, Cisco

"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. "

Alastair Edwards, Principal Analyst, Canalys

"The relationship between infrastructure vendors and their business partners is changing – partners are looking for vendors that can help minimize the risk and cost of moving towards new business models. Cisco's Services approach is geared towards helping partners make these moves, by giving access to resources and intellectual property that help them to differentiate and add significant value to customers, while maintaining profitability and rewarding performance."

Peter Stavropoulos, President and CEO, FlexITy Solutions Inc

"Services are in our DNA. The new program provides the combination of value-based rewards and access to new smart services that will help us continue to meet customer requirements, distinguish ourselves from the competition, and maintain the profit levels to support continued growth."

VIDEO

• Video: Raja Sundaram, Vice President - Worldwide Services Partner Organization comments on the Cisco Services Partner Program

SUPPORTING RESOURCES:

• For more information on Cisco smart services portfolio, visit: www.cisco.com/go/smartservices.
• On Twitter, follow @Cisco_Channels and the #ciscops12 hash tag.  
• Visit the Cisco Channels Facebook page for Partner Summit conversations, videos and pictures.
• Visit the Cisco Channels blog to get Partner Summit event news, interviews, and daily recaps.

TAGS / KEYWORDS:

Cisco, Cisco Services, Cisco Channel Partner Program, Cisco Services Partner Program, Collaborative Professional Services, CPS, Cisco Services Partner Program, Partner Support Service, Partner Summit, PSS, Smart Services, Technical Services

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