SAN JOSE, Calif., June 27, 1994 -- Responding to rapidly growing salesof its internetworking products through reseller channels, Cisco Systemshas inaugurated a Channel Certification Program designed to enhance its resellers' sales and support expertise and to move that expertise closerto customers.
The program establishes four levels of certification for Cisco resellerpartners ranging from basic sales or maintenance services to comprehensiveknowledge in virtually every aspect of Cisco's business.
The goal of the Channel Certification Program, according to Gary Rieschel, director of worldwide channel operations at Cisco, is to "solve end users' problems quickly on the front lines rather than handing them back to the factory. This will be accomplished by moving the support function closer to the customer, by increasing the expertise of our resellers. Through our comprehensive training programs, resellers can gain the expertise to act as satellite Cisco technical centers, providing the front-line support to meet customer needs."
The proportion of Cisco product revenues generated by resellers has been growing at more than 100 percent annually, Rieschel said, with indirect channels expected to account for a majority of the company's worldwide sales in 1995.
Ron Flolid, vice president of network technical support for HealthSpan Health Systems Corp., chose !NTERPRISE Networking Services from US WEST, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, for their network solution. "!NTERPRISE Networking Services gained our business because they demonstrated acommitment to understanding the technologies and providing the support infrastructure necessary to meet our internetworking needs," Flolid said. "We feel that their recognition as a Cisco Gold Certified Partner demonstrates the importance that !NTERPRISE places on making expert technicians available to work with us in resolving network problems and optimizing our network as a strategic resource."
Four levels of certification are available to Cisco channel partners.
- Sales Partners provide advanced pre-sales expertise, while also offering basic hardware and software maintenance. Sales Partner status requires that the reseller stock demonstration and evaluation units of Cisco products, while also having Sales Experts and Support Experts on staff.
- Support Partners provide advanced hardware and support andmaintenance, with comprehensive five-day, eight-hour on- site service available to customers. Support Partner status requires Support Experts on staff plus at least two Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts.
- Silver Certified Partners combine the capabilities of Sales andSupport Partner, requiring Sales Experts, Support Experts plus a minimum of two Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts.
- Gold Certified Partners are resellers whose customers typicallywork with the largest network installations, such as IBM SNA environments. This highest level of certification mandates the Silver Partner requirements plus a minimum of four Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts. Seven-day, 24-hour on-site service, with optional four-hour response time, is available to customers. Gold Certified Partners also provide a post-sales support lab facility, remote diagnostics capability, and extensive knowledge of SNA and CiscoWorksrouter management.
"Buying from a Gold Certified Partner is like doing business with a local branch of Cisco," Rieschel said. "These partners must demonstrate expertise in virtually all aspects of Cisco's business -- sales, support, network design and network management."
Because networking conditions can differ significantly from country tocountry, certification is valid only for the country in which it is given. Candidates must develop expertise and offer local support in each country in which they wish to become certified.
Cisco Systems, Inc., is the leading worldwide supplier of high-performance, multimedia and multiprotocol internetworking products, including routers, bridges, workgroup systems for 10- Mbps/100-Mbps data transmission, ATM switches, communication servers, and router management software. Cisco technology is used to build enterprise-wide networks linking an unlimited number of geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM SNA networks. In the United States, Cisco is traded over the counter underthe NASDAQ symbol CSCO.
Posted Jun 27 11:00:00 1994
