News Summary
- Next step in Cisco partner program evolution to support
partner competitiveness and recognize deep expertise
- Six new solution specializations focus on the biggest market
opportunities for partners, including hybrid cloud, hybrid work,
secure access service edge (SASE) and full-stack
observability
- By tying solution specializations to customer buying
criteria, Cisco makes it easier for customers to identify which
partners to work with
LAS
VEGAS, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco
Partner Summit -- Cisco today expanded its portfolio of
specializations available through the company's world-class partner
program. Cisco's partner program continues to evolve to increase
partner sales opportunities, add flexibility to partner
certification requirements, and emphasize the importance of
multi-architectural expertise. The six new specializations are tied
to Cisco customer priorities and represent fast-growing market
opportunities for Cisco and its partners in areas where Cisco has
been investing and innovating.
“The new specializations demonstrate to
customers that they are working with the best partners in the
industry."
Cisco solution specializations are designed to showcase partner
value to customers and represent the type of solutions partners are
selling today. They reflect how partners are using
cross-architectural solutions to solve some of their customers'
biggest challenges in today's hybrid work world—challenges such as
balancing an organization's security needs with the flexibility
employees want, providing the best digital experience or
consistently delivering a secure user experience from
anywhere. Aligned to massive market opportunities,
specializations are designed to protect and optimize partner
investments with Cisco, offer more opportunities for
differentiation, and recognize the co-innovation that is happening
between Cisco and its partners.
"Specialization is ranked number one as the initial critical
partner selection criterion for 74 percent of
customers,1" said Anurag
Agrawal, Chief Global Analyst, Techaisle. "By tying solution
specializations to customer buying criteria, Cisco makes it easier
for customers to identify which partners to work with."
Partners that achieve solution specializations are recognized
and rewarded based on the value delivered to customers. The
requirements for each specialization are tied to knowledge and
experience, allowing partners to capitalize on their existing
investments with Cisco. The six new solution specializations added
to Cisco's partner program include:
Full-stack Observability (FSO)
- Showcases expertise in centralizing and correlating application
performance analytics across the full IT stack, including
integrations across AppDynamics, ThousandEyes, Intersight, and
Secure Application.
- Demonstrates expertise in prioritizing actions to deliver
superior customer experiences, drive revenue streams, and
accelerate digital transformation.
Hybrid Work from Office
- Recognizes Cisco partners for their skills and experience
helping customers evolve traditional on-site and off-site work
models, with solutions that power hybrid work, enabling people to
work safely and securely from home, the office, and anywhere in
between on any given day or time.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
- Highlights partners' ability to help customers to securely
enable the growing universe of roaming users, devices, and
software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps without adding complexity or
reducing end-user performance.
Hybrid Cloud Computing
- Showcases partners that provide customers with simple, secure
hybrid cloud computing experiences at home, in the office, or
anywhere.
Hybrid Cloud Networking
- Recognizes partners that securely and efficiently connect and
manage customers' data, workloads, and applications across data
centers, edge, and multiple clouds.
Hybrid Cloud Software
- Demonstrates expertise in managing operational complexity by
helping customers streamline and unify IT operations with secure,
hybrid cloud management software.
The new solution specializations are one of the four categories
of partner specializations available to qualified Cisco partners to
demonstrate their expertise to customers, including:
- Architecture specializations: demonstrate deep product
expertise in specific technology areas.
- Solution specializations: demonstrate that a partner
excels at delivering value with Cisco solutions, including
cross-architectural offers prioritized by customers.
- Cisco Powered Service specializations: convey partner
proficiency in delivering managed services and as-a-service
offers.
- Business specializations: focused on horizontal business
practices that are essential to supporting customers' business
goals.
"These new specializations are aligned with the types of
solutions and expertise customers are demanding. They demonstrate
to customers that they are working with the best partners in the
industry," said Marc Surplus, Vice President, Partner Strategy and
Programs in Cisco's Global Partner and Routes to Market Sales
organization. "We've designed the solution specializations to
complement partners' prior investments in Cisco and to build on
their current expertise so that partners can further differentiate
themselves in the market."
Partners interested in pursuing these new solution
specializations can find out more at
www.cisco.com/go/solutionspecializations.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that
powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by
reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming
your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and
inclusive future. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on
Twitter at @Cisco.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A
listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found
at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned
are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word
partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and
any other company.
1 Techaisle Commercial and Enterprise Partner
Selection and Communication study, June
2022
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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.