What an unbelievable week we had in Los Angeles at Cisco Companion Summit 2024! It was improbable to attach with so many companions and colleagues, sharing concepts and constructing relationships that drive our collective success.
Thanks to everybody who participated—whether or not in particular person or just about. Your dedication introduced us right here, and your continued assist will preserve us shifting ahead on this thrilling journey.
Ahead as One was our theme this 12 months, centered on how we ship buyer worth collectively and the way we join and defend clients within the AI period. The resounding message all through the week was that by leveraging the complete ecosystem, we’re empowered to create distinctive buyer experiences—collectively.
Chuck Robbins, our Chair and CEO, stated it nicely: “We’re at a main inflection level as our clients are feeling relentless strain to deploy AI infrastructure. They want our experience and know-how greater than ever, and robust partnerships are crucial to their success.”
Introducing the New Cisco 360 Companion Program
At Companion Summit, we unveiled the brand new Cisco 360 Companion Program—one ecosystem, shared success. This program was constructed with enter from over 1,000 hours of suggestions from companions, clients, and trade analysts.
It builds on our wealthy {hardware} and networking legacy whereas evolving with right this moment’s shift to software program, subscriptions, and companies. This system helps all forms of associate fashions, specializing in what issues most—driving worth by means of go-to-market methods, constructing capabilities, and fascinating deeply with clients. Its portfolio-based framework ensures companions develop with us as we innovate.
The Cisco 360 Companion Program displays world influence, agility, and ease—and most significantly, it represents our dedication to working collectively and profitable as one ecosystem.
What this implies for you
Let me break it down into the three issues that matter most:
Cash. Time. And relationships.
For these of you who’ve constructed relationships with Cisco, your funding is protected. We’ll offer you instruments and assets to realize predictable profitability, offering stability and long-term success.
Additionally, you will have loads of time to transition. With 15 months to regulate—earlier than the brand new program takes impact on February 1, 2026—you may transfer at your personal tempo with confidence.
Most significantly, this program is constructed with you on the heart, aligning along with your wants and supporting your progress for years to come back.
A brand new solution to measure associate worth
The Cisco 360 Companion Program introduces the Companion Worth Index, a brand new framework for measuring your contribution throughout 4 dimensions:
- Foundational: The maturity of your lifecycle or managed companies practices.
- Capabilities: Your funding in technical and different expertise.
- Efficiency: The way you land, retain, and renew buyer worth.
- Engagement: The way you join with clients all through their journey.
This method ensures that your distinctive strengths—whether or not in Safety, Networking, Collaboration, Cloud & AI, Providers and Observability, and/or throughout a number of portfolios—are acknowledged and rewarded.
Amplifying your worth to clients
We wish to spotlight the investments and capabilities that set you aside. That’s the reason we’re introducing two new designations: Cisco Companion and Cisco Most well-liked Companion; and will probably be sunsetting the present Gold, Premier and Choose ranges.
These new designations replicate your strengths and dedication to excellence. We’re additionally investing in them to make sure clients acknowledge their worth—making it clear why they need to select you as their associate.
All associate anniversary dates for present roles, ranges, and the Buyer Expertise Specializations will probably be prolonged to February 1, 2026. Throughout the transition interval, in the event you obtain a brand new position, degree, or Buyer Expertise Specialization, your anniversary date will probably be set to February 1, 2026, no matter when that credential is earned.
Subsequent-gen Specializations and boosting advantages
The shift from conventional Structure Specializations to Answer-based Specializations will proceed as we transition to the Cisco 360 Companion Program. We’ll develop subsequent gen Specializations that can help you differentiate your technical experience both extra deeply into one particular portfolio or throughout portfolios; going ahead, these specializations will probably be accessible to our Cisco Most well-liked Companions.
Get began right this moment
We have now some thrilling speedy steps accessible to you:
We’re excited to announce the primary AI centered specialization. The Cisco AI-Prepared Infrastructure Answer Specialization was designed to fulfill demand for superior Cisco AI infrastructure options, delivered by professional Cisco companions. This new specialization positions you to ship enterprise outcomes that matter most right this moment.
For Managed Service Suppliers (MSPs), now we have additionally added two new Cisco Powered Providers Specializations:
- Safe Entry / Safety Service Edge (SSE)
- Industrial OT Safety
These will show you how to meet rising market demand for security-focused managed companies, whereas driving progress with differentiated options.
Lastly, we encourage you to get educated within the newest Safety & Observability options accessible within the present Cisco Companion Program and Splunk Partnerverse. To assist your investments, we’re excited to announce cross-program associate specializations. These specializations, accessible on November 20, 2024, will defend Splunk companions’ investments and permit Cisco companions to increase their experience and attain extra clients.
Evolving incentives
To boost your profitability and competitiveness, we’re boosting our vary of advantages supplied. You’ll profit from a mixture of upfront reductions and back-end rebates aligned to the worth you deliver to clients.
As we already introduced at Companion Summit ‘23, our flagship rebates—VIP, Lifecycle Incentives, and Cisco Providers Companion Program (CSPP)—will roll into the brand new Cisco Companion Incentive, providing the identical rewards with a extra streamlined method.
We have now expanded the Buyer Evaluation Incentive to cowl Networking and Collaboration, along with Safety. These proactive assessments not solely determine new alternatives but in addition improve buyer loyalty and speed up deal approvals.
The Carry out Plus program now provides much more methods to earn, with elevated payout ranges and rewards for progress throughout architectures and midmarket clients.
Lifecycle Incentives additionally continues to evolve, including new incentives for Enterprise Networking, Safety, and Knowledge Middle, plus new Buyer Expertise use circumstances like Duo. We have now simplified monitoring with a brand new single-step view in Funds Supervisor, making it simpler to foretell earnings.
Trying forward
Over the following 15 months, we’ll roll out this system in a phased method beginning with a deal with the Safety portfolio and offering deeper insights into your group’s worth index. Then we’ll roll out further indices for Collaboration, Networking, Cloud & AI, Providers, and Observability —all accessible on Companion Expertise Platform (PXP).
The Cisco 360 Companion Program displays all the pieces now we have heard from you—your insights, challenges, and ambitions. We all know that predictable progress fuels your skill to innovate, make investments, and create significant outcomes for patrons. And we’re dedicated to your profitability, offering the instruments and assets it’s good to unlock new alternatives.
Let’s join
I stay up for connecting with a lot of you within the coming months by means of advisory boards, occasions, and one-on-one conversations. For extra particulars, go to the brand new 360 Companion Program web page to discover a wealth of assets and registration hyperlinks for upcoming webinars on the Cisco 360 Companion Program. You too can electronic mail askpartnerprogram@cisco.com with suggestions and questions.
And, in the event you missed my breakout session BIS 05 at Companion Summit—or wish to watch it once more—test it out on November 12 when it goes dwell on the Companion Launch Expertise platform.
Collectively, we’ll transcend assembly buyer expectations—we’ll exceed them!
Undecided we wish to assure this profitability forecast, esp in writing?
Watch breakout session BIS 05 at Companion Summit on Companion Launch Expertise
We’d love to listen to what you suppose. Ask a Query, Remark Beneath, and Keep Linked with #CiscoPartners on social!
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