Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins touched on what the completely revamped Cisco 360 partner program means for partners, telling CRN that “the devil will be in the details.”

Cisco 360, announced this week at the Cisco Partner Summit 2024, marks the largest overhaul to the partner program in the company’s history, and solution providers said partners are eager to learn how the sweeping changes will impact their business CRN.

“This is something that has the potential to have a huge impact on partners,” said Lane Irvine, director of network business solutions at Long View Systems, a Calgary, Alberta-based MSP and Cisco Gold Partner.

Cisco360This implementation, which will not launch until February 2026 to give partners time to adapt, will eliminate separate partner programs and incentives such as VIP, Perform Plus, and Cisco Services Partner Program (CSPP). These will be combined into a single structure called the Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI), which was first discussed at the Cisco Partner Summit last year.

(Relating to: Cisco Partner Summit 2024: Top 5 Executives on Partners, Company Transformation and Success)

“Changing VIP is the biggest piece. This program is the most important and valuable discount program we have today as partners. So when you want to make a big change to the most profitable program, partners inevitably invest a lot in making it happen. I’m confident they’re doing the right thing.” said Irvine.

The old Cisco VIP program was “extremely valuable” in helping Cisco develop new initiatives and technologies. This has been especially helpful in recent years, when Cisco has transitioned from hardware to software, Irvine said.

“As they move towards becoming a software company, they need to transform their programs because incentivizing hardware first is no longer the right choice. That’s not where it comes down to it. That’s why it’s so valuable for them to focus on ‘How are we rewarding our partners for good behavior?’ “And what I really like about it is that it moves away from transactional selling,” he said.

Cisco wants partners to focus on lifecycle, adoption services, and business value rather than transactions. This will either force traditional hardware VARs, which still primarily profit from capex, into an inflection point, or some partners may be left behind, solution providers said.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told CRN Given the technology transitions taking place and the impact of AI on businesses of all sizes, it was time to revamp the partner program.

“I’ve been saying for years that there has to be something we need to consider doing differently because nothing can stand that test for 20 years,” he said.

Robbins, who helped create Cisco’s first partner program as U.S. channel sales leader more than two decades ago, believes Rodney Clark, Cisco’s channel chief for about a year, came to the company with fresh eyes and thoughts that were off-plan for partners. . Still, Robbins recognizes the new program will be an adjustment for partners.

“I’ve always said this to my partners: Whenever we make these kinds of changes, there’s going to be things we do really well, there’s going to be things we miss, and we’re going to adjust. But I really think the most important thing is to make sure our field sales teams and our partners are chasing the same things, and that they’re compensated similarly.” “To ensure payment,” he said. “I think that’s the number one design factor.”

Robbins said the new program won’t be a “tremendous boost” for many Cisco partners that already sell software and managed services.

“I’d like to think it’s not revolutionary compared to what we’re asking our partners to do. (Cisco 360) is really changing the way we structure the incentive program and specializations, etc., to reflect the importance of technology to customers today and what we’re asking our sales teams to do.”

The program has the potential to bring in new MSSP partners and rekindle relationships with existing partners, Robbins said.

“I think it has the potential to have partners who haven’t been focused on our security portfolio for a long time, to double down on our security portfolio, to rethink it, to really recognize the innovation that the team is building and possibly realize the value that it has and … try to represent it in the market more than we have in the past,” he said. .

The Devil is in the Details

Cisco partners will need more details on exactly how and how much they will be compensated over the next 15 months, as well as how solution providers who have invested heavily in their existing partner program can stand out in the market, it said. Salim Gheewalla, vice president of marketing and alliances for Ottawa-based MSP giant Calian IT and Cyber ​​Solutions.

Cisco 360 will end its sought-after Gold partner titleWhich has been in effect for 30 years. Instead, there will be two names: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner.

“I think it will take some understanding,” Gheewalla said. “I think the issue of Partner, Preferred Partner (definitions) will come down to: ‘How can we differentiate ourselves and our investments?’ “There is some branding there (with the Gold designation). To me, Gold feels higher than Preferred,” he said. “I want to see how (Cisco 360) emerges, the value it brings and how it helps us differentiate ourselves from other partners.”

Gheewalla said the new program will also help Cisco simplify its internal processes.

“If you start to think about how much variation they have with Gold, (Select, Premier) and then Master (specializations), I think it becomes really hard for them to distinguish who does what and how well they do it.” he said.

For Logicalis USA, the Troy, Michigan-based arm of the global solutions provider, the new partner program should not be a heavy burden, given the work the longtime Cisco partner has done in lifecycle services and the Cisco Competencies Logicalis has earned. Brandon Harris, vice president of hybrid data center at Logicalis USA, said:

Still, at Cisco 360, “the devil is in the details,” Harris said.

“I think the program will align well with what Cisco is doing, which is evident over the last few years with (partners) not only selling their products but offering a fully managed service. We’re ahead of the game with things like: our (Cisco-approved) managed SASE service,” he said .

He said Cisco will need to tap the partner community to get feedback to make adjustments to the program’s framework over the next 15 months.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape, but at this point we need more details about the program and the balance of incentives on the front end and the back end,” Harris said.