Cisco shakes up flagship incentives

Cisco has shaken-up its flagship incentives for hardware, software, and as-a-service solution partners.

The networking vendor is adding up to six new solution specialisations within the next nine months.

Cisco VP of partner strategy and programmes Marc Surplus said the new Cisco Partner Incentive is the biggest change his outfit has made in more than a decade and is the capstone on the Cisco partner programme evolution started in 2020.

“In broadening Cisco’s suite of solution specialisations, we are helping our partners differentiate in the market and demonstrate their expertise in the technologies and solutions sought by customers,” he said.

The move is part of Cisco’s transition to more software and services-based offerings and will reward partners with rebates to drive predictable and profitable growth.  It will support new logo acquisition, up-sell, and cross-sell opportunities.

Managed services represent a total addressable market of £131.2 billion for Cisco products, with 46 per cent of the company’s sales expected to be sold as a managed service by 2027.

Cisco has also introduced Partner Advanced Support for MSPs with the added benefit of guided access to API integrations that build on MSPs’ existing services.

Partners will earn rebates based on the total contract value of a closed sale, completion of activities to drive customer adoption of the solution, and incremental annual contract value as they increase subscriptions.