Cisco wants its channel partners to invest in their own intellectual property as a way of differentiating themselves from competitors.
The vendor gave its partners an innovation challenge and said that the partner deemed to have developed the best application on top of Cisco’s platform being awarded $100,000.
Speaking to the assorted throngs at its Partner Connection Week in the Bahamas, Cisco VP Nirav Sheth said: “I look at this whole concept of extensibility and programmability, and taking advantage of our APIs, as an opportunity for you to develop your own digital business.
“We are committed to open and extensible [technology] across the entire portfolio. You can increase your customer relevancy, develop new services offers and extend your reach and value.”
He said he would love it if partners turned into ISVs to resell and drive Cisco business. This would increase company valuations.
Cisco has been doing a lot to help partners come up with their innovations by providing APIs and software development kits to help develop their solutions.
