Cisco’s channel is evolving. “The strategy is to move from an infrastructure company towards a solutions company which, therefore, combines the product with software and services”. Adele TrombettaSenior Vice President & General Manager Cisco Customer Experience EMEA, thus summarizes the new value proposition of the well-known technology brand.
“We live in a context where there is complexity and uncertainty in business – between war, inflation and energy crisis – but also a context in which technology is evolving at a speed never seen before. Just think of Artificial Intelligence which, despite having already been present for years, has only achieved exponential growth in recent months with ChatGPT. It is becoming increasingly difficult for our customers to manage all this complexity and uncertainty while keeping up with technology. Even if we cannot eliminate this complexity, we want to make it transparent and manage it to return business value as a result of the technological investment that our customers have made with Cisco” underlines Trombetta.
Strengthening the Cisco Partner Program
All this also translates into a strengthening the partner program. This was discussed at the Cisco Partner Summit, the global event aimed at the channel which was held in Miami in early November, as well as in Milan on 22 November during the Cisco Partner Club. In both events, the the vendor’s priorities on the innovation front which today moves along 3 directions: product development, acquisitions (the most recent, which is also the most expensive in the company’s history, is Splunk) and competence of the partners who have their own privileged access point into the Partner Experience Platform (PXP).
Supply chain planning: a trend guide to the best solutions of 2023 according to Gartner
This is the personalized online portal with which to support the channel’s go-to-market strategies, which today is enriched with predictive insights based on Artificial Intelligence e machine learning. The improvements are integrated with an updated dashboard that provides a holistic view of operations, profitability and investments, eliminating the need for third-party tools. Among the new features is the introduction of a Sustainability Estimatoravailable to partners Environmental Sustainability Specialized. Launched last November 20, it will provide information on energy savings, emissions reduction, cost reduction and the environmental impact that a customer can achieve by modernizing their IT hardware.
The convergence of incentives in the Cisco Partner Incentive
“Starting from the second half of 2024 there will be the convergence of various incentive programs – he explains Giorgio Campatelli, Leader Partner Sales – towards a unique program. The Cisco Partner Incentive, in line with Cisco’s transition to more software- and service-based offerings, will reward partners with benefits to drive predictable, profitable growth.” Also in 2024, Cisco will launch two new solution specializations Internet of Things (IoT). Given the continued attention to the segments of industrial and consumer IoT technologies, this choice will allow us to further differentiate the skills of the partners operating in this field.
Beyond the new features, Campatelli is keen to reiterate that Cisco’s policy, which leverages indirect sales, remains unchanged: “Our strength is our model from the point of view of coverage, but also of skills and innovation. The strategy of the collaboration model with the channel, which had already been defined 27 years ago, will continue on this path, since it is a winning model precisely for being able to respond to new customer needs. In fact, only together with our partners can we respond to their needs.”
Research analyzes the global growth of managed services
In continuity with this approach, but updated to the contemporary scenario, is the focus on managed servicesi managed services. A recent global study commissioned by Cisco and conducted by Canalys showed that IT channel partners who focus on managed services, i.e. the so-called MSP (Managed Services Provider), are expected to experience significant growth in 2023 and over the next two years. Despite global economic uncertainty, forecasts indicate a worldwide increase of 12.7%, for a total value of $472 billion. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where managed services revenue currently stands at $122 billion, the increase would be around 12%. The reasons for this trend must be sought first and foremost in the companies’ need for IT securityvery often unprepared to face an increasingly rapidly evolving threat landscape.
Which is why many organizations are now inclined to turn to those partners capable of offering managed services, skills and technological support in the IT security area. It is no coincidence that the study indicates that 56% of channel partners expect turnover from cybersecurity managed services to grow this year. At the same time, the cloud infrastructure management represents another significant opportunity. As companies digitize operations and move to the cloud, they face challenges with complex cloud infrastructures spanning private and public clouds, along with distributed applications and services. 55% of channel partners say they expect greater revenues in this segment.
Managed services in Italy, opportunities for partners
“If we look at the data for Italy – he highlights Emanuele Spini, New Route To Market Lead, Cisco Partner Sales – managed services revenue is $5.7 billion. Managed Services Providers in our country grew by over 6.5%, more than in Europe”. Accomplices too M&A operations with which our local tech companies have acquired specific skills to expand their offering to customers. With one difference, compared to Europe: in Italy the MPS operators are currently only 8%, a percentage 2% lower than that of the old continent. “This means that here the room for growth is even greater – comments Spini -. Cisco taps into this growth engine, helping our partners in many ways.”
The first is the design of products that will increasingly converge on a manageable platform with on board Artificial Intelligence, telemetry and the ability to collect data to activate automations. The second is native integration into solutions even with platforms from other vendors. Managed services, in fact, by their nature enter into an existing context and presuppose dialogue between various heterogeneous components. Finally, the third way in which Cisco aims to enhance its target audience of MPS is through programs such as i Managed Services License Agreement (MSLA) eh Managed Servicess Enterprise Agreement (MSEA) which allow partners to purchase Cisco platforms with pay-as-you-grow or pay-per-use models which are the same as those offered to end customers.