Cisco's New Specialization Program: Channel View

Premier, Silver and Gold-these are Cisco's three tiers which, they claim,
will help their channel partners gain more customers. Here is how Cisco grade
its partners and what benefit they will get to reap out of it

Cisco has been bullish on the unified communications (UC) front for sometime
now and is working aggressively to promote its adoption. Now, it has come out
with a new certification level called Master Specialized UC Partner. Datacraft
India was the first company in APAC to get this. Only five other companies
globally have this certification so far.

Simply put, the reason Cisco has come out with this new certification is to
separate the men from the boys in the UC space. The vendor has been trying to
get more channel partners to focus on specialized technology offerings rather
than being a jack-of-all-trades.

“This new certification will help partners distinguish themselves from other
players who might also be in UC. Customers will also be happier doing business
with someone who has core competencies in a specialized technology, which is
further endorsed by the leading vendor in that space,” said Avinash Purwar,
VP-Channels, India and SAARC, Cisco Systems India.

A Cisco statement mentioned, “The Master Specialized UC partners are the ones
who are equipped to provide the highest level of technological expertise on UC
technology. This unique certification recognizes a partner's ability to offer
highly complex and customized solutions on the UC platform.”

The channel's gain

Now, coming to brass tacks. How does this certification help companies who
go for it? It goes without saying that they will get better incentives and cost
benefits from their counterparts. As part of Cisco's new go-to-market strategy,
partners who have some specialization get a certain number of points. These
points signify the amount of discount that partner will get.

Additionally, this branding does create a differentiation in the minds of the
customers also, though there is no data available to determine that a deal has
been won, merely because a partner receives an elite certification. “We have not
bagged any contract just because we have been certified by Cisco or any other
vendor. However, when we approach a new customer, he is comfortable dealing with
us because we have a vendor's validation that we know our business,” noted Atul
Bansal, Director, Integrix Solutions.

It is true that such a specialization does create a level of playing ground
for companies that are focused on UC. So if a smaller solution provider gains
Masters in UC, he can pit his core competencies with the bigger players.

Who wants to join their bandwagon So, are there partners aspiring to get this
certification? Purwar mentioned, “We came out with the Masters certification, so
that even our Express partners can aspire to go up the value chain.”

And it looks like there are some takers for it already. Allied Digital
Solutions for one, which is a Cisco Select partner, is working closely with the
vendor on UC projects. It would like to get a Masters specialization over time.
But a highly placed official within the company did mention that such a
specialization is ideal only for the limited Gold and Silver partners.

“I would have to invest heavily in terms of manpower, time and money to get
this specialization. Of course, my special price clearance and other
deliverables from Cisco would be better, once I get it. But I doubt many
mid-sized SP would go for it,” he stated.

Even New Delhi-based Integrix Solutions is queuing up for this Masters
specialization. “We have advanced specializa­tions in security and networking
and are Express partners for unified communications. I do see our company
progressing to the next Masters level in this space,” said Bansal.

Not all are game

But there are other partners who are not very keen on getting this
specialization. One partner who was earlier selling Cisco products, but is now
working extensively on Cisco Linksys products too maintained this view. He
mentioned that often even after investing in specializations, when a smaller SP
gets a business lead and creates a complete project deployment case, Cisco would
then bring in another bigger channel partner to deliver the product.

“It is not fair that after we work hard to bring in the business, someone
else walks away with the project. This is why I stopped dealing with Cisco and
this is also why I think very few of the mid-sized SPs would want to invest
heavily in speciali­zations,” he claimed.

But Cisco maintains that it is pro-channel and only if a customer is
insistent about working with a particular partner do they concede to the
client's demand. Even Allied Digital Services admits to this. “If I have engaged
with a client, then there is a good chance that I will execute the deal. So
having a specialization in a particular technology would hold us in good stead
here,” one of their representatives maintained.

However, there is no denying that the smaller solution providers would think
several times before investing in these specializations. One of the key reasons
is because of the current manpower attrition.

Partners have to get some technical people certified to be eligible for the
specialization. But often it is seen that once an employee gets certified in a
technology, the competition snaps him up. This can be a big blow for the
solution provider as he then has to get someone else certified, which means
spending more money all over again.

“But this is part of business and if you are focused on one technology then
one has to make this kind of investment,” said Bansal pragmatically.

Also, these kinds of specializations are adopted only by the larger SPs who
can afford to invest and re-invest in terms of manpower, time and money. Smaller
SPs prefer to pass the chance. One Cisco partner said anonymously, “You need to
have several people in your team certified in certain roles. And once they are
certified you have to give them huge salary packages which might not be possible
for the smaller partners.”

Levels of Cisco certification

There are three tiers of Cisco partners-Premier, Silver and Gold. And there
are three levels of specializations across different technologies-Express,
Advanced and Masters. The incentives and branding help and product price
benefits increase as a partner goes up this chain. Conversely, a partner also
has to make more investments to graduate to the next level of certification.

Currently, Cisco has over 20 Express and another 14 odd partners focusing on
UC alone. These partners can aspire to gain the Master certification. This new
Masters UC Specialization requires a partner to have expertise in several Cisco
products, including the Unified CallManager administration tool, Unity
Connection, Unified Messaging, ContactCenter Express and video conferencing
products.

At a recent Cisco annual summit, Cisco had mentioned that it has around 1,800
partners globally who focus on UC and are responsible for 90 percent of Cisco's
UC revenue. The new Masters specialization is the vendor's latest salvo to
emphasize VoIP within its product set.