IT solution providers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will soon see additions to Cisco’s main partner resource portal, which include a consolidated tool set, access to customers’ network telemetry data and the ability to create service offerings.
Cisco partner programme executives recently outlined the developments, some of which are scheduled for general rollout later this year or in 2022. The additional resources look to help partners navigate emerging sales motions and multiple go-to-market (GTM) strategies.
“Life is getting much more complex and complexity is the one thing that is destroying [partners’] profitability,” said Oliver Tuszik, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Sales, Cisco.
Cisco intends to reduce the number of tools needed to do business with the company. Partners have about 180 Cisco tools at their disposal, said José Van Dijk, Vice President, Partner Performance, Cisco. The number of tools is “too much for productivity,” Van Dijk said.
Cisco plans to retire at least 50% of its tools and combine others, which will migrate to Cisco’s channel portal, the Partner Experience Platform (PXP). As for the timing, Cisco didn’t reveal a specific deadline, but Van Dijk said the company has accelerated its tool consolidation mission.
The Partner Experience Platform, unveiled in October 2020 at the Cisco Partner Summit, acts as a one-stop-shop for Cisco partner programme resources. At launch, PXP provided programme registration and communications functions, as well as access to training, sales opportunities and incentives.
Most vendors lack a one-stop-shop partner portal, said Diane Krakora, principal at PartnerPath, a channel consulting firm. “I think you’d be surprised at the overall lack of automation to engage, empower and manage partners,” Krakora said. She noted she typically sees vendors operate multiple channel systems, which sometimes have single sign-on.
The updated PXP offers a benchmarking feature that lets partners compare their performance with that of their peers. Another feature, Partner Connect, makes matches among Cisco partners, enabling easier collaboration on customer opportunities. Partner Connect is available to partners on an invitation-only basis, as Cisco needs to ensure the matching system works properly, Van Dijk said. The company will provide more information on Partner Connect at the upcoming Cisco Partner Summit, an online event scheduled for November 8th 2021, Van Dijk noted.
Platform additions soon to launch include an Integrated Planning Process, which Cisco described as a globally consistent partner plan. The plan lets partners and Cisco’s partner teams manage goals and key performance indicators.
The platform will also see a Customer Lens for Actionable Insights and Recommendations tool, which identifies partner opportunities by market segment based on a decade of Cisco customer data and buying habits. This tool, which Cisco’s direct sales force already uses, is slated for partner availability in 2022.
Another update to Cisco’s Partner Experience Platform is the Partner Experience Cloud. Currently under limited availability, Partner Experience Cloud will become generally available around the time of the Cisco Partner Summit, according to Tony Colon, senior vice president of customer experience engineering and product incubation at Cisco.
The partner cloud will provide visibility, with customers’ permission, into customers’ Cisco product usage and telemetry data. Channel partners can use the data to gain insight into customer consumption patterns, which could help identify sales opportunities, Cisco said.
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