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The unveiling of the Cisco 360 Partner Program has left Australian and New Zealand (A/NZ) partners cautiously optimistic about the first significant change to its partner program in 25 years, preferring to wait for more information about how the changes will directly impact them.
Rodney Hamill, Cisco A/NZ channel chief, told ARN at the vendor’s Partner Summit event on 30 October that the revised partner program aims to reward partners who add value through deep tech skills and customer success, rather than just volume.
“The competitive market in Australia and New Zealand is driving this change, as partners are increasingly competing on the same deals,” said Hamill. “The program also focuses on security, with significant investments in security-specific tools and certifications.”
According to Hamill, our partners have already contacted him with questions about timing and when they can start using the new designations and where they stand in the value stack.
“Overall, partners here seem pretty excited,” he said. “There’s a general acceptance that it’s a good change that will reward partners who add value.
“Partners specialising in deep tech skills or focusing on customer success are going to benefit. Some partners that only focus on shopping might be at a disadvantage, but that’s good for the value-added partners.”
Hamill also said that it gives other partners an opportunity to step up where the “box partners” – partners that just sell out of the box products – can’t.
“Every vendor faces the challenge of a competitive market, especially in A/NZ,” he said. “There aren’t as many deals as there were in previous years, so more partners are competing for the same deals.
“Some partners just throw things over the fence to see what sticks, but this program will protect partners driving customer outcomes and value and support those investing in their capabilities.”
Hamill noted that there’s a lot of quoting happening as people look for ways to make margins and new opportunities, even in A/NZ.
“Distributors see it as well, with customers driving multiple quotes to lower prices,” he said. “What we’ve launched here will protect the partners delivering value and open more opportunities for them.”
The aim of the changes to the program is to make “partners more profitable” and “successful” and give them the ability to the skills to deliver on the Cisco technology they’re buying and help them drive business outcomes to customers, claimed Hamill.
Australian partners need assurance
The reaction from the local channel at the event has largely been optimistic, with the general sentiment that the changes were much needed.
However, Michael van Zoggel, managing director at Outcomex, told ARN there’s still much to explore with the program.
“We need to approach this with caution, ensuring that partners understand the integrity, visibility and actual measurement methods behind the program components that ultimately lead to rebates,” he said. “If we can secure that assurance, adoption will feel much smoother.”
Ben Blaschka, director of sales at Outcomex, echoed this sentiment.
“From a partner program perspective, the level of detail we’ve seen so far is insufficient to fully understand how it will function,” he said. “We’ve only had about 40 minutes of overview, so there’s still much to explore.”
However, Blaschka agreed with the need for partner programs to evolve, especially as the technology world has changed significantly from 15 years ago.
“It’s positive that there’s a timeframe of [more than] 15 to 16 months for this transition, allowing partners like us to adjust,” he said.
“There’s a lot of investment from our side in training our people—about 35 to 37 CCIEs [Cisco certified internetwork experts] and 85 to 90 Cisco-certified engineers across our business.
“As Cisco rolls out these new programs, we’ll need to understand how that impacts our team’s ongoing training and certification. While I’m optimistic about the direction, without granular details, we’re unsure what this will mean in terms of workload, knowledge effort and transition.”
Embracing the program
For other partners like, Daniel Stuckey, Cisco program manager at Madison Technologies, the Cisco 360 partner program represents a game-changer for the Queensland-based networking and communications distributor.
“It not only simplifies the partnership process with, it also [recognises] and [rewards] partners like Madison Technologies for our dedication to operational technology solutions-based specialisation,” he said to ARN.
Meanwhile, channel partners like BroadSource have already fully embraced the program, according to its chief operating officer Jason Thals.
“We can leverage it, so our technology taps into it, becoming part of that whole Cisco platform framework, incorporating all the assets,” he said. “We’ll be able to tap into that and extend the reach and application of our technology.”
While there will be challenges for different types of channel partners, BroadSource CEO Haydn Faltyn said his business would be embracing these changes.
“I guess the key message is to embrace it,” he said. “It’s not going anywhere, so lean into it and let it evolve. It’s going to reinvent many things, often in ways we don’t know yet. But rather than obstructing it, we should participate and see what comes of it.”
Lilia Guan travelled to Cisco Partner Summit 2024 as a guest of Cisco.