Cisco has announced a plan to phase out its Services Partner Program (CSPP). The program will end by next July.
The company will begin asking partners to adopt its Lifecycle Advisor offering, which is currently in its trial stage. According to IDG, the move is designed to encourage partners to assist customers beyond product sales.
Cisco will also change its services-related rebates to an annuity-based model that measures partner performance on MRR, renewals and expansion growth.
Partners will also have the opportunity to receive an additional $115,000 bonus for increasing their customers’ initial sale ratio by 15.
“We need to move the whole of the partner world,” said Cisco Channel Chief Oliver Tuszik at Partner Summit in Las Vegas.
“Don’t get me wrong: we love partners selling a lot of products,” Tuszik added. “But we need to get to the next level and see the value of using. Then we’re moving the customers from using the software, to loving it.”
The trial program’s five partners have already generated more than $1 billion.
Looking forward, the company also intends to release a new focus on customer experience. The company also intends to improve its partner relationships with simpler deal registration and a 48-hour turnaround time on EA pricing.
