Cisco’s former Gold partners have been quick to publicise their achievements under the networking giant’s new 360 partner programme, with several confirming they have already bagged ‘Preferred’ status across multiple portfolios.
Characterised as Cisco’s biggest partner shake up in decades, 360’s debut on Sunday 25 January spells the end of the networking giant’s historic Gold badge.
Cisilion, boxxe, CDW, Trustmarque and Conscia are among the former Gold partners to have since taken to social media to show off their 360 spurs.
“Like holding five Gold badges”
Trustmarque said it has bagged Preferred status across all five key portfolios – namely Networking, Services, Security, Collaboration and Cloud & AI.
“This prestigious status is the highest recognition attainable, equivalent to holding five “Gold” badges under the previous model,” it said.
In a blog post, boxxe’s Cisco Business Unit Director, Paul Thompson, characterised 360 as a “complete rethink of how Cisco measures and empowers partners”.
The York-based outfit has bagged Preferred status across Networking, Security, AI & Cloud and Services.
Thompson acknowledged that Cisco’s previous Gold/Premier/Select tiers were “rigorous, meaningful” and “served the industry well”.
“But they were also built for a world where technology was purchased in boxes, architectures were more static or siloed, and cloud was something we talked about in the future tense,” he wrote.
Cisco has replaced this with a “value-driven, outcome-aligned model that measures what really matters for customers”, including the value partners deliver across the full lifecycle, he said.
CDW UK said it had achieved Preferred status across “all portfolios from the outset”, while Conscia confirmed it has done the same across Cloud and AI, Networking, Security and Services.
Cisilion said it has secured Preferred across Cloud & AI, Collaboration and Networking, meanwhile.
“Why settle for one Gold when you can build multiple centres of excellence?,” Cisilion Sales Director Craige Winter-Nolan wrote in a LinkedIn post.
The London-based outfit is “one of only 30 UK Managed Partners within the Cisco 360 Program with multiple Preferred Partner designations across strategic portfolios”, Winter-Nolan noted.
Softcat also took to LinkedIn to confirm it has snared Preferred status across “all disciplines”.
“More predictable experience”
Although Cisco’s UK&I channel leader Joachim Mason stressed in November that Cisco is “spending the same, if not more” on 360 than its previous regime, some partners concede the changeover could cause them short-term pain.
Comstor VP Steven Heinsius earlier week characterised 360 as “very, very good” for partners, but said some smaller ones may lose rebates because they “missed the memo” on the new programme.
Partners must score 7.5 out of ten across four key measures to be classed as Preferred in a given architecture, with Splunk & Observability set to be integrated as a fifth architecture soon, Thompson explained.
“Moving forward, partners are assessed on actual performance, customer success, and the value they deliver across the full lifecycle,” he wrote.
“A more frequent measure to ensure the Partner status level is reflected more accurately to give customers a more predictable experience. Helping them choose the right partner with confidence.”
