Cisco Makes It Easier For Partners To Carry Specifications

The networking vendor this week is also launching two IP telephony specializations aimed at developing solution selling in its partner base, said Surinder Brar, senior director of marketing for the worldwide channels organization at Cisco, San Jose, Calif.

Cisco is shifting the program's requirements to focus on the certifications of solution providers' individual employees rather than on the organization as a whole, Brar said. Now partners must maintain a requisite number of employees that have earned the Cisco Qualified Specialist designation, which is an individual badge based on career certifications and specialty exams. CQS badges are renewable every two years. Previously, partners had to take exams annually to maintain their specializations.

Also, the course material and exams for specialization were different than those required to earn the CQS designation. Now the requirements are aligned, which means partners should spend less time preparing for and taking exams, Brar said.

The move puts dollars back in solution providers' pockets as consultants lose fewer billable hours to training and testing, said John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based solution provider. "One of the ways Cisco can really support our growth is by allowing us to take some of the dollars traditionally used for training and put them back into our business," Freres said.

Meridian expects to see up to a 10 percent savings from the reduction in lost time, Freres said.

Cisco is also revamping its VoIP specializations by launching IP Communications and IP Communications Express, which replace its IP Telephony Revised specialization as well as three VoIP-related designations in its Advanced Technology Provider program.

The new specializations combine product and application content, ensuring that partners can create well-rounded solutions that include a full complement of IP-PBX, unified messaging and contact center technology, Brar said."You're going to see across the board that in all of our technology specializations, we're going to migrate toward solutions," he added.