Cisco Rewards Security Software Players

Through the new program, dubbed the Cisco Security Agent (CSA) Opportunity Registration Program, authorized Cisco partners can register new sales opportunities around the vendor's CSA intrusion-prevention software.

The program includes sales to new customers as well as new departments within existing customers, said Edison Peres, vice president of emerging technologies for worldwide channels at the San Jose, Calif.-based networking vendor.

Partners receive a 10 percent discount on registered sales, plus an exclusive opportunity to close the deal without competition from other partners for 90 days, he said.

"We're trying to reward the hunters that go out and look for additional opportunities," Peres said.

If successful, the deal-registration process,a first for the vendor,could find its way into other Cisco channel programs, he said.

While the registration process does not specifically block Cisco's sales force from taking deals direct, Peres said there is really no benefit to them doing so.

"I don't think there's anything in our culture or compensation plan that encourages them to take deals direct," he said.

Solution providers applauded the program as a means of protecting their margins and their investment in Cisco security specializations.

"The last thing we want is for us to go in, develop an opportunity and have someone else go in and undercut us," said John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based solution provider.

Cisco also hopes the program will attract Cisco VPN/security specialized partners that have not yet picked up the CSA product line, which the vendor acquired through its purchase of Okena earlier this year, Peres said.

The CSA line protects desktops and servers from security threats by identifying and blocking suspicious behavior without requiring virus signatures to detect them, said Alex Thurber, director of wireless and security strategies for worldwide channels at Cisco.

"The idea is to make sure what your computer is doing is what you want it to do," Thurber said.

While the CSA product line is not yet selling in huge volumes, it is a critical element in many sales, especially in IP telephony solutions, said Mark Theoharous, president of Burwood Group, a Chicago-based solution provider.

Cisco plans to run the program, launched earlier this month, for 90 days and then will evaluate whether to extend it, Thurber said. Partners can combine it with Cisco's recently extended Value Incentive Program, which provides qualified security and IP telephony partners with back-end rebates for reaching sales and customer satisfaction rating goals.