Cisco Rolls Out Trade-In Rebates For Partners, Launches SMB Lease Program

Unveiled at Cisco's Partner Summit in Vancouver, British Columbia, the programs come as part of Cisco's effort to make itself easier to do business with and help partners close more deals, Cisco executives said Monday during a press conference at the event.

"In order for partners to grow we need to [increase] credit capacity," said Paul Mountford, senior vice president of worldwide channels at Cisco, San Jose, Calif. "We're going to put more money into the marketplace to enable that," he said.

Cisco has previously offered a trade-in program that gave customers cash back for old equipment, in an effort to encourage businesses to upgrade their infrastructure. Now, through its Trade-In Accelerator Program, the company is offering a 15 percent rebate to partners on the value of customer trade-ins, said Edison Peres, vice president of advanced and core technologies for worldwide channels at Cisco.

Both Cisco and non-Cisco hardware is eligible for the trade-in programs, including legacy TDM phone equipment, Peres said.

Cisco estimates that there is $40 billion worth of switching and routing products that are three to five years old out in the market, Peres said.

"A lot of the installed base out there is really prime for migration to newer technology," he said.

Also at the Partner Summit, Cisco's wholly owned financing subsidiary, Cisco Systems Capital, said it is adding $750 million in short-term financing to boost partners' credit capacity.

"We're providing the headroom and capacity needed to allow our channel partners to grow," said David Rogan, president of Cisco Systems Capital and vice president of Cisco. The new financing also ensures partners will have enough financing capacity to meet product demand generated by the new trade-in program, Rogan said.

The financing boost includes $250 million from Cisco through 30-day open account terms and $500 million through 30-to-90 day inventory financing via third-party lenders, he said.

The company is also rolling out new simplified leasing options for SMB customers. Through the Cisco Capital Commercial Easy Lease Program, channel partners can now provide leasing for deals as small as $1,000. The program also includes Web-based tools to expedite lease approvals.