Discounts will be based on a partner s certification and specialization. In the past, Web and catalog shops emphasizing sales volume over service undercut Cisco partners that invested heavily in specializations and staff certification. In some cases, customers hired solutions providers to specify and install a network but purchased Cisco products through a catalog operation. Cisco s evolving specialization program encourages solutions providers to develop skills in Voice over IP, wide-area networking, wireless, security and other networking fields. Security also will be a hot topic at Partner Summit.
Partners hope to hear more about the strategy.
Freres credits much of his firm s success to lessons learned at Cisco s event. Previews of Cisco acquisition Geotel inspired Freres to establish an IP telephony practice before most rivals wised up. Freres is such a Cisco Summit believer that he is taking two of his board members to the event on his own dime. Everybody goes to Vegas expecting to hit the jackpot. This year, that won t be quite so easy for Cisco and its partners.