The Cisco Managed Services Channel Program (MSCP) was developed to provide:

• The industry’s first partner program aligned with needs of managed service providers
• Accelerated adoption of IP-based managed services
• A consistent global discount structure and rewards tied to service value
• A benchmark of managed service excellence for end users
• Partners the ability to leverage the Cisco brand to differentiate premium service offerings

Managed Service Providers will benefit from the program in three key areas:

Business Model Transformation

MSCP establishes a set of business rules and processes that accelerate the development and delivery of managed services that today’s businesses expect. By providing predictable and globally consistent terms (regardless of title disposition) and by stabilizing access to in-country products, managed service providers can more easily deliver the network and premise-based managed services customers demand.

Building Trust in Partner Capabilities

MSCP entry criteria are based on major industry frameworks such as ITIL and are designed to help partners deliver a quality managed service experience. The program validates a partners’ NOC capabilities and managed service offerings to provide further differentiation in the market. Customers can now rely on the managed services provider capabilities, validated by a third-party, to deliver finished solutions with an end-to-end product and service guarantee.

Program Rewards

MSCP enables partners to profit from the large and rapidly growing managed services opportunity by providing discounts on Cisco customer premise equipment (CPE) associated with a provider’s managed service. The program model rewards partners for building and selling the services that deliver more business value to end users, and drive greater service value and profitability for providers. Providers also benefit from consistent pricing whether the CPE is "title-held" or "title-transferred."

Partners with the highest value-add managed services will set the industry standard for quality managed services and are further entitled to the many benefits of the Cisco Powered Program® which serves members in all aspects of the service lifecycle: from envisioning and launching a service, to marketing and selling it. Benefits include:

• Additional marketing campaign resources and sales training resources to assist in go-to-market readiness
• Premium placement of Cisco Powered services in the partner locator
• Ability to use the Cisco Powered Managed Service brand, created specifically for the Managed Services Channel Program

Program rewards are tied to the relative value of each service based on a three-tier model: Cisco Powered Managed Services, Strategic Managed Services, Legacy Managed Services. Following is a list of categories for managed service designations:

Managed Connectivity Services
Managed Unified Communications Services
Managed Security Services
Managed Mobile Communication Services
Managed Data Center Services