Partner Architecture Specializations

The Collaboration SaaS Specialization ensures that partners have an understanding of the most recent Cisco Webex solutions in order to design, quote, deploy, and support the right Webex meeting solution for any customer.

The Collaboration SaaS Specialization program trains partners to gain the foundational knowledge of Cisco collaboration SaaS solutions to effectively sell these cloud-based services. The program ensures partners have the right skills and expertise to sell collaboration SaaS solutions to customers. In addition, it supports partners in building recurring revenue streams for their business and adding their own valuable services to ensure high levels of customer adoption of WebEx solutions.

With the Collaboration SaaS Specialization Program, you can:

• Increase recurring revenue streams and increase lifetime value of customer.
• Find new revenue opportunity via adoption services to new/existing customers.
• Have access to the Cisco collaboration pricing program and eligibility for rebate programs and the NFR Collaboration SaaS.
• Take advantage of Value Incentive Program rebates as part of the Collaboration Annuity track.
• Gain recognition in the Cisco Partner Locator.

Specialize to help your customers better connect with their customers, partners, and suppliers. With this specialization, you show you are an expert in the collaboration architecture. This portfolio includes unified communications, conferencing, customer care, and collaboration endpoints.

The Collaboration Architecture Specialization satisfies a requirement for Premier and Gold certifications.

You can also:

• Get bigger deals through a solution-based sales approach.
• Take part in incentive programs.
• Migrate your customers' installed base through trade-in programs and promotions.
• Promote your best-in-class capabilities and relationship with Cisco.
• Find and sell our tested, validated collaboration solutions at special price points.

Reach the highest level for Cisco collaboration solutions. Deliver voice and unified communications solutions to help your customers communicate quickly and effectively. Improve customer service and save time and money.

You can also:

• Boost your profits with unique incentive programs, rebates, and co-marketing funds.
• Become an expert in delivering end-to-end voice and unified communications solutions.
• Get early exposure to unified communications solution roadmaps.
• Use a distinct Master Partner logo to position your best-in-class skills.
• Access in-depth training and support resources.
• Find and sell our tested, validated collaboration solutions at special price points.

The Unified Contact Center Express Specialization is an open program available to all Advanced Collaboration Architecture Specialized partners, providing more flexibility in terms of which collaboration solutions to invest in.

The Cisco Contact Center portfolio now includes three specializations: Unified Contact Center Express Specialization (small to mid-market); Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization (enterprise market); and Webex Contact Center Specialization (cloud).

With the Unified Contact Center Express Specialization program, you can:

• Build and promote your brand as a trusted Cisco specialized partner, able to deliver Cisco Contact Center.
• Gain recognition on the Cisco Partner Locator.
• Differentiate your Contact Center Express capabilities from non-specialized partners.

To learn more, contact your partner account manager.

Provide intelligent call routing, network-to-desktop computer telephony integration, and contact management solutions to enterprise agents over an IP-based network.

To apply for this specialization you must be associated with an Advanced Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization partner from another business entity of the same parent company and within the same Cisco-defined theater. The Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization partner must be a separate business entity from their fully qualified Advanced Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization partner and from another country within the same theater.

With the Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization, you can:

• Market and sell UCCE solutions in countries within the theater that are outside of the country where the Advanced Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization qualification is held.
• Identify, qualify, train, enable, and promote country-based presales teams to build market share in that theater.
• Ensure high-level, end-to-end global project management for total customer engagement.
• Ensure excellence in customer satisfaction with the UCCE solution.

This program is by invitation only. To learn more, contact your partner account manager.

Provide intelligent call routing, network-to-desktop computer telephony integration, and contact management solutions to enterprise agents over an IP-based network.

If you have expertise in legacy TDM and PBX phone systems, IP-based telephony, and IP-based contact center solutions, then this program is for you. You must also hold an Advanced Collaboration Architecture Specialization.

With the Advanced Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialization you can:

• Provide enhanced call control, platform management, and reporting services.
• Deliver a high-performance solution for enterprise-level contact centers.
• Offer world-class customer service.
• Increase customer satisfaction and overall business profitability.

This program is invitation-only. To learn more, contact your partner account manager.

The Webex Contact Center Specialization enables select partners to sell, implement and support the Cisco Webex Contact Center offer to mid-market customers.

The Webex Contact Center accelerates the Cisco Contact Center Flexible Deployment Strategy. Combined with Cisco's strong foundation with meetings and messaging and the acquisition of BroadSoft, the platform offers a complete collaboration portfolio with flexible deployment options (cloud, on premise, or hybrid) to meet customer needs.

With the Webex Contact Center Specialization, you can:

• Build and promote your brand as a trusted, Cisco specialized partner, able to deliver Cisco Contact Center.
• Build long-term, strategic relationships with your customers via a SaaS solution that encourages ongoing dialogue to ensure customers are leveraging solution features.
• Take advantage of Value Incentive Program rebates as part of the Collaboration Annuity track.

This program is invitation-only. To learn more, contact your partner account manager.

This specialization helps your company develop sales, technical, and service capabilities for integrated data center server solutions. 

You can:

• Become a Select Certified Partner.
• Benefit from partner incentives.
• Access Sales Connect for ongoing education and sales enablement.
• Visit the Design Zone for tested designs and configurations.
• Access the Partner Proposal Library for proposal, cover letter, RFx, Q&A, and executive summary templates to accelerate sales.

Specialize to advance your skill set. Meet customers' diverse data center needs for the digital era.

You can also:

• Become an expert in unified management, unified computing, and network programmability.
• Boost profits with unique incentives and trade-in programs and promotions.
• Use the Design Zone.
• Find and sell tested, validated data center solutions at a special price point.

This approach integrates the three pillars of cloud: cloud applications and services, data centers, and networks. Building on your Advanced Data Center Architecture Specialization, the exclusive Master Data Center and Hybrid Cloud Specialization brings the data center mainstream. It recognizes and rewards partners who have proven capabilities to build and deploy cloud-ready data center infrastructures based on Cisco solutions. It also includes cloud offerings from our technology partners across storage, virtualization, and cloud management.

You can also:

• Use the Master Specialized in Data Center and Hybrid Cloud Partner logo to uniquely position your capabilities.
• Benefit from working with Cisco technology partners.
• Connect with more than 300 providers who have hundreds of cloud solutions ready for you to sell.
• Access additional Value Incentive Program (VIP) rebates.
• Enjoy Teaming Incentive Program and Opportunity Incentive Program discounts.

The HyperFlex Specialization is designed specifically to enable partners to sell and implement HCI technology through Cisco HyperFlex Solutions. With the HyperFlex Specialization, you can gain market share, grow revenue, and secure your place as the Customer's trusted advisor in the HCI market. Benefit your business with customers while also growing your partnership with Cisco and gaining incremental incentives and rewards, exclusively for HyperFlex Specialized partners.

The HyperFlex Specialization will:

• Build and promote your brand as a trusted Cisco Specialized Partner, able to deliver Cisco HyperFlex solutions.
• Offer additional up-front discounts to specialized partners on HyperFlex products.
• Gain recognition in Cisco Partner Locator, Cisco SalesConnect, and other Cisco tools.
• Have exclusive access to learning maps and training opportunities in advances in HCI Technology.

The Security Specialization helps you focus on customer business outcomes and threat-centric solutions. The simple requirements make it easy for you to receive additional discounts on new, registered security solutions.

With the Security Specialization you can:

• Automatically become a Select Certified Partner.
• Take part in incentives.
• Access Marketing Velocity Central for demand-generation materials to help you scale your security practice.

Achieve a higher level of security technical expertise than most IT partners have. You can give customers more advanced security solutions for their business needs—whether they're small businesses, large enterprises, or anything in between.

You can also:

• Extend security capabilities with a broad portfolio of integrated solutions.
• Take part in the Value Incentive Program (VIP).
• Increase deal size through architecture cross-sell opportunities.
• Find and sell our tested, validated security solutions at special price points.
• Take advantage of special discounts, and be recognized in the Cisco Partner Locator.

Network threats are becoming more complex. How can your company stay current with the latest security solutions? We'd like to help. Learn how to add security to all aspects of your customer's network. Adapt to new threats, and help your customers get the security coverage they need.

We've updated the Master Security Specialization to make sure your expertise is current.  With this specialization, you'll gain a powerful competitive advantage and become part of an exclusive group. 

You can also:

• Boost your profits with incentives, rebates, and co-marketing funds.
• Become an expert in delivering complex security solutions.
• Get early exposure to security solution roadmaps.
• Use a distinct Master Partner logo to position your best-in-class capabilities.
• Access in-depth training and support resources.

Today's internet infrastructures are being attacked multiple times a day, every day. To get ahead of these attacks and prevent them from happening, customers need to be able to quickly detect threats such as malware and phishing before it reaches their network and endpoints. To do this, they need to build an intelligent network to be proactive and block these malicious attacks.

Our Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) can now get access to a cloud security service that gives customers a first line of defense. Our Cisco Umbrella service protects end users on-network and off-network by blocking malware, phishing, and command and control callbacks. With this service, customers can stop threats before they ever reach an organization's network or endpoints.

To sell this service, you'll need to:

• Be a specialized Cisco partner.
• Have two system engineers complete the Cisco Umbrella MSSP training and Level 2 COLT exams.
• Provide frontline support.
• Preferably have an operational SOC and an API developer or team.

Sell solutions based on the Cisco converged IP architecture. Combine this with your differentiated professional services to help customers reduce operating costs and boost revenue. Your account managers and systems engineers will have access to presales and postsales training that builds upon their routing capabilities, enabling you to provide IP convergence solutions. Increase your profitability by participating in the Value Incentive Program (VIP) and selling higher-value solutions.

This specialization satisfies a requirement for Gold, Premier, and Select Certification.

With it you can:

• Use an Advanced Architecture partner logo at the country level to position your capabilities and be recognized in the Partner Locator
• Gain eligibility to participate in the service provider subtrack of VIP.
• Find opportunities in telco, OTT, media, public, and enterprise segments that need carrier-grade equipment for building clouds
• Help customers migrate to new routing and optical products and solutions and to the next generation of mobile backhaul

Acquire unique virtualization capabilities, such as expertise in SDN, segment routing, and NFV. Receive presales and postsales training for your account managers and system engineers and be recognized for your know-how in delivering service provider routing, optical, and backhaul solutions.

This specialization enables you to:

• Use a Master Specialized Partner logo at a regional level to position your capabilities and be recognized in the Partner Locator
• Gain early access to training as it is developed.
• Find opportunities in telco, OTT, media, public, and enterprise segments that need carrier-grade equipment for building clouds
• Help customers migrate and converge to new service-provider SDN and NFV technologies, routing and optical products and solutions, and the next generation of mobile backhaul