Tech Data this week announced it has significantly expanded the sales enablement services it provides Cisco partners at a time when Cisco is encouraging channel partners to transform their practices in advance of widespread usage of machine learning algorithms to automate management of IT infrastructure.
Cisco operates one of the largest and most complex channel programs in the IT industry. The Tech Data Cisco Partner Enablement Framework is essentially a concierge service the distributor provides to make it simpler for two-tied channel partners to navigate that program, says Angie McCourt, vice president, Cisco Solutions at Tech Data.
Without that level of support channel partners are too often left to fend for themselves in a hit and miss fashion, says McCourt.
“A two-tier distribution partner can find themselves sitting there doing nothing,” says McCourt.
To avoid that problem McCourt says Tech Data consults with partners to first identify what capabilities they have and then works to make sure that the Cisco field service team is aware the partner has them. Tech Data is also working with partners to identify what kinds of specializations they optimally need to participate in the Cisco channel program, adds McCourt.
The latest enhancement to the program are primarily focused on enabling partners to take advantage of adjacent cybersecurity opportunities as well as data analytics and emerging Internet of Things (IoT) application scenarios, says McCourt.
Other new aspects of the program focus on enhanced sales training as well as advice on how to optimize technical resources, adds McCourt. Tech Data is also working to make the videos and webinars it provides access to available on demand versus requiring partners to attend a specific online event, says McCourt.
McCourt says the revamp to the Tech Data Cisco Partner Enablement Framework is designed to complement an ongoing effort by Cisco to restructure its channel by encouraging partners to focus less on delivering technical services tied to a specific piece of networking gear. As machine learning algorithms and other forms of artificial intelligence (AI) continue to evolve Cisco is making it clear to channel partners that large swaths of the technical services many partners today provide are about to become automated.
It remains to be seen how Cisco channel partners will be able to make this transition. But the one thing Tech Data appears to be committed to is making sure that if they don’t, it won’t be because of lack of resources from their distributor.
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