By Sharmee Roy
To help its partners beat the slowdown, Cisco has rolled out its Navigate To Accelerate (N2A) program.
According to R Dhamodaran, Senior Vice President, Channel Operations and Commercial Strategy, Cisco India and Saarc, “There is an unprecedented challenge for partners to find new opportunities, and we feel it is our responsibility to help our partners navigate this period. That’s why the N2A program has been introduced.”
The first element of the program is finance. The vendor is sharing ideas on how to maintain financial discipline, and how to manage the cash flow and credit lines. The vendor will also extend credit based on the need and merit of partners. Said Dhamodaran, “If a partner wants to address a new market opportunity, and if finance is an issue to close the deal, Cisco will extend help through our finance arm, Cisco Capital. We will provide a special credit line to our partners’ customers. For SMB customers we are running zero-finance schemes. Additionally, in the case of any large deal which requires a 120-day implementation cycle, our partners will be provided with money at a marginal cost to maintain a steady cash flow.”
The second element of the program is to focus on the existing customer base. The vendor is urging its partners to go back to their existing customers and see how they can extend the lives of the products already sold to them. “Basically, provide them with bare minimum upgrades which would involve less expense so that they do not feel the pinch of capital investment. This will help drive profitability and loyalty,” explained Dhamodaran.
The third element is to encourage partners to promote the pay-per-use concept so that they do not miss out on any kind of opportunity. Considering the market situation, most customers are not ready for capex, so this comes as a useful alternative for them.
The final element of the strategy is investing in current resources. For example, focusing on upgrading the skill-sets of the partners’ staff in the latest technologies so that when there is an upturn in the market they don’t miss out on any opportunity.
Cisco’s partners have welcomed the new program. “The objective behind N2A is to help partners in this difficult period and sustain future growth. The thing I appreciate most about N2A is the emphasis on partner profitability while driving growth,” said K Subrahmanya, Director of the Bangalore-based Central Data Systems. Agreed Rajiv Kumar, CEO, Proactive Data Systems, a Cisco Silver partner, “N2A shows that Cisco is sensitive to market realities. The expansion of Cisco Capital for partner and customer financing will help revive demand. The managed services program has also been enhanced to provide smaller partners an opportunity to create a strong services play.” |