This is a transcript of highlights of a CSCO webcast to partners/resellers compiled by a shareholder.
THIS IS HUGE. You may want to sit down.
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So huge that I decided to transcribe much of the first 17 minutes of this Cisco Webcast to its SIP partneres and potential partners which took place on May 8, 2008. The goal of the webcast was to better explain the SIP program to the potential partners, which can get sort of complicated, so as to entice them to apply for SIP approval.
As their primary example of how the SIP program can bring great wins to all involved, ie their very best pitch out of all the deals out there so far, Cisco elected to describe in detail the INX-Cistera deal. Cisco top brass desrcibed Cistera in extremely positive terms and got the Cistera name out there in front of all potential Cisco SIP partners. I could barely believe what I was hearing. It is the type of marketing for Cistera that money could never buy.
Here you go:
This is the CISCO guy (director of operations for US and Canada channels) talking to the SIP partners:
"solution selling is becoming a much more important strategy both for ourselves and for you"
"Going forward in 2009 the vertical strategy is going to take on a much more preelant role both for enterprise and commercial."
We are going to take you from being just another supplier into being a trusted advisor and we are going to help you compete against point product providers.
We believe this is the best way for Cisco to maintain its growth which will be extremely rewarding for both you and Cisco.
There is a whole group of pre-qualified applications for SIP for you to take advantage of to generate increased sales for yourselves [seems all the more impressive that Cisco has decided to highlight Cistera out of this group].
Director of WW channel
This fiscal year we have added a new way to enter the SIP program by making it much more easy for you to develop your business solution (ISPN program). Specifically we have done due diligence on a portfolio of applications across a number of industry verticals. So when you decide to team up with one of these pre-qualified parterns to take a solution to market, you are collaberating with a partner that has already acknowledged that it is prepared to help Cisco's channel partners sell solutions. So they are making it very, very easy for you.
These changes are helping to dispel the myth of how complicated SIP is (before the partners had to do all of the leg work themselves).
Once approved for SIP you are dealing more flexible portion of customer budgets because you have significantly moved up in their value stack.
How you get started with SIP is first deciding which solution you wish to take to market.
Once a partner is qualified, then approved SIP soulutions will receive a 54% discount on all Cisco products.
You are probably wondering which applications are pre-qualified of use in SIP. We will be covering them in great detail today.
Mike Kerr, MCO US channels, GovEd, Retail, CRE, S&E:
Let's talk about the applications that are available for use in SIP.
Here is what we think you should know about the opportunities at hand.
- First I would like to talk about our roles in vertical channels
- Then I would like to review with you an example of a great win with one of our pre-qualified technologiy partners, CISTERA NETWORKS.
"I really think that if you hear this story, you will then want to understand how you can select a pre-qualified SIP technology partner offering, build your go-to-market plan, and in just months turn that initiative into increased profitability and differentiation in both your current and prospective customer accounts."
12:50 minute mark in the presentation is where they tell the CISTERA STORY
Lets talk about this big win with INX and Cistera:
"Cistera Networks provides us the ideal example of the value a technology developer can provide when leveraging the solution incentive program. They have the complete business model necessary for your unified communications practice to leverage, and thereby creating a true business-needs based solution for the customer. Cistera is indeed market ready for you to engage, and that is really important for ease of doing business. They have the ultimate customer ownership as defined. They have Day 2 support identified and defined. They have solution training and education for your apprpriate account managers and SE's. They have a product distribution channel out there and fully developed. They have competitive product as well as market opportunity G2. And one of the greatest things, they have their own channel partner relationship manager for you to work with. All of this is really to accomplish the goal of making the relationship between Cistera and YOU uncomplicated, and more important, beneficial."
Let's look at this pre-qualified SIP solution in action:
A great win took place for INX at Hillsborough Schools in Oregon. They had been working this opportunity of almost two years. It was first identified as a $! million voice opportunity. Over the process of the relationship that grew to a $2.5 million unified applications deal that just closed.
Here are some of the specifics:
- 2,500 phones
- in 35 sites
- multiple applications (including Cistera's Broadcast Paging, Call Notification and Monitoring, and Emergency Response and Control.
"Not to mention that INX and Cistera were able to fend off Microsoft in the eleventh hour, thanks in great part to this partnership, and the fact that these applications brought forward customer-based solutions that Microsoft could not address. Definitely a great win."
The first phase of this implementation will be live in mid-May. And also, a unique part, INX is working on a second phase which actually includes more applications. Specifically an application with School Messenger, who incidentally also is another pre-approved SIP solutions provider, as well as some access control and even video surveillance. So the deal is truly growing and continuing to develop over time.
Currently INX had developed in excess of a $60 million pipeline for this year in the GovEd space by leveraging things such as this Cistera pre-qualified SIP solution.
Now I would like to pass it over to Roman for some more examples..........
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25:30 minute mark ….more on Cistera:
Some of our partners have actually taken it to the next level. For example, Cistera Networks has even created a boilerplate template where they have already done about 90% of the SIP go to market plan for you, making it really easy for you to fill in the blanks. We are seeing this as a trend, that more and more applications providers are moving toward to help expedite your go to market. |
