Cisco is looking to ramp up recruitment for its Avant Garde range of partner tools and hopes to sign up 100 extra VARs within two months.

The Avant Garde scheme features the entry-level Start offering and the advanced Plus. Since December, more than 30 resellers have joined the Plus scheme.

About 150 have signed up for Start, and Cisco’s channel operations director for UK and Ireland Phil Rushton claimed he wanted to add another 100 by the end of April.

“This year our go-to-market strategy in the commercial space is partner-led. It is a big departure for Cisco” he said.

Rushton indicated partners could benefit from demand generation tools, marketing funds and joint events.

Last week the vendor's Business Solutions Workshop in Warwickshire invited 120 potential Cisco partners to investigate the possibilities of Avant Garde. Distributor Comstor told CRN it was working to promote the scheme and attended the event to drum up interest in four sales training events it is holding next month.