Cisco's channel boss outlines how partners can benefit from new enterprise agreement

Oliver Tuszik: 'The entire Cisco software portfolio and associated services can be purchased from one co-term agreement and managed through one portal'

Cisco's global channel boss says the vendor's new enterprise agreement will "massively simplify" the way partners and customers do business.

Speaking at Cisco's Partner Summit 2021, Oliver Tuszik outlined how the newly launched enterprise agreement will benefit partners - pointing to greater billing flexibility while claiming that partners will be able to more easily "expand into new technologies".

Announcing the new enterprise agreement, Cisco said it will provide partners and customers with simplified cross-portfolio access, more financial flexibility and increased business agility while aiming to accelerate digital transformation and fuel software revenue growth with partners.

"With the new EA, the entire Cisco software portfolio and associated services can be purchased from one co-term agreement and managed through one portal, massively simplifying our customers' experience," Tuszik, senior-vice president of global channel soutliales, said.

"The new EA includes the ability to expand into new technologies and also the flexibility to shift spend between DNA and Meraki, providing investment protection as customer needs change.

"We have simplified our Cisco capital payment solutions portfolio. It is now global, architecture agnostic and structured to how you sell.

"We are introducing Cisco Enterprise Agreement pay, which allows customers to spread the cost of the EA and software over time at no additional cost. It supports you in selling EAs and other software at a lower risk."

Cisco has also launched a new sustainability specialisation for partners which will be available in the second half of 2022, as well as advancements in its Partner Experience and Customer Experience portals such as the introduction of a new tool to more easily track customer success.

In his keynote speech, CEO Chuck Robbins praised partners for helping aid the company's continued transformation towards a software and services business, which Tuszik echoed.

"We achieved an overall channel bookings record and within this, we also achieved a service bookings record," he added.

"But that's not all. Together, we are making the shift to software and recurring revenues, and also achieved an EA growth record of 122 per cent year-over-year. Together, we are breaking new records."