Cisco is risking reducingcustomer serviceby failing to provide
adequate support and training to partners to prepare them for
deploying new Cisco applications at end-user
businesses.
One Cisco user said that his company had worked with an
accredited partner, but that the partner's lack of knowledge in
deploying one specific Cisco application meant his company was left
to work out some installation issues itself.
Speaking at the
Network 2008 conference this week, Nick Watson, vice-president
enterprise business Cisco UK & Ireland, said, "Increasingly,
what people are after is a full-service approach to what they buy
and that requires a different approach from Cisco. Are we perfect?
No, we are certainly not perfect. We are very aware this is
something we need to get better."
Watson said that technology evolved at a fast pace and so the
skill levels of some partners on a particular area was not
something that everyone could pick up on.
Cisco plans to address the skills gap at its partner conference
in April, so that partners are better prepared to deliver
new Cisco applications to customers.
Watson said changes to its partner programme would assist its
partners in working to standards, which Cisco customers will able
to identify with, and therefore will assure that what the customers
can expect to get, the partners can deliver.
A 2007-2008 Gartner report said Cisco had lagged behind many of
its competitors over how well it
educates its partner base about new releases technologies and
that this cuts across support, professional services and
training.
"We continually hear that Cisco is becoming an applications
company. But its messaging and enablement of its partners do not
show evidence of sufficient knowledge transfer to enable its
partners to support Cisco's new model with new support and
professional services offerings and application-centric
certifications," the report said.
Have you had trouble working with an approved integrator or
partner? If so, e-mail john-paul.kamath@rbi.co.uk