Investing In Local Partnerships

With business in the SMB space increasing drastically, vendors and
solution providers find it a significant business opportunity. This is
especially because customers are seeking greater breadth of service,
personalization, and quality of experience from their trusted solution providers

Whether customers are looking for desired product offerings from a reseller,
or a reliable service from a managed services partner, all customers need
support for their network. As a result, customers increasingly depend on their
channel partners, relying on them to respond to their networking needs and to
fend off competitive threats. Partners, in turn, benefit from new, predictable
sources of profitability and revenue, while providing a differentiated solution
to their customers.

More SMB customers are embracing technology to gain a competitive advantage.
A large percentage of these companies are also based in smaller tier-2 and 3
cities. In India, the SMB segment is showing phenomenal growth signs-they are
looking to increase operational efficiencies, employee productivity, customer
responsiveness, cost containment, and network security, as well as increase
their ability to react to competitive pressures and business changes. A report
from Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, corroborates this by stating
that there are 7.4 million SMBs in India, and have created employment
opportunities for nearly 22 million people. However, working with SMB customers
demands a unique set of requirements and understanding. It is against this
backdrop, that channel partners in smaller cities and towns in India have
emerged. Channel partners who are present in the local market, possess insights
on the specific local business dynamics, and most importantly, realize the value
of relationships that best understand the needs of SMB customers. These
resellers play a key role in driving business in these regions, and help large
companies expand their geographic reach. Companies that use channel partners as
part of their go-to-market strategy must then invest and focus on their partners
who cater to this rapidly growing segment.

For example, Cisco to reach customers in the tier-2 and 3 cities, invest
significantly in resources to enhance partner support across the country. A wide
range of programs are offered to our partner community. The SMB Select Partner
designation recognizes channel partners that have a focused business practice
selling into the SMB market. Cisco also rewards partners who focus in this
segment with specific reward programs. In addition, this special designation
demonstrates to customers that the partner fully understands and supports
networking solutions for SMBs-differentiating them from other resellers. Within
Cisco, this designation also alerts sales and marketing teams that it is a
trusted SMB partner. This means that the select certified partner is included in
demand-generation activities and hence receives preferential communications.
Moreover, as an SMB Select Partner, they are invited to participate in the
development of programs so that they truly have a hand in how Cisco evolves, and
enhances its SMB Select designation and benefits its portfolio.

There are many other innovative tools that have been introduced by Cisco to
help its partners reach their SMB customers. Such tools include creating micro
sites that are hosted by Cisco. These help partners enhance their selling
strategies by use of features such as sales accelerator, mobility business
advisor, IPC RoI calculator, and quote builder. Furthermore, The Network on
Wheels (NOW) van is a mobile showcase of Cisco's products and solutions that
help SMBs benefit by actually seeing and understanding the benefits of
networking technology (the NOW Van tours all over India including tier-2 and 3
cities.)

Investing in local partnerships by providing broader, integrated technology
skills enables partners to deliver the integrated networking solutions, that
customers are demanding and help broaden their role and enter new markets.
Developing deeper technology skills in turn enables partners to further
differentiate themselves by offering more sophisticated advanced technology
solutions. By implementing and integrating tools and processes into their
services business, partners can strengthen customer relationships and enhance
profitability.