Asia Pacific partners looking forward to Cisco 360 program

In Asia Pacific, channel partners contribute to about 96% to 97% of the business across all of Cisco’s offerings.

Cisco 360 is the new partner program that the tech giant revealed at the Cisco Partner Summit 2024 in the US. The new program was built to attract more MSPs and MSSPs with its focus on the value partners bring over transactions. The program hopes to represent a marked break from the biggest payouts going to partners landing large, CapEx infrastructure deals.

Interestingly, Cisco also announced that the new partner program will only come into effect in February 2026. In 2025, the company plans to communicate more with its partners to help them understand the new program and also ensure a smooth transition process takes place once Cisco 360 kicks off.

Partners around the world reacted positively to the announcement. In Asia Pacific, the news was also well received by partners and distributors in the region. Several partners and distributors that are based in Asia Pacific also shared their views with CRN Asia.

John Tan, Chief Customer Officer at Data#3 commented, “Cisco 360 is a significant step forward, aligning with Data#3's commitment to customer outcomes. This program redesign has the potential to foster mutual growth and focuses on value creation and service innovation. Within the details of the program, we anticipate a level of simplicity and an even greater emphasis on delivering tangible results for customers, which is core to Data#3's purpose. Cisco's prioritization of customer-centricity resonates strongly with our values."

Echoing his sentiments is Data#3 Chief Technology Officer, Graham Robinson. Robinson mentioned that the program's focus on simplification, specialization, customer lifecycle, and sustainability will streamline partner operations while creating new opportunities to add value for Data#3 customers.

For Chong-Win Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific at Logicalis, the launch of the Cisco 360 partner program will enhance their ability to deliver value through lifecycle services and Cisco specializations.

“By focusing on deep domain-specific skills in Networking, Security, AI, lifecycle, and managed services, we can significantly enhance our customers' digital transformation journey. We are thrilled to be the first to launch Cisco XDR as a managed service, which demonstrates our unwavering commitment to harnessing Cisco's and our own innovation to deliver tailored solutions to meet our customers' unique needs,” said Lee.

Patrick Aronson, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of APAC at Westcon-Comstor also shared his views on the new program. Aronson mentioned that he feels very encouraged as to where Cisco is going with this new program.

“They’ve had to go through a lot changes. But I believe this is what’s required for Cisco to reinvent itself to be a leader and a winner in tomorrow’s technology world. It’s no longer just about the network. They’re pivoting to a space where security is part of the plan. We're really excited about where they're going. We think that their security story is really coming together,” said Aronson.

2025 a year of transition?

CRN Asia also caught up with Kartika Prihadi, Vice President of Partner Sales and Routes to Market in Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China at Cisco to get his views on how he plans to work with partners and distributors in the region on the new partnership program.

“When we announced Cisco 360, we were initially a bit worried about the reaction from our partners. However, we received a very positive reaction from them. We’ve been talking about changing the partner program for a while. So, I think generally what we said with a combination of the announcements around the platform strategy, was very well received,” said Prihadi.

For Prihadi, the partner program has to be tied with what Cisco offers. He believes the combination comes very timely, especially with the need to develop the ecosystem. Prihadi pointed out that Cisco has been quite limited by its traditional business and the new program will free them up as they can measure partners based on their value.

“A lot of our partners bring a lot of value and invest a lot in Cisco’s business. This applies to both small and large partners. So, they feel positive that we are able to measure their success and value through the new program,” added Prihadi.

For Cisco, about 90% of its business comes through the channel globally. In Asia Pacific, Prihadi highlighted that channel partners contribute to about 96% to 97% of the business across all of Cisco’s offerings.

“In a way, we have about 15 months for the new program. And the reason for this is because our partners told us they need at least a year to get ready. To get them ready, we developed a program called the Partner Value Index, which will be out in December this year, for partners to see and understand what’s important. The metrics will be key as we want to shape their business to ensure they get the most value,” explained Prihadi.

Cisco’s three pillars for partner strategy

Prihadi highlighted that Cisco has three pillars to its partner strategy, whereby the overriding objective is growth and building a more committed partner ecosystem. The first pillar will be focused on developing partner capabilities. The second will focus on growing their business and the third pillar is focused on achieving success and profitability.

“We are looking at it from the whole lifecycle. We need to guide our partners towards these areas. We’re doing this by focusing on our investments in our partner program. We are also investing in partners funds to help them develop secure networking practice and their cloud AI,” added Prihadi.

This is where Prihadi believes the Partner Value Index will help Cisco establish commitment from their partners into the business. Prihadi mentioned that there are four key metrics which will shape the program. The first is foundational, which focuses on the partner capabilities around customer success as well as managed services.

The next metrics are performance and capabilities. Performance focuses on how partners grow their business while capabilities is focusing partners’ technical capabilities and specializations. The last metric is engagement and it's all about how partners engage with a customer throughout their lifecycle.