Cisco partners continue to tell us that one of the most valuable ways Cisco can help them to be successful is to facilitate their meeting with other partners in the broad Cisco partner ecosystem.

Historically, a main vehicle to facilitate these partner-to-partner discussions has been through in-person events, such as Cisco Live or Partner Summit. At these events, partners have the opportunity to meet literally 100's of other partners -such as those building software, delivering integration services, or providing managed services. These partners come from different parts of the world, working in different industries and offering different value propositions along a number of use cases relevant to our customers. These partner-to-partner discussions often inspire ideas on new ways to change, expand and transform businesses. They can also plant the seeds for future co-selling motions.

Cisco Partner Connections Digital

In response to events going virtual, and as an alternative way for our partners to meet each other, Cisco began running Partner Connections Digital one-hour virtual events. Cisco Partner Connections Digital is a regularly occurring series run in different regions with each event focusing on topics our partners have expressed interest in, such as vaccine distribution and logistics and business resiliency.

At each Partner Connection Digital virtual event, attendees hear from a variety of showcased partners that are experts in their fields. These partners share their thought leadership insights and value propositions, as it relates to the topic under discussion.

After each session, attendees are given a number of ways to reach out to the showcased partners, whether via email, in Webex Team rooms or one-on-one.

The value of co-selling with ecosystem partners

We all know that customer budgets are shifting away from IT to the lines of businesses who own the outcomes for the business. These lines of business are more interested in buying solutions that deliver on KPIs aligned to their business and customer needs, versus integrating a puzzle of solution and architectural components.

However, no one vendor can deliver these solutions, which means complementary partners must come together in co-selling motions to build and sell these solutions. As an example, a co-selling team of Cisco plus six Cisco partners helped a top ten grocer based in the United States adopt a cloud-first strategy to help it better serve its customers and be more competitive in the market.

Enabling partner connections

Even though the value of partner co-selling is becoming better understood by the Cisco partner community, a main challenge has been how do partners connect with each other?

Partner Connections Digital provides one important answer. If you're a Cisco Partner interested in learning more, watch previous sessions or sign up for future sessions, please visit this Cisco Partner page. Among other things, you'll find 10-minute presentations from previously participating partners.

In addition to Partner Connections Digital, learn about other ways Cisco facilitates partner connections, such as:

• Portfolio Explorer where you can find potential partners organized by industries and use cases, and
• PXP Partner Connect capability on Cisco's Partner Experience Platform where Cisco Partners can search for potential co-selling partners by a number of criteria like geography and industry, and
• Ecosystem Exchange and Meraki Marketplace where you can search for partner solutions by technology area, business outcome, or key word

Even though it may be a while before we go back to in-person conferences, Cisco Partners don't have to stop connecting with other Cisco partners. Take advantage of ways Cisco is helping you to succeed by signing up to learn more about Partner Connections Digital today.

And if you're not yet a Cisco Partner, learn more about how you can partner alongside Cisco to help transform your business and deliver expanded value throughout the customer lifecycle.

Sign up to learn more about Partner Connections Digital today!

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