Leading networking equipment manufacturer Cisco is set to launch a partner program aimed at consolidating approximately 50 different global programs into one. The new program is expected to leverage a $200 billion market opportunity which will help the company expand individual deals. Named the Cisco Services Partner Program, the company is going to provide performance-based incentives to its service partners.

Cisco’s annual survey of partners reveals that its solution providers now account for 50 percent of their revenues with services while contributing about 70 percent of their profits. Significantly, services account for approximately $9 billion of the company’s overall revenue.

Last year, Cisco extensively focused on refining its services programs such as its Integrated Architectures Specialization (IAS) for large partners that may be strategic with Cisco at various levels. Further, the company published a services Rules of Engagement document which included details on a wide spectrum of topics from partner services compensation to process involved to escalate issues to resolve conflicts.

The new program, however, is designed as the biggest statement of how the company wants to help its partners profit from services while differentiating itself from the strategies of its business rivals such as IBM, HP and Dell. The program will essentially open Cisco’s Smart Services portfolio up to its partner base.

With its intellectual capital and information offered through its software, Cisco partners can easily develop services for customers to boost competitive benchmarking. At a strategic level, Cisco partners can leverage Partner Support Service, a new offering, to provide both installed base and contract management services to customers while using Cisco APIs to build their own apps and software. Partners opting for the program can hope to realize incremental rebates up to 25 percent, depending on their approach to go in-depth with the programs and the type of service offerings they provide.

The program is going to be available within the next 18 months. The company started piloting it last year with around 2,500 partners. There are now 4,000 partners who are participating in it from the U.S, Asia Pacific, Israel and Canada. The company has invested about $1 billion in this program.

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