Cisco Makes More Changes to Distribution Team
Cisco Makes More Changes to Distribution Team by UCStrategies Staff
The distribution business at Cisco was altered for the second time last week as the new vice president of Americas distribution, Andrew Sage, was announced.
Sage will be in charge of sales, marketing, operating and logistics for Cisco’s Americas distribution channel, which has a market valued at more than $6.3 billion. Sage was previously the vice president of Cisco’s Worldwide Partner Led organization.
The vice president of global virtual sales, John Donovan, is set to take control of Sage’s former responsibilities leading the Worldwide Partner Led organization.
Julie Hens and Wendy Bahr, senior vice president of Cisco’s Americas Partner Organization, noted in a co-authored blogpost that Sage had opened up this position. Sage’s work was praised by both Hens and Bahr in regard to the work done at Partner Led, and his contribution to Partner Plus (Cisco’s Partner Program) to the commercial – or midmarket – space.
Hens and Bahr commented: “Andrew's team has driven a cohesive strategy, including the launch of programs such as Partner Plus, and has brought to the market a bold message about how we're targeting midsize customers through our partners, which was a major theme at this year's Cisco Partner Summit.”
Both Partner Plus and the midmarket were the focal points of the company’s Partner Summit in Boston earlier this year. $150 million was pledged towards Partner Led and Partner Plus by Cisco, in the following 12 months; this is twice as much as the $75 million which was invested in the initiative last year.
More growth-based incentives were also awarded to Partner Plus partners by the networking giant, and partners have the chance to use these incentives alongside their Value Incentive Programs (VIP), which the company also provides.
The senior vice president at Worldwide Partner Organization at Cisco, Bruce Klein, told partners: “The midmarket opportunity is a huge opportunity for all of us and we have to work together to grow our market share and capture that market.”
Cisco has certainly supported its distribution business in the last few years. In the last week, Cisco stated that its whole global distribution business was worth around $13 billion, which shows an increase of 35 percent from 2010’s $9.6 billion.
One of Cisco’s fastest-growing routes to market is distribution, and the company noted that this will continue to be a key part in driving its channel strategy. (CY) Link