Global Offerings to Help Channel Partners Build and Profitably Grow Their Services Practices
SAN JOSE, CAL. -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 26, 2007 -- Cisco® (NASDAQ: CSCO) today introduced two global offerings to help channel partners simplify the process of selling and delivering services, enhance their services portfolios, and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Cisco Service Contract Center is a Web-based solution intended to simplify the way a channel partner manages and sells services, while Cisco E-Consulting for Partners is an analytical, automated system that provides customized recommendations and activities to address gaps in a channel partner's services practice.

"Selling and delivering services can mean a variety of things, from providing or reselling technical support to providing a customer with network design assistance. We understand the complexity around building out a profitable services practice," said Karl Meulema, vice president, marketing and channels for Cisco services. "We have been listening to our channel partners, and they tell us that process simplification and help with business assessments and recommendations are two specific areas where Cisco could really help. We are always striving to help our channel partners differentiate themselves in the market and deliver a profitable and sustainable service to our mutual customers."

Cisco Service Contract Center

"The level of detail provided by the new Cisco Service Contract Center is going to save us a month's work," said Lynne Daly, CSSP renewals/program administrator of Dimension Data. "Now we can focus our attention on selling and servicing our customers instead of waiting for reports, searching for information, reconciling prices, re-entering quotes and solving problems."

Cisco Service Contract Center is a simple and easy-to-use solution for channel partners who want to identify and track renewal opportunities, quote and order service offerings, and manage service contracts on an ongoing basis. Designed to improve efficiency and enable business growth through the simplification of end-to-end service delivery, the Cisco Service Contract Center solution becomes available for 1-Tier Channel Partners starting on March 27, 2007. For more details, please visit: www.cisco.com/go/cscc.