Cisco eyes SMBs with revamped MSP program 1 September, 2009 By [ci] channelinsider

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The primary change to the program addresses a serious barrier to entry problem Cisco has grappled with since the program's first incarnation. Cisco is doing away with the previous requirement that its managed services partners had to have their own network operating center, one strictly audited from an equipment, staffing, process and capacity standpoint by Cisco. This requirement effectively locked out the vast majority of small to mid-sized partners that simply can't afford the initial capital expenditure to build a NOC nor the ongoing operational expenses.

Under the new program, Cisco is allowing partners to deliver managed services through another, typically larger, partner's NOC in what it describes as a white label arrangement. Practically speaking, this enables partners who otherwise could not participate in Cisco managed services to do so, while giving the partner that owns the NOC access to markets they might not otherwise serve, according to Surinder Brar, senior director of programs and strategy at Cisco.

In talking to partners globally, Brar said the demand for another NOC option was clear.

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