Cisco Partner Summit 2016 - Full Speed
Natalie Naudo sums up the Cisco Partner Summit!
I was excited to join my Ingram Micro colleagues at the Cisco Partner Summit in San Francisco last week. This was my first Partner Summit and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The event was attended by more than 2,100 guests from Cisco’s global eco-system of partners, representing more than 1,000 companies, from over 75 countries. It was great to be in attendance.
As the first day opened, the dominant message of the summit was clear… Full Speed… in all aspects! The markets are moving faster than ever and we’re seeing the biggest digital transformation of our lifetimes. Organisations aren’t just thinking about the change; they’re making it happen.
88% of customers don’t have the technology in place to drive the digital strategy, which represents a huge opportunity for us to support this transition, especially with the technology Cisco has on offer; through the channel, Next generation Data Centre, Collaboration as a service and Digital Ready Infrastructure.
Throughout the summit all of the presentations echoed the same 4 needs, that technology is:
- Simple
- Intelligent
- Automated
- Secure
We also heard about how the Data Centre offers partners the highest revenue and Security brings them the most profit.
Day 2 focused on capturing digital growth and how, with Cisco technology, we can do it together. There were more demos, which captured the integration of Apple’s iOS 10 and Spark, and new digital capabilities, security, and services – Cisco are defining customer digital experiences in all areas of their business.
We heard about the launch of Lifecycle Advantage, Success Hub and the evolution of the Cisco Services Partner Program, which will equip more partners to sell services throughout the customer lifecycle.
Karen Walker wrapped up the partner summit, and spoke about how Cisco can and are helping partners and distributors to drive and generate demand through digital marketing, “we are infusing digital into everything we do”.
This quote sums it up! “Digital marketing is in our oxygen at Cisco”. Cisco’s passion for the marketing digital transformation is inspiring to all marketers. To be known as the first B2B organisation to trend on Twitter says it all; the technology giant’s marketing approach is full speed and innovation.
It’s great that Cisco have recognised they need to help and support partners with their marketing strategy and it’s now more important than ever for partners to recognise the importance of marketing to form part of their GTM. Let’s not focus on discounts, let’s focus on value added messages, automation and customer experience.
Finally, we had the inspirational Paraplegic Ironman John Mclean, who reminded me that I shouldn’t let anything hold me back! Always have a positive internal dialogue, as sometimes your own negative internal voice is all that is holding you back! But more importantly, Full Speed can be as simple as taking that first step in your life journey.