Cisco’s WebEx Pilot Takes Off

Cisco’s pilot program for the WebEx go-to-market strategy is getting underway this month. Spanning eleven countries and less than 100 UC channel partners, the effort is expected to look at a number of strategies, but focus mostly on a software-as-a-service/agency model that can be compatible with the mainline Cisco partner program, yet separate from the mainline program. A more generally-available version is expected to be reached by the end of their fiscal year. With roughly 80% of WebEx’s revenue coming through direct sales and the balance sold primarily through service providers using a sub-branding strategy, the SAAS/agency pilot program represents quite a departure for WebEx and especially for its parent company, which has built its success around a value-based channel strategy focused on partner education and customer satisfaction scores. On the one hand, it makes sense for Cisco to experiment with a WebEx go-to-market strategy built around SAAS/agency. The WebEx product portfolio matches up with that concept pretty well. On the other hand, Cisco has to keep an eye on one potential issue with which other vendors with SAAS strategies don’t have to contend. Over the years, the Cisco channel program has evolved into a very complex structure. Much of that complexity has helped to ensure that channel partners are both profitable and well-positioned to meet the needs of the end customer. But a wide variety of badge levels, certifications, and specializations are in the process of being joined by new offer-based programs around general resale, global resale, managed services, and outsourcing. All of these have their benefits and their reasons for existing. As Cisco seeks to maintain its growth rates (made more difficult by the Law of Large Numbers), I expect that even more components will be added to the mix. At what point does a full-featured program become too complex and unwieldly? Some people say Cisco has already hit that point. With all the effort that put into helping partners navigate the complexity, I’m not so sure they’re quite there yet. But at the very least, that point must be somewhere out on the horizon by now. No doubt there is a lot for partners to navigate. And while I generally advocate the position that choice is a good thing, the opportunity of choice is dependent on one’s ability to understand how those choices relate to the Big Picture — because choices made in a vacuum are rarely good ones. And that Big Picture perspective on choices is what Cisco partners must grapple with. It’s true that Cisco must grow their channel programs in tandem with the larger corporate strategy. Failure to do so would leave critical gaps. But one thing to keep in mind more than ever before: Grow carefully.