Partner Registration Tool "Go Live" Announcement
I am pleased to announce the availability of a fully-revamped Cisco Partner Registration tool. The tool will went live on Friday, October 10, 2008 – and field training is underway.
I'd like to acknowledge Martin Halzel, Rahul Kumar and all involved on the Partner Registration team for their extensive work and a job well done.
Channel feedback told us that the old registration tool wasn't meeting partner needs, especially in the case of partners serving the S-market. Martin and his team listened to the Theatres, led by the Global Partner Registration Virtual Team, turning the PREG tool around in a way that will directly benefit Channels and Cisco as a whole.
Issues in Partner Registration
From the partner view, our old tool was un-intuitive; with key issues being: overuse of acronyms, confusion between Cisco.com and partner registration, English only support, a time consuming application and directions for CAM consultation – an option not available to all partners. In addition, the old tool did not embrace partners post registration – failing to provide instructions and next steps critical to successful revenue ramping and building a profitable business around Cisco products and services.
For Cisco, the old Partner Registration tool generated excessive tech support calls, a high level of field involvement and poor partner satisfaction.
Next-Generation Cisco Partner Registration
In contrast, the new Partner Registration tool makes registration friendlier and easier so partners can be ramped to revenue more quickly. The new tool is aligned with Cisco's focus on commercial and SMB channel partners and is designed to 1) bring on significantly more partners, 2) cost-effectively and efficiently ramp revenue from these partners, and 3) enable scalability for partners not supported by a CAM or an ICAM.
Key attributes of the new Partner Registration tool include:
- Localisation: Localisation efforts have begun, with a first release targeted for December. Localisation addresses static and dynamic content as well as country and language preferences in a user interface that incorporates global considerations.
- Streamlined Process: Clearly demonstrates at a glance the entire process within a single user view and sets clear expectations on what is required and how long the process will take. Redundant questions have been eliminated and fields are pre-populated wherever possible. In addition, the new tool clarifies to the partner that they are registering as a partner vs. registration for Cisco.com and provides phone support to minimize abandon rate.
- Advanced User Interface: Last year's migration of Partner Registration to PGTMV provided the basis for the dramatic revamps seen on the registration tool front end. Many thanks to the PGTMV team for providing the foundation for this new tool and kudos to the PREG development team for the stellar makeover on the front end. A “wizard” feel delivers a user experience that is seamless with Cisco.com and gives partners the new ability to “save” registration sessions.
On-boarding Process: The partner on-boarding process now begins with Tab 4: Launch, as shown in the screen capture below. Providing specific instruction, guidance and next steps gives partners a clear path to ramping their relationship with Cisco.
Before:
After:
Live Tool
You can further explore this excellent new tool by visiting: http://tools.cisco.com/WWChannels/IPA/welcome.do
CNA 5.4 is now available for download on CCO
http://www.cisco.com/go/cna
The new highly anticipated CNA 5.4 is now available for download on CCO. This new version provides additional support for several new product families and multiple new features.
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