Cisco unleashes partners on cable

(Telephony) Hoping to let its army of several thousands of channel partners target the service provider market, Cisco Systems today announced a new program to certify resellers in the cable-modem market.

The new Cisco Cable Specialization, which provides product-specific training on planning, designing, implementing and supporting Cisco’s cable solutions, is the first that allows VARs to sell products specifically to service providers.

“[Value added resellers] want access to high-growth markets and, even though the overall service provider market is a little down, there’s great opportunity,” said Surinder Brar, senior director of worldwide channels at Cisco.

Under the program, VARs take a variety of courses to attain certification. Additionally, Cisco is requiring the VARs and other channel partners to have at least three staff members certified--a field engineer, a systems engineer and an account manager.

Despite the fact that Cisco sells a lot of product direct to cable operators, the company won’t try to prevent its partners from competing, setting up the potential for some channel conflict.

“We don’t dictate to our partners the market that they should sell to,” said Brar. “And we’re not trying to get between our VARs and service providers.”

This is Cisco’s first specialization within the service-provider market, and it won’t be the last, said Brar, who didn’t identify any future targets.

Recognizing that most cable-modems are deployed for residential users, Cisco anticipates its channel partners will target the small-business market and a few verticals.

“There’s actually a fairly large opportunity in areas like hospitality and the small-business environment,” said Brar.