Q1: How will I know if my project is considered a Managed Service (MSP) Opportunity by Cisco?

Answer: Your project is considered a Managed Service (MSP) opportunity and qualifies for Cisco Provider pricing if the sale of Cisco products is accompanied by a minimum 12-month proactive monitoring and maintenance support contract signed between your company and the End Customer. Services are delivered from either a Cisco Provider or End User-owned hardware, but the End User does not call Cisco directly for support.

The support contract should:

• Cover the Cisco devices sold
• Clearly define your company’s service responsibilities (eg: monitoring, configuration, troubleshooting, lifecycle management and reporting, etc
• Describe the incident service levels such as the expected time to respond and to remediate etc.

Q2: I am an Integrator (Select/Premier or Gold) already, do I have to apply for a Provider (Select/Premier or Gold) as well?

Answer: You should consider Provider Role (Select/Premier or Gold) only as a way to maximise your partner benefits when selling Cisco or Meraki products as a Managed Service/MSP. (see the MSP opportunity definition above)

The Cisco Select Provider role is just unlocking two additional benefits as a reward for your MSP practice: Auto-Approved Predictive Provider Pricing and Marketing Development Funds.

Being a Cisco partner allows you to hold either or both the Integrator and Provider Roles. Having only the Integrator status (whether it’s Select, Premier, or Gold) does not restrict your company’s ability to sell Cisco or Meraki products.

Q3: I am a Cisco partner having the Provider role (Select/Premier and Gold) and the customer is purchasing the Cisco/Meraki products together with a 12-month proactive monitoring and maintenance support contract. What should I do next to leverage the Cisco Provider Benefits?

Answer: Inform Ingram Micro presales at ciscopresales@ingrammicro.com or your sales representative that the project you are working on is a Managed Service (MSP) opportunity.  Ingram will tag your deal as MSP in the Cisco Commerce Tool (CCW).

MSP Deal Tagging= selecting the Intended Use: Managed Service option in the Cisco Commerce Tool (CCW).

Q4: I am a Cisco Provider but the customer does not need a proactive maintenance support contract with my company, can I still tag the deal as MSP and leverage the Auto-Approved Provider Pricing?

Answer: Provider Pricing does not apply to Product fulfilment, which is not backed by an SLA.

If Cisco discovers that the Cisco partner (having the Provider role) has ordered Cisco Products for non-managed or non-Cloud Service use, the partner risks being removed from all Cisco Partner Programs. For more details please check: Provider Pricing Participation Terms & Rules

Q5: I am a Managed Service Provider, how can I become a Cisco Select Provider?

Answer: Applying for the Cisco Select Provider Role could not be easier, and approval usually takes 48 hours. A complete enrollment guide is also available and can be found HERE.

Just send a quick email to Rachana Shah at rachana.shah@ingrammicro.com or to Valentin Dogariu at mdogariu@cisco.com and you will be assisted with submitting your Cisco Select Provider application.

Useful links:
•    Cisco Provider Program T&Cs: Provider Pricing Participation Terms & Rules
•    Cisco Provider Page: Cisco.com/go/provider
•    Cisco Provider Enrollment Page: Provider eBook