Cisco Partner Summit 2021 is here, with the theme “Making Everything Possible.” Between SYNNEX Comstor, Cisco, and the partners, we’ve seen the impact of working together. That’s why EDGE360 took the opportunity to highlight an important part of the Cisco Partner ecosystem: the SYNNEX Comstor Services Team.
In today’s subscription-based economy, the way IT is purchased has significantly shifted. Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) has quickly become a widely adopted model. To keep pace with evolving customer needs, the Services Team works hand-in-hand with both partners and Cisco to create lifecycle plans, navigate the new services-based landscape, and establish customer experience (CX) best practices.
We heard directly from the SYNNEX Comstor Services Team about how teamwork and collaboration contribute to the overarching vision of the Cisco community, and how that attitude complements new and emerging sales models.
Here’s what they had to share:
Becky Lozada, Director of Cisco Services and Software, SYNNEX Comstor
Time with SYNNEX Comstor: 17 years
Aligning with the Partner Summit’s theme this year of “Everything Possible,” Lozada truly believes that the SYNNEX Comstor Services team helps Cisco partners achieve their possibilities every day. “We are fortunate enough to have a team of highly tenured people who have seen it all from a services perspective,” she shared. “This allows us to be agile and quickly respond to both new opportunities and deal with complex issues.”
When considering a more services-based approach to sales, the SYNNEX Comstor Services Team augments partners’ offerings, according to Lozada. By allowing partners to refocus their attention on newer offers and knowing their service business is handled by a team of experts, those partners can make their practice more profitable.
Lozada offers this advice to Cisco partners as they navigate the expanding hybrid work culture: “A key to success is linking business outcomes to the solutions that our partners are delivering. This is especially important with the prevalence of subscription and service offers in today’s ecosystem. Building a solid customer experience (CX) organization/mentality will allow renewal conversations to become non-events and help create professional services and other expansion opportunities. The teams at SYNNEX Comstor are here to help you navigate all the new great new offers that Cisco is enabling through their portfolio.”
Jake Deneault, Cisco Services Development Team Manager, SYNNEX Comstor
Time with SYNNEX Comstor: 16 Years
The only way we can make everything possible is together,” stated Deneault, echoing the Partner Summit theme for this year and emphasizing the importance of collaboration in a rapidly evolving IT space. “It goes without saying that the Cisco Services business has become incredibly complex. Our team has an unmatched level of experience and expertise. We’ve learned to work together and lean on each other to solve the hard problems and streamline the easy ones. Each of us has a unique set of resources and when we work together everything is possible.”
In today’s world of perpetual change and ever-evolving challenges, Deneault believes it’s vital to work together and utilize the unique knowledge base and skillset of every team member to find success. As a result, teams can be nimble and prepare for what is around the next corner, an important lesson learned over the last year and a half.
When asked about advice for Cisco partners looking to strengthen their customer relationships as their IT needs shift, Deneault said, “In order to prosper in today’s world, we’ve got to build stronger relationships with each other. It’s important that we are aware of our own strengths, the strengths of those around us, and how each of our teammates is handling today. In turn, this enables us to work together effectively and efficiently to build the strongest products and programs that we can.”
Barry Landis, Distribution Services and Software Manager, Cisco
Time with Cisco: 11 years
If you ask Landis, the power of technology to bring teams and people together is more evident now than ever before. “Our teams remain very close despite not being together physically,” he said when asked about how his team delivers on the “Everything Possible” vision. “I love our services culture and the way our team works so hard and so well together. It is great to participate in our business growth while our friendships grow at the same time, and I am looking forward to keeping that momentum moving into FY22.”
That passion and efficiency makes an impact in interactions with Cisco partners and their customers, especially as they traverse through a shifting IT landscape. Landis pointed out that just like with doctor visits and classrooms, the shift to digital and subscription has never been more important. He noted that Cisco recently passed the goal of 30 percent of their revenue coming from software and that they are on-track for subscriptions to make up half of their revenue by fiscal year 2025. “Our partners have a very real opportunity to partner with Cisco and SYNNEX Comstor to capitalize on this opportunity,” he said.
An important fact for Cisco partners to know, according to Landis, is that currently, software and service revenue is exceeding Cisco’s growth targets, and now more than 55 percent of Cisco’s total revenue comes from software and services. Additionally, in the recently completed fiscal year of 2021, 31 percent of revenue came from software and subscriptions and accounted for 79 percent of software revenue. The shift toward software and subscription services is only gaining steam.
“It is so important to develop a robust lifecycle practice, and SYNNEX Comstor has the tools and resources you need to help you develop the expertise and capitalize on this recurring opportunity,” Landis stated. “My ask of the Cisco partner community is to get plugged into the CX and renewals teams at SYNNEX Comstor, develop their practice, take advantage of all the Lifecycle rebates available, and customer loyalty they can earn by doing this well.” Landis also encourages Cisco partners to stay tuned for some exciting announcements at Partner Summit, where Cisco will provide valuable insights into how you can deepen this partnership and accelerate your transformation. “This will continue to be your biggest differentiator,” he remarked.
Learn more about the Cisco Partner Summit 2021 here.
