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Though it has been only eight months since we last gathered, there are so many new developments that will make for a great Partner Summit next week in San Francisco and virtually for those who won’t be there live.

We’ll talk about new tools and resources for you to take advantage of digital transformation. We’ll talk about new technology innovations — doubling down on simplicity, alignment, and evolving our value exchange.  We’ll talk about everything available to help you grow and profit.

Here are the two conversations I’m particularly excited about:

  1. Your Pit Crew Creates Value

Partner Summit Impact Sessions are incredible opportunities to learn more about expanding your capabilities, leveraging the expanded partner ecosystem, the architectures you can sell and market today, and more (so much more).

Think about a race car driver (as it doesn’t really get more “full speed” than that!). The driver is just one person enabled by a team of specialists – just like the potential that awaits you in our ecosystem. By being part of our ecosystem – and connecting with others within – you can take advantage of rapidly changing market dynamics and opportunities. Not only can you get yourself in the door earlier, but you can also sell more services and increase margins.

As Denny Trevett mentioned in his recent blog post about leveraging the ecosystem and Customer-In Selling, there are many benefits of looking at your customers’ needs first, and then assembling the correct team and capabilities. The benefits are twofold: your clients gain competitive advantage in their industry while you become an integral part of the team which leads to sustained business and more profit.

Simply put: when we work together, we win.

  1. “Flooring It” Toward Revenue Streams

Speaking of maximizing your profits, I know what you’re thinking: how can I put the pedal to the metal on profitability? Between reaching new buyers and finding opportunities for software and recurring revenue, the opportunity for you to take advantage of digital transformation is there.

Next week you’ll hear quite a bit about our Land – Adopt – Expand – Renew approach to customer success. In fact, we recently won the 2016 STAR award for innovation in strengthening customer relationships via customer success. I’ve said this before, when our customers succeed, we succeed. We’re going to share how you can expand your lifecycle practice using Cisco’s resources and support.

We can help you create true, meaningful business impact (not to mention sustained and expanded business and profit flows) with our evolved approach to exchanging value. As we continue to accelerate our portfolio breadth with services and software, we are committed to working with you to convey easy-to-understand programs that help you maximize your business practices. We’re helping you increase stickiness and relevance inside your customer base through performance-based incentives, discounts and much more. Be sure to tune in so you and your colleagues can take advantage of these opportunities.

We all learned the famous children’s book phrase “slow and steady wins the race.” Now, that’s true in some cases. But when you have the resources behind you and the power of the ecosystem around you, full speed ahead is the best way to compete and win in this digital world.

These are just two of the many important topics we’ll cover next week both in San Francisco and at Virtual Partner Summit. Be sure to take advantage of networking opportunities with fellow partners around the world by leveraging forums on social media, like our Executive Twitter Takeovers and conversation around our event hashtag #CiscoPS16 to make connections, get insights and share your key takeaways.



Authors

Wendy Bahr

No Longer with Cisco