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Marc Surplus

Vice President, Partner Strategy & Programs

Global Partner Sales

As Vice President of Partner Strategy & Programs for Cisco’s Global Partner Sales organization, Marc Surplus is responsible for developing and executing channel strategies and partner programs across all routes to market worldwide in Cisco’s connected partner ecosystem. Surplus and his team are responsible for managing and evolving the innovative, award-winning Cisco Partner Program and extensive portfolio of incentives that underpin Cisco’s value-based channel model. As a result, Cisco partners have access to unparalleled resources to build new capabilities, accelerate growth and increase profitability in their Cisco practices.

Previously, Surplus led multiple strategy and planning organizations within Cisco, spanning segment, regional and global arenas. His responsibilities included developing new go-to-market strategies, launching new business models, accelerating sales growth and improving productivity across Cisco’s 18,000 employee field organization.

Before joining Cisco, Surplus was CEO of ForwardVue Technologies, a financial risk management software company. He also served as Vice President & General Manager for Trilogy Software, one of the largest privately held enterprise software companies. Earlier in his career, Surplus was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company.

Surplus received a Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton Business School. In addition, he holds a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio

Articles

March 26, 2024

PARTNER

Cisco Wins CRN 5-Star Award for the 13th Year Straight

1 min read

The reason we win awards like the CRN 5-Star Award is that we continue to make our program and incentives better—constantly modernizing and streamlining them to support partner profitability.

March 20, 2024

PARTNER

Increase Market Share Quickly with Cisco Specializations and GTM Tools

2 min read

Cisco Provider Partners can more quickly capture the explosive growth in Managed Services by differentiating themselves from their competition and using GTM materials from Cisco. Earning technology specializations showcases partners’ skills on our industry-leading platforms.

February 20, 2024

PARTNER

Partner Competencies, Credentials Valued as Key Success Metrics by Customers

2 min read

At Cisco, we pride ourselves on our world-class partner ecosystem, and we go to great lengths to recognize how our partners provide value to customers and support digital transformation. I encourage you to read this new report from IDC.

November 8, 2023

PARTNER

Leading a new era with the Cisco Partner Program

2 min read

Cisco announces five new Solution Specializations and an integrated Partner Incentive program. This new incentive rewards all aspects of go-to-market, increases predictable growth, and improves the partner experience — ultimately aligning our partners with Cisco’s overall transformation into an as-a-service first company.

October 6, 2023

PARTNER

Choosing a Cisco partner with the expertise you need

2 min read

We understand that not all customers are looking for the same level of support or expertise, so the Cisco Partner Program is designed in a way to provide you with choice when selecting the right partner or partners.

May 30, 2023

PARTNER

Building your best Cisco partner network

2 min read

The reason we talk about the “role” partners play is that many of our partners offer a mix of integration capabilities, managed services and software development. So you can decide whether a mix of partners or having everything under one roof is best for you.

May 10, 2023

PARTNER

Why Cisco partners are more important than ever

2 min read

Making sure you have the right partners is one of the most important decisions you can make. But how do you find the right partners to bring your vision and requirements to life quickly and efficiently?

March 29, 2023

PARTNER

An award-winning program for the Age of the Partner

2 min read

We are proud to earn this honor for the 12th consecutive year. The key to achieving it is that we have worked so closely with YOU, our world-class partners, to design and evolve it.

November 8, 2022

PARTNER

Owning the Partner Program: Highlights from Cisco Partner Summit 2022

2 min read

I just returned from our annual Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas. It was a jam-packed three days, and it was so great to be back together in person with our amazing partners. I want to highlight a few of the Partner Program updates.