Celebrating 10 years of Cisco Lifecycle Advantage
A decade. Ten years. 40 quarters. 120 months. However you measure it, that’s a remarkable milestone. This year, I am proud to mark a decade of Cisco Lifecycle Advantage—a journey defined by innovation, growth, and shared success.
The Digital Revolution: Then and Now
It’s hard to believe 10 years ago, “digital customer experience” was something we mainly talked about in future tense. It was on our radar as an emerging revolution in the industry, but customer engagement was still fairly traditional—think spreadsheets, phone calls, and a lot of elbow grease. Digital was a buzzword, not a business model.
Digital Is the Playbook
Fast forward to today, and a digital-first customer experience isn’t just part of the playbook, it is the playbook. The vast majority of B2B interactions between suppliers and customers now occur in digital channels. Customers overwhelmingly prefer it that way – in fact, according to Gartner, 56% of customers say they only contact a rep as a last resort, and nearly 40% of Gen Z customers will abandon a service issue altogether if they can’t resolve it in self-service. Digital is the most important way we engage customers, and in some instances, it’s the only way customers are engaged. Throughout this transformation, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to engaging with and through our partners.
From Humble Beginnings
Like many great Cisco initiatives, Lifecycle Advantage started as a pilot, driven by the vision of empowering partners to lead the way in the digital revolution. The goal was simple: put partners in the driver’s seat, giving them the tools to engage customers with automated, co-branded digital journeys and ensure the right message reached the right contact at the right time. What began as a scrappy pilot with just a handful of partners has transformed into a global program used by more than 7,000 Cisco partners, engaging millions of customers across dozens of digital journeys driving customer success, renewals and growth for Cisco services and software.
A Decade of Milestones
Let’s take a walk down memory lane and celebrate the milestones and accomplishments of the program.
- 2015: Lifecycle Advantage is piloted with 5 partners, sending co-branded renewal and adoption notifications. The first batch of customer notifications deploys in October 2015.
- 2016: Lifecycle Advantage becomes generally available at Partner Summit 2016 San Francisco with the launch of the Lifecycle Advantage Platform.
- 2019: Commerce Automation debuts, simplifying the renewal process. For the first time, partners can track all renewals in one place, automate co-branded reminder emails, and deliver automatically generated quotes for customers to review and order online.
- 2020: Partner enrollment surpasses 7,000 globally.
- 2021: Customer Success (formerly Success Program Insights) launches in April with five use cases under Campus Network.
- 2022: Customer Success expands to 15 use cases across six solution domains by April, and 24 by August.
- 2023: Commerce Automation eStorefronts launch, allowing customers to instantly renew, including paying by credit card, without manual intervention from partners.
- 2025: The Lifecycle Advantage Partner Self -Serve portal and de-risk pilot launch. Digital Customer Consent enhancements also become available.
Cisco Is Better Together with Partners
Seeing the detailed steps in Lifecycle Advantage of what is needed to be completed to get through next lifecycle stage is fantastic. It is a great way to see what is next and how we can help our customers get there. Using the LCA API to integrate data with Lifecycle Incentives has helped us track progress, quickly identify priorities, and stay current with technology advancements to better support our customers. ~Rachel Kurland, Customer Success Program Manager, NWN Corporation
Lifecycle Advantage is a pivotal tool for accelerating pipeline and profitability while also allowing us to reach a broader scope of customers in an efficient and scalable manner. For the past years, we have been using it to deliver regular monthly campaigns to our customers. Our primary goal is to deliver the best customer experience (CX), powered by data, digital platforms, and human interactions. ~EMEA Partner, France
After we brought in Lifecycle Advantage, we can now notify renewal info at just the right time, even for the smaller projects. And since we’ve had many cases, our renewal rate has really increased! ~APJC Partner, Japan
Of course, while it is fun to look back and celebrate all that we have accomplished, none of this would have been possible without the collaboration of you, our Partners. Your passion, feedback, commitment to customer success, innovation, and durable growth has made Lifecycle Advantage what it is today. Thank you for being with us on this journey. I am excited to see what we will achieve in the next 10 years.
Looking Ahead: Digital is Now and AI is Powering What is Next
Looking ahead, what was true in 2015 is just as true today. Cisco is absolutely committed to working jointly with our partners. The role of digital will only grow in importance, with the next era being super-charged by AI. AI-powered digital customer experiences will help partners not only scale renewals and customer success, but also deliver personalized, proactive and predictive engagement at every touchpoint. Lifecycle Advantage will evolve to meet this future, offering a simplified platform experience and deeper integration with Cisco’s core programs. We are infusing the program with more dynamic AI-driven journeys, predictive insights and prescriptive recommended actions – including de-risk and onboarding progress reports – that allow partners to proactively engage their customers and guide them to take their next best action – from onboarding to renewal.
Ten years in, and our journey is just beginning. As we look to the future, I’m inspired by what we can achieve together: a world where digital and AI work hand-in-hand to deliver customer success at scale, and where every partner has the tools and insights needed to lead. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your commitment to innovation. Here’s to the next decade of shared success with Cisco Lifecycle Advantage.
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