Cisco strengthens SMB outreach through 'Grand Slam' partner programme

Highest-selling partners in India & SAARC to be hosted in Melbourne for Australian Open 2011

Cisco today announced the roll out of ‘Grand Slam’, a programme designed to excite and reward its partners, and to drive awareness for Cisco’s solutions across small and medium businesses in the sub-continent. As part of the programme, Cisco’s SMB-focused partners could win an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the Australian Open to be held in January 2011. The programme will remain live until December 23, 2010 and will culminate in 35 partners with the highest points making a 4-day trip to Melbourne. High-scoring partners who do not qualify for the trip also stand to win a host of prizes that include LCD TVs, Home Theater Systems, Flip Cameras and more.

Arun Dharmalingam, Regional Manager, Distribution Channels¸ Cisco India & SAARC, said: “We have over 1200 partners in India & SAARC region alone, and the SMB segment is by far our fastest-growing market. While we seek to recognize high-performance partners through such initiatives, the broader objective is to expand awareness and interest in Cisco's Small Business portfolio. Being a fully channel-driven company, we seize every opportunity to demonstrate to our partner community how much we value their efforts and contributions.”

Cisco has an unmatched portfolio of SMB-class products built from the ground-up, and has a wide and deep reach across India and the SAARC countries through a strong channel network. For the ‘Grand Slam’ programme, Cisco partners are clubbed into categories based on their geographical presence, and they accumulate points based on the sale of Cisco products and solutions. Multiple top scorers by category are eligible for travel to Australia, while other participants can take home a range of electronic goods against the points accumulated during the programme. A dedicated microsite – www.ciscograndslam.com – will help partners keep track of their scores in real-time.

About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in India is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco, the Cisco logo and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.