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While Cisco certifications reflect a partner's breadth of technology skills across certain technologies, Cisco specializations reflect a partner's skills depth in a particular technology. There are four levels of specialization (Entry, Express, Advanced and Master) each representing greater capabilities in sales, technical, and lifecycle services. These specializations concentrate on specific technology areas and offer a way for partners to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Specializations are added and retired as markets and technologies evolve. The number and type of specializations you achieve determines your Cisco certification level, although not all specializations count toward certification. You may choose to achieve additional specializations beyond those required for a certification to strengthen your expertise and market differentiation. Cisco specializations help partners build their expertise through structured training road maps and a knowledge validation process. New specializations are continually in development, reflecting our ongoing commitment to bring you the most current technology training. In some cases, Cisco has Retired Specializations to reflect changing market conditions. Technology SpecializationsCisco Technology Specializations provide training in presales, basic deployment, and post-sales operational support. These specializations recognize partners for demonstrating competencies in core and emerging Cisco technologies, and for integration expertise with software applications complementary to a technology. By choosing a Cisco Technology Specialized partner, customers know that the partner has the knowledge and skills required to deploy a particular technology or solution. Cisco revises requirements on a regular basis, depending on market conditions. Global Commerce SpecializationThe Cisco Global Commerce Specialization recognizes partners that have a global presence and have demonstrated their capability in providing commercial and logistics services to global customers in the following areas: global order management, invoicing, product delivery logistics, and negotiating global customer agreements. As conditions of entry, partners must meet the following prerequisites: global resale agreement with Cisco, silver or gold certification in at least one country in each Cisco theatre, and legal presence in at least 20 countries. Lifecycle ServicesTraining in Cisco Lifecycle Services methodology is a requirement for each specialization. The Lifecycle Services approach helps partners define the activities needed to successfully deploy and operate Cisco solutions, optimize technology performance, and reduce deployment risk. By taking this approach, partners can strengthen customer relationships and enhance profitability by implementing proven, repeatable processes specific to Cisco advanced technologies. Direct competitors of Cisco will not be granted Cisco Partnership status (Resale, Managed Services, or Outsourcing) pursuant to the Worldwide Channel Partner Program. Direct competitors may participate only as Cisco Registered Partners. Any entity that is owned or controlled by one of these competitors may not participate as a Cisco Partner in the Resale, Managed Services, or Outsourcing Programs. Ownership or control is defined as 51% or more. |
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