Every Friday, we'll highlight the most important Cisco partner news and stories of the week, as well as point you to important, Cisco-related partner content you may have missed along the way. Here's what you might have missed this week:

Off The Top

The annual XChange event was held this week in Washington, DC. Each year, industry experts and solution provider executives across the US and Canada, come together to discuss industry trends and strategies. Our very own Edison Peres was there, too! Read about his thoughts from the event, the partners we chatted with, and the awards Cisco won in his latest blog post.  

Cisco Partner Talent Series

The Cisco Partner Talent Series wrapped up this week with a blog covering the last step in the Cisco Fit4Talent Employee Lifecycle, Rewards and Recognition. In this post, we learn that not only is it important to recognize employees for a job well done, buthowyou recognize them is also crucial for increasing job satisfaction for your employees.

Why is it important to have happy employees? Aside from the obvious, there's actually a huge cost of turnover. As much as 1.5 times an employee's first year salary. Learn more about the importance of Rewards and Recognition and get tips on how to improve your recognition program.

Good Reads

• Bernadette Wightman shares how partners can benefit from selling Cisco Certified Refurbished Equipment to their customers.
• Sheila Jordan takes a look at a few start-ups that are revolutionizing how students, teachers and parents connect and learn.
• Prashanth Shenoy continues with the third post on unleashing the power of enterprise mobility: The Division of Devices.
• Phillipe Han gives an overview of  Prime Network Services Controller and how you can get a demo at VMworld.

Keep An Eye Out

• Check out the Partner Event Calendar for events happening in your region.