I recently attended 2023 Cisco Live! Amsterdam and talked to Cisco MSP partners about the tremendous success they're seeing by incorporating Cisco products into their managed services offers. I also got to talk to existing Cisco VAR/Resellers about the opportunity to transition into offering managed services. All the positive energy was, indeed, contagious. Everyone was also excited about the release of the two new buying programs designed specifically for managed service providers. Let me share a few of the many stories I heard.

Managed service success delivered outcomes

We've all seen the numbers. Managed service provider partners are experiencing a 35% increase in revenue on average. Why is this?

One MSP partner shared that they continue to see new opportunities emerge as they consistently stay in touch with their customers through their managed offers, ultimately gaining a deeper understanding of their business needs. And by doing so, this MSP gains critical knowledge that they incorporate in proposing new improvements and upselling new projects. And their value proposition - to stay laser focused on helping customers achieve outcomes for success while reducing customers' capex investment risk by consuming offerings delivered as a service - continues to resonate with their clients.

Transforming into managed services

We've been encouraging our existing VAR/Reseller partners to add managed services into their practices for some time now. For instance, partners that provide managed services are seeing a margin that's 4 times higher than traditional product resell.

Our partner Axians represents this case in point. One of its most differentiational services is their network-as-a-service (NaaS) offering that they deliver as an end-to-end solution to our mutual customers. This offering combines 24/7 support and lifecycle management for customers. It