Selecting the right technology partner for your specific needs is a crucial decision, and it's never a one-size-fits-all choice. In theAge of the Partner, our customers benefit from the increasing diversity of consumption and delivery options that partners offer. But it can make choosing the right partners a challenge.

It's all about your business outcomes

Of course, your first step is to assess what outcomes you want to achieve and what your business requirements are. When it comes to choosing and implementing solutions, you'll want to consider what role you want your partner to play. If you already have a robust IT department but want a partner to assess your environment and make best-in-class recommendations for cloud and on-premises infrastructure to support your growth, you'll want to work with a Cisco Integrator. Integrators are also known as value added resellers (VARs) or resellers.

Are you looking to minimize your IT staff's daily management of part or all of your infrastructure and applications? If so, you are probably considering managed services. Cisco Providers offer validated managed services that ensure best-in-class support with established service level agreements, recurring billing capabilities and are built on Cisco's proven technologies.

The reason we talk about the "role" partners play is that many of our partners offer a mix of integration capabilities, managed services and software development. So you can decide whether a mix of partners or having everything under one roof is best for you.

That's why we also designate Cisco Developers in our ecosystem. They design and build integrated solutions on Cisco platforms. Often, Cisco Developers work with complementary vendors, including Cisco Integrators and Providers, to deliver a complete solution.

And speaking of deciding what business outcomes you require, a Cisco Advisor is a good place to start. They offer independent consulting services, often with industry-specific expertise in markets such as retail, healthcare or manufacturing. They understand Cisco technologies, so they can connect you to and collaborate with other Cisco partners to implement the right solutions for you.

Perfecting your mix of Cisco partners

We believe Cisco has the greatest partner ecosystem in the market today. Our partners have the expertise and commitment to address your unique business needs to get you where you need to be next quarter, next year and five years from now. Since one partner may not be able to fill all of your needs, finding the best team of partners to get the job done right is imperative.

How do you find a partner with the attributes you need? Check out our new Partner Connect page with resources to guide you. There, you can search for partners based on region, their capabilities and specializations, and find partners that develop hardware and software solutions built on Cisco technologies.

We are very proud of our partners. We want to ensure you find the exact partners to help you be successful.

Check back next month for our next blog in the series: How specialized partners help you achieve your business outcomes. You can find more information?here?or by going to blogs.cisco.com and typing 'Cisco + Partner Value' in the search field.

Learn more about our partner ecosystem and connect with the right partners at our partner connection site

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