2/28/2005 -- Last month, Cisco Systems Inc. announced its new Cisco Clear Advantage Program, a rebate program designed to “reward” channel partners when they achieve their growth targets for sales of Cisco’s MDS 9000 series multilayer intelligent directors and fabric switches.

The Clear Advantage program is open to any Cisco channel partner, but in order to participate, partners must become Cisco SAN Specialized by the end of Q2.

According to Steven Schuchart, an analyst with consultancy Current Analysis Inc., the new Clear Advantage program gives channel partners a compelling financial incentive to push MDS over offerings from Cisco’s competitors.

“The program is designed to increase not only Cisco’s presence with storage channel partners, but to increase market share at the expense of entrenched competitors McDATA and Brocade,” he writes.

On top of this, Schuchart says, Clear Advantage was clearly designed to step on as few channel toes as possible. “Because storage switching is sold through ... Original Storage Vendors ... and not directly through the channel, it is important for companies to provide benefits to the channel partners without damaging the relationships with the OSMs,” he writes, adding that “Clear Advantage ... provides financial incentives for channel partners that purchase through OSMs, making it a win for all involved.”

At the same time, Schuchart allows, Clear Advantage isn’t quite a slam dunk. “One of the challenges that Clear Advantage Program members face is the way in which customers purchase Fibre Channel switching equipment,” he points out. “Because of certification and compatibility issues that have plagued the FC market for years, customers tend to stick with the brand that they have. This will limit the impact of the Clear Advantage Program." -Stephen Swoyer