4/11/2005 -- It’s been said that Microsoft Corp. follows a fairly simple formula for success: keep developers happy, write software for its Windows applications, and the rest will take care of itself. There’s a lot more to it than that, of course, but it’s a point well-taken. And it’s a lesson Cisco Systems Inc. has learned, and learned well, in its relations with channel resellers.

Last week, the networking giant gave its channel partners one more reason to get Cisco fever, with the announcement of a global channel partner program called Cisco Learning Credits. By the end of April, channel partners will be able to give customers the ability to prepay for high-quality training on Cisco hardware, software or support services at the time of purchase.

“As the network continues to change the way people work, customer demand for end user and employee training has increased significantly worldwide. Training has become a means to ensure a seamless transition to newer technology, for example with IP Communications deployments where something as common as the employee's phone will change," said Lyle Speirs, director of global learning alliances at Cisco Systems, in a statement.

Speirs positioned Cisco Learning Credits as a win for his company’s channel partners, but—to the extent that Cisco keeps its channel partners happy—the program is also a win for the networking giant, too. "The global availability of Cisco Learning Credits is a tremendous opportunity for channel partners to make significant gains in profitability while offering more innovative solutions that will ultimately increase customer loyalty."

It’s obvious that Cisco views its sales channel as one of the keys to its dominance in so many different market segments. In February, for example, Cisco announced a new program (Cisco Clear Advantage) that—viewed in a certain light—amounts to an effective bribing of channel partners.

Cisco positioned Clear Advantage as a rebate program designed to reward channel partners who achieved their growth targets for sales of its MDS 9000 storage switches. Analysts saw it as a smart way for Cisco to leverage its deep pockets and strong channel network to improve its position in a competitive storage networking market segment.

“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,” said Steven Schuchart, an analyst with consultancy Current Analysis Inc., at the time. -Stephen Swoyer