John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based solution provider, said he would consider a partnership with a service provider to offer customers a full line of services. "I have no interest in developing those sorts of offerings under my own brand," Freres said. "[Service providers] have the size, breadth and depth to deliver them."
However, some solution providers at the conference said they would be reluctant to work with Cisco's service provider partners, many of which are their competitors.
"We don't want to resell those services. We want to sell our own services," said Phil Mogavero, president and CEO of Data Systems Worldwide, a solution provider based in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Some solution providers said they would prefer that Cisco help them build managed services capabilities in their own network operations centers instead of trying to drive business through lower-end data partners that are unwilling or unable to build up their own service offerings.
Williams acknowledged the potential for channel conflict, noting that participating service providers would have to develop clear rules of engagement, equal compensation for their direct-sales forces and a long-term commitment to the strategy. "They understand that compromising on the channel is something Cisco doesn't do," he said.
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