Channel partner events, Content, Small business

Cisco Partner Summit 2018: Live Blog Day One

Cisco Senior VP Oliver Tuszik
Cisco Senior VP Oliver Tuszik
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins

Cisco Partner Summit 2018 kicks off today in Las Vegas. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, new Channel Chief  Oliver Tuszik and key SMB partner program leaders this week are set to make a range of announcements -- some of which specifically target MSPs, ChannelE2E believes.

Stay tuned to this live blog for multiple daily updates. Here's the current recap:

1. Cisco Progress Report: The partner summit arrives at a key time. Cisco, like many hardware giants, has been pushing hard into subscription services and recurring revenues. The company is scheduled to announce Q1 fiscal 2019 earnings on Wednesday, November 14, after U.S. markets close. That sets the stage for CEO Chuck Robbins' keynote on Thursday...

2. MSP Partner Enablement: Keep an eye on an MSP-centric track on Monday, aptly titled "Growing Managed Services and Recurring Revenue in SMB." Key participants from Cisco and Meraki will include Marc Inderhees and Rob Casselman. Disclosure: ChannelE2E will join the session, and I'll share some viewpoints on the partner ecosystem's continued shift to managed services.

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini

3. Everything as a Service: Also at the MSP sessions, ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini will share his everything-as-a-service vision. Cisco and ConnectWise have been integrating their products for the past year. And Cisco had a major presence at last week's ConnectWise IT Nation Connect 2018 conference in Orlando, Florida. MSPs can leverage ConnectWise's business management dashboards to oversee a growing range of Cisco-powered services.

4. Vision Statements: Several of Cisco's key leaders will deliver keynotes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- with Robbins set to wrap up the event on Thursday morning.

5. Cisco Partner Summit Day Two: Our live blog continues here.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.