Value Incentive Program (VIP)—Question & Answer

General Program Information

Q. What is the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. The Cisco Value Incentive Program (VIP) is a comprehensive program that rewards Cisco partners with a focused, robust technology practice and are accelerating their business success in the Security, Wireless LAN and Unified Communications markets. The Cisco Value Incentive Program is a continuation of the overall Cisco channel mission, announced at the 2003 Cisco Partner Summit, to help Cisco partners increase their business profitability. Cisco Systems is aware of the ongoing margin pressure that channel partners are facing. The Cisco Value Incentive Program is another step, along with other incentive programs, specializations and the Value Engagement Process, to support the sustainable business models of Cisco partners.

Q. What is the objective of the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. The objective of the Cisco Value Incentive Program is to increase the margin that Cisco partners are able to realize on Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security technologies. These technologies require a large investment from partners, and Cisco wants to help them receive a sustainable return on that investment. Cisco believes that having a healthy channel is critical to achieving joint customer satisfaction which, in turn, helps enable the partner and Cisco to profitably grow our businesses.

Q. Why were Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security chosen as the target technologies? A. Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security were chosen as the target technologies for many reasons. From a market perspective, these technologies offer a large opportunity to Cisco and its partners. At the same time, these technologies require more expertise to deliver with high customer satisfaction and, as such, require a larger investment by Cisco partners. Cisco wants to help ensure a sustainable return on that investment. This provides the partner with an opportunity to make more profit and reinvest in its own expertise.

Q. What changes are being made to the Cisco Value Incentive Program for this period? A.

Unified Communications: No changes.

Security: No changes.

Wireless LAN: No changes.

Q. Are there any changes to the program that will impact existing VIP partners? A. There are no such changes.

Q. What are the criteria for partners to participate in the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Partners must meet specific criteria to participate in the Cisco Value Incentive Program:

Unified Communications

� Partners must be a current member of the Advanced Unified Communications Specialization Program at the time of enrollment in the Cisco Value Incentive Program. They must maintain the specialization during the entire program timeframe.

� Partners must have access to the Partner Access onLine tool for the purpose of sending customer satisfaction surveys to customers. Partners that do not have access should work with their Cisco channel account manager (CAM) to gain access.

Unified Communications Express

� Partners must be a current member of the Cisco Express Unified Communications Program at the time of enrollment in the Cisco Value Incentive Program. They must maintain the specialization during the entire program timeframe.

� Partners must have access to the Partner Access onLine tool for the purpose of sending customer satisfaction surveys to customers. Partners that do not have access should work with their Cisco CAM to gain access.

Wireless LAN

� Partners must be a current member of the Cisco Advanced Wireless LAN Specialization Program at the time of enrollment in the Cisco Value Incentive Program. They must maintain the specialization during the entire program timeframe.

� Partners must have access to the Partner Access onLine tool for the purpose of sending customer satisfaction surveys to customers. Partners that do not have access should work with their Cisco CAM to gain access.

VPN/Security

� Partners must be a current member of the Cisco Security Partner Specialization or Advanced Security Specialization Program at the time of enrollment in the Cisco Value Incentive Program. They must maintain the specialization during the entire program timeframe .

� Partners must have access to the Partner Access onLine tool for the purpose of sending customer satisfaction surveys to customers. Partners that do not have access should work with their Cisco CAM to gain access.

Q. Can a partner be enrolled in both Unified Communications and Unified Communications Express? A. No. A partner may enroll in either Unified Communications or Unified Communications Express; partners may not enroll in both simultaneously within the same Cisco Value Incentive Program period. Partners that sign up for Unified Communications and do not meet the minimum sales volume may not switch to Unified Communications Express any time within the VIP 11 period. Likewise, partners that sign up for Unified Communications Express and sell more than US$15,000 may not switch to Unified Communications any time within the VIP 11 period, even if they achieve the Advanced Unified Communications Specialization.

Partners cannot change between Unified Communications and Unified Communications Express at any time during the program period. However, partners may change at the beginning of future VIP periods.

Q. What are the exit criteria to receive the rebate? A. The exit criteria are as follows:

Unified Communications

� For the six-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$25,000 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Unified Communications SKUs for resale. If enrolling for participation in the three-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$12,500 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Unified Communications SKUs.

� You must issue a Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey to each account site where a new deployment has occurred. Your survey target for the current period will be determined by applying the following rule to your Unified Communications bookings from the previous period (thus partners know at the start of the program how many surveys they need): You must achieve a minimum of at least 4 responses (for 6-month program) for the first $500,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $250,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $500,000 OR at least 2 responses (for 3-month program) for the first $250,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $250,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $250,000. An average score for all survey responses of at least 4.31 must be achieved during the Cisco Value Incentive Program period.

� You must maintain this specialization for entire program period (for VIP11, from enrollment through July 26, 2008).

Unified Communications Express

� For the six-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$15,000 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Unified Communications SKUs for resale. If enrolling for participation in the three-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$7,500 net bookings in qualifying Cisco Unified Communications SKUs.

� You must issue a Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey to each account site where a new deployment has occurred. Your survey target for the current period will be determined by applying the following rule to your Express Unified Communications bookings from the previous period (thus partners know at the start of the program how many surveys they need): You must achieve a minimum of at least 2 responses (for 6-month program) for the first $150,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $125,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $150,000 OR at least 1 response (for 3-month program) for the first $75,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $125,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $75,000. An average score for all survey responses of at least 4.31 must be achieved during the Cisco Value Incentive Program period.

� You must maintain this specialization for entire program period (for VIP11, from enrollment through July 26, 2008).

Wireless LAN

� For the six-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$15,000 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Wireless LAN SKUs for resale. If enrolling for participation in the three-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$7,500 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Wireless LAN SKUs.

� You must issue a Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey to each account site where a new deployment has occurred. Your survey target for the current period will be determined by applying the following rule to your Advanced Wireless LAN bookings from the previous period (thus partners know at the start of the program how many surveys they need): You must achieve a minimum of at least 2 responses (for 6-month program) for the first $150,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $125,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $150,000 OR at least 1 response (for 3-month program) for the first $75,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $125,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $75,000.

An average score for all survey responses of at least 4.31 must be achieved during the Cisco Value Incentive Program period.

� You must maintain this specialization for entire program period (for VIP 11, from enrollment through July 26, 2008).

Security

� For the six-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$20,000 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Security SKUs for resale. If enrolling for participation in the three-month program period, you must purchase a minimum of US$10,000 net bookings of qualifying Cisco Security SKUs.

� You must issue a Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey to each account site where a new deployment has occurred. Your survey target for the current period will be determined by applying the following rule to your Security bookings from the previous period (thus partners know at the start of the program how many surveys they need): You must achieve a minimum of at least 4 responses (for 6-month program) for the first $500,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $250,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $500,000 OR at least 2 responses (for 3-month program) for the first $250,000 net of products resold and one additional survey for each $250,000 net of incremental products resold above the initial $250,000. An average score for all survey responses of at least 4.31 must be achieved during the Cisco Value Incentive Program period.

� You must maintain this specialization for entire program period (for VIP 11, from enrollment through July 26, 2008).

Q. Is the volume requirement based on list or net price? A. The volume requirement is based on the net purchase price from Cisco or a Cisco Authorized Distributor. Net bookings = VIP period bookings less VIP period de-bookings. Bookings are recognized when order is placed with Cisco. Authorized Distributor orders may not be received by Cisco on the same business day that the order is placed with the Cisco Authorized Distributor. For Authorized Distributor orders, partners enrolled for the program will be tracked from the start of the program to one week prior the program end date. Bookings for partners ordering via Distributors are orders both booked and shipped. Cisco does not recognize the point-of-sale (POS) until product is shipped, invoiced and reported back to Cisco by the Distributor.

Q. How will Cisco partners benefit from the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Cisco partners receive a rebate at the end of each six-month period for each VIP track from which they have qualified for payout. VIP rebates are intended to improve partner profitability. This, in turn, allows partners to reinvest in their Cisco sales and technical resources, increasing both partner and Cisco future sales.

Q. What are the requirements to qualify for entry into the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. To qualify for entry into the program, the partner must hold a relevant Cisco technology specialization. The partner must sign up for the program during the enrollment period of each quarter in order to participate during that quarter. For VIP period 11, partners must complete their applications by February 29, 2008 to participate in the full six-month period, or by May 16, 2008 to participate in the three-month period. Partners must also ensure that they have access to the Partner Access onLine tool for the purpose of sending surveys and tracking customer satisfaction to help ensure that the program criteria are met.

Q. What are the requirements to receive the rebate? Is it guaranteed? When will partners receive rebates?

A. To receive the rebate, the partner must fulfill the volume requirements during each six-month period, fulfill the customer satisfaction requirements, and maintain their specialization throughout the entire program period. The payment is not guaranteed and will not be paid if these criteria are not met. If all the requirements for the program are met, Cisco will send a wire transfer to the partner approximately two or four months after the close of the six-month window, depending on when the products ship.

Q. How does the Cisco Value Incentive Program relate to or complement the Cisco Partner Specialization Program? A. This program complements Cisco Channel Specializations by helping to ensure that Cisco Specialized Partners focused on specific technologies will be supported by the additional rebate. To maintain these specializations, Cisco Channel Partners must invest money and engineering time. The Cisco Value Incentive Program can help to improve the return on this investment.

Q. What is the market opportunity for Cisco partners in Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security? A. The market opportunity in both Unified Communications and security is large, and it is growing rapidly. According to Synergy Research Group, the Enterprise Unified Communications market is estimated to reach US$5.3 billion in 2007, and the security market is estimated to reach $6.3 billion in 2009. The market for Enterprise Wireless LANs is estimated to reach $2.8 billion by 2008 and is growing at 40% per year. Cisco has achieved a strong market position in these technologies and strives to help its partner base profitably pursue new opportunities as they arise.

Q. How will the Cisco Value Incentive Program help Cisco and its partners increase business? A. This program allows Cisco and its partners to invest and fully address the fast growing Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security markets. By improving partners’ margins on Cisco business, partners are able to invest appropriately in both sales and technical skills that ultimately drive growth and profitability for Cisco and the partner, as well as building capability to better serve their customers. This program allows Cisco partners to make the investments they need with the knowledge that the returns will be there.

Q. Is the Cisco Value Incentive Program intended to be ongoing or a one-time promotion? How long will it last? A. This program is intended to be ongoing, in six-month periods. The Cisco Value Incentive Program will continue with period 11, which runs from January 27, 2008 through July 26, 2008. Cisco reserves the right to adjust the program after evaluating how it addresses the issues and concerns of the partner community, and to cancel the program if it is not meeting the business needs of Cisco and Cisco Channel Partners. Through numerous mechanisms, including the Cisco VAR Council, Cisco keeps in close touch with its partners and continually solicits feedback on the program.

Q. Where can a partner go for more information on the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Partners can visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/vip. They can also talk to their Cisco CAM for more details.

Q. Who should partners contact with any questions about the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Partners should contact their Cisco CAM.

Q. When will partners be notified of acceptance into the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Within 10 business days of the partner submitting the application form, the Cisco Value Incentive Program team will notify the partner of acceptance to the program via e-mail.

Q. Is the rebate guaranteed when a partner is accepted into the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. No. The rebate is not guaranteed. Partners must meet the entry and exit criteria, including customer satisfaction goals and volume requirements.

Q. How much is the Cisco Value Incentive Program rebate? A. Please refer to the program rules for specific rebate information. Program rules can be found at: http://www.cisco.com/go/vip

Q. Where can I find a SKU list of eligible products for the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. Eligible products are listed on the Cisco Value Incentive Program Website: http://www.cisco.com/go/vip

Cisco Partner Technical Support Services

Q. Are Cisco Services included in the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. No. Cisco Services are not eligible for period 11 of the Cisco Value Incentive Program.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction Survey

period

Valid surveys received between the following dates will count toward the partner’s Cisco

Value Incentive Program customer satisfaction score.

� Start date: January 19, 2008

� End date: July 11, 2008

Customers who can be

surveyed

� Each individual within an end customer organization may only be surveyed once per

Cisco fiscal year. If that end customer has already received a survey from Cisco or

another partner, that end customer is not eligible to be surveyed again.

� Partners may not issue surveys to themselves or any affiliated company (for example,

a different business unit within the company or a subsidiary of the parent company).

� Partners may survey any customer to whom they sold Unified Communications,

Wireless LAN or Security products or services during the current program period.

� Partners may survey customers to whom they have sold products and services prior

to the VIP period as long as the partner is providing services related to the prior-

period sale during the current VIP program period.

Customer Satisfaction

Calculation

The customer satisfaction calculation is based on the weighted average score of the

partner’s pre-sales and post-sales satisfaction scores on valid surveys.

Valid Customer Satisfaction

Survey responses

Only surveys that meet the following criteria will count toward achievement of the customer

satisfaction criteria :

1. Sent by partner

2. End customer validates that they have obtained products or services from the partner

3. End customer agrees to evaluate the partner

4. End customer validates that the respective technology was delivered by the partner

5. End customer provides an overall pre-sales and/or post-sales satisfaction rating

6. End customer survey is received by July 11, 2008

For more information on the Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey process and tools, visit:

http://www.cisco.com/go/vip

Q. What survey questions must be answered for the survey to be considered valid for the Value Incentive Program and the certification program?

1) Surveys sent by partner to end customer

Respondent selects “Yes” to one or both of the “survey customization” questions at the beginning of the survey:

• Do you obtain Cisco network products or solutions from a Cisco Pre-Sales Channel Partner, Value Added Reseller, or Vendor? Yes/No

• Do you obtain Cisco network service or support from a Cisco Post-Sales Channel Partner, Value Added Reseller, or Vendor? Yes/No

If respondent selects “No” or “Don’t Know,” they are not presented with the partner section of questions; their survey will NOT be valid without the technology confirmation and the score.

2) Respondent selects “Yes” when asked the following question:

The name of the Channel Partner that sent you this survey invitation has been inserted above for your convenience. Do you wish to evaluate this partner?

If respondent selects “No”, they will be prompted to select an alternative partner name, select technologies provided, and score. This survey response will NOT be valid for the sending partner.

3) Respondent confirms the technology or technologies they received from the partner (the partner selects the provided technologies when requesting the survey send within PAL)

4) End customer provides an overall pre-sales and/or post-sales satisfaction rating 5) Response must be received by July 11, 2008 (5 p.m. PT)

Q. What survey is used to meet the customer satisfaction requirement? A. The Cisco Global Customer Satisfaction Survey will be used for the Cisco Value Incentive Program.

Q. Can I send a survey to the same end customer for the two separate VIP periods within Cisco’s FY2007 survey year?

A. The Cisco Partner Access onLine survey tool rules do not allow an individual to receive a survey more often than once per Cisco survey year. An alternative end-customer contact at the same company can then be sent a survey. Because Cisco Value Incentive Program periods 10 and 11 fall under the same survey year, a customer contact sent a survey during VIP 10 cannot be entered in PAL during VIP 11. If the contact did not respond to the survey during the VIP 10 timeframe, they can be resent the survey in VIP 11 with any responses counted toward your VIP 11 qualifications.

Q. Will I be able to send my Cisco Customer Satisfaction Survey to an individual end customer that already received one from either Cisco or another partner?

A. No. In the interest of minimizing the number of surveys requested of an individual end customer, only one source (the partner or Cisco) may send the Cisco Customer Satisfaction Survey to an individual end customer. Partners should reserve and schedule their end customer names in Partner Access onLine as early in the survey year as possible to help ensure the contact will not be sent a survey by another partner, or Cisco directly.

Remember, multiple individuals within an end-customer company can be surveyed. If one contact name has already been sent a survey during the survey year, check to see if another individual at the same end-customer company can provide feedback instead.

Q. How soon after an individual end-customer name is reserved must the survey be sent?

A. Partners may reserve names at any time, and the reserved name will be protected until the following March. This means that partners can “schedule to receive” an individual end-customer name during the first half of the fiscal year, even though they plan to send the survey during the second half of the fiscal year.

Q. How many times can I resend a survey? A. A customer satisfaction survey can be sent up to five times to an end customer via the survey e-mail invitation process.

#1 = Original survey invitation

#2 = Automatic reminder survey invitation; sent only if the contact has not responded to the survey after 14 days

#3–5 = Sent at the discretion of the partner in the PAL Send Surveys module

Q. What can partners do to improve end-customer responses over multiple programs?

A. Partners should contact their end customer after requesting that the survey invitation be sent. Let your end customer know the importance of the survey, and help them understand how their responses to the first set of questions (survey customization section) will determine how long their survey experience will be. We have found that partners who make the effort to contact their end customers have a much higher response rate.

Q. Which customers can be surveyed?

� Partners may not issue surveys to themselves or any affiliated company (for example, a different business unit of their parent company).

� Partners may survey any customer to which they sold VIP-qualified technology products or services during the current program period. Partners may survey customers to which they have sold products and services prior to the VIP period, as long as the partner is providing services related to the prior-period sale during the current period.

� Each end-customer contact may only be surveyed once within the Cisco fiscal year. The survey business rules do allow a survey to be sent to multiple end-customer contacts at the same company.

Q. The Cisco Value Incentive Program Customer Satisfaction Survey deadline ends before the program closes. How will partners know the number of surveys required? A. Due to the early customer satisfaction deadline, partners will now be notified of their survey requirement at the beginning of the Cisco Value Incentive Program period. The calculation for determining the number of surveys required will be based on the partner's bookings from the previous six-month period.

Q. How do I look up my Cisco Customer Satisfaction results? How do I know what counts toward the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. The VIP "Status Report" for each technology will show your rating required, rating to date, surveys required, valid surveys received to date, number of surveys sent, number of surveys received, and partner identification number.

Please note that a partner's overall Cisco Customer Satisfaction score for certification may differ from its Cisco Customer Satisfaction score for the Cisco Value Incentive Program. This is primarily because the

Cisco Value Incentive Program only accepts partner-sourced surveys within the designated technology area, while the Certifications Program accepts all survey responses, regardless of whether they are partner-sourced or specify a designated technology.

Q. How is the Cisco Value Incentive Program customer satisfaction score calculated? A. Partner targets are based on a combination of pre-sales and post-sales overall satisfaction levels as determined by valid Cisco Value Incentive Program responses to two questions in the Cisco Corporate Survey Channel Partner section:

Question #15: "Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with the pre-sales support provided by (your) Cisco Channel Partner?"

Question #18: "Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with the post-sales support provided by (your) Cisco Channel Partner?"

The actual calculation: (pre-sales average score x responses) + (post-sales average score x responses) / total responses

Q. What constitutes a "valid" customer satisfaction response? Will all Cisco Customer Satisfaction Survey responses count toward the Cisco Value Incentive Program? A. No. Though all Cisco channel programs will use the same survey, for a survey to be valid for the Value Incentive Program, it must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Surveys sent by partner 2. Validation by the end customer that they have obtained products and/or services from a partner 3. Agreement by the end customer to evaluate the partner 4. Validation by the end customer that the respective technology was delivered to the end customer

by the partner 5. Overall pre-sales or post-sales satisfaction rating

How can I access a user guide for the Partner Access onLine tool?

Q. How do I access the Partner Access onLine tool? A. All users, both Cisco employees and partners, can access the Partner Access onLine tool through: http://www.cisco.com/go/pal

Q. How do partners gain access to the Cisco PAL (Partner Access onLine) tool? A. Partners should work with their Cisco CAM to obtain initial access to the Partner Access onLine tool. Once the partner designates an "administrator," they can add or delete users within the Partner Access onLine tool as required and at their discretion. Partner Access onLine access is managed through Partner Self Service. All Cisco employees and Partner Access onLine partner administrators will be able to grant access to the Partner Access onLine tool through Partner Self Service. From the Partner Access onLine tool, Cisco CAMs and partner administrators can select the "User Access" link located in the Customer Satisfaction module. Partner Access onLine partner administrators can go select the "Manage Access" link in the Cisco Partner Access onLine tool, which will take them to the “Manage Company Contacts Access” page. From there, they can grant access or change the access of company employees who have a valid Cisco.com login. Cisco employees will be taken to the “Partner Search” screen, where they can search for a specific partner.

Once the desired partner company has been selected, they can search for all partner contacts, or a specific one to grant or edit access.

Q. What if a partner receives an error message when trying to access the Cisco Partner Access onLine tool? A. The error message will state: "John Doe from ABC Company has attempted to grant you access to Cisco Systems Partner Access onLine . However, your Cisco.com account does not show you to be an employee of this company. If you wish to have access to Cisco PAL as an employee of ABC Company, you must update your account information at Cisco.com."

To update a partner's account, please visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/getpartneraccess.

Q. How many customer satisfaction surveys are required for Unified Communications, Wireless LAN or Security? A. The following page will provide the program rules and requirements for the Cisco Value Incentive Program: www.cisco.com/go/vip

Q. I have less than five installations for this Cisco Value Incentive Program period. How can I get the number of surveys required? A. Multiple responses can come from the same customer organization as long as they are from different individuals within that customer account. In other words, if a partner has a complex installation where there is contact with several different individuals within that customer organization, they could each be surveyed.

Q. How do I send surveys and view my responses?

A. In the “Send Surveys” section, you can schedule and send surveys to your contacts from the previous fiscal year, add new contacts, view the status of scheduled or sent surveys, and edit end customer information. 1. Go to the “Send Surveys” tab. 2. Click on the "Click Here" link to get started.

3. Review the report filters available with the “Survey Status” grid.

Survey Status Use the "Filter by" drop-down menu to see the list of sent surveys, scheduled surveys, surveys not scheduled/sent, undeliverable e-mail addresses, contacts who refused survey, and contacts that can be deleted.

The Contacts Refused Surveys list displays contacts that were sent and received a survey, but requested that they not be sent the survey and be taken off the survey send lists.

The Sent Surveys filter list displays your end customer contacts that have been sent a survey. The screen displays the end customer contact name, the company name, the dates the survey and reminder were sent, and the date the end customer replied to the survey.

The No Surveys Scheduled/Sent filter list displays your end customer contacts from the previous fiscal year. You can edit and schedule surveys for these contacts by selecting the appropriate contact and clicking the Edit/Send button.

The Scheduled Surveys list displays the surveys that have been scheduled but not sent. These surveys will be sent on the date listed. You can also edit the survey information for these contacts, if necessary.

The Undeliverable E-Mail Addresses list displays all survey contacts whose e-mail addresses were invalid. Click “Edit/Send” to correct and resend these surveys. The Delete Contacts Filter list displays all survey contacts that have not yet been refreshed or reserved with a future survey send date. Once a survey has been sent to a contact, the contact cannot be deleted, and it moves from this list to the scheduled or sent survey filters.

Q. How does a partner know if an e-mail address is undeliverable? How can it be corrected and resent? A. The individual who entered the contact name is notified via e-mail when an address is undeliverable. To update the e-mail address, refer to the "Undeliverable Email Addresses” information above.

Q. How soon after entering the end customer contact information into Cisco Partner Access onLine is the survey sent? A. The system is close to real-time; however, depending on the e-mail servers involved it could take up to 24 hours.

Q. What is the end-customer experience when receiving the Cisco Customer Satisfaction Survey invitation?

A. Once you have requested the survey to be sent to the end customer, they will receive an e-mail invitation to participate in the survey. The e-mail invitation is always sent on behalf of the partner, allowing the end customer to know immediately the name of the Cisco partner, reseller, or vendor that is sending the survey invitation. The e-mail invitation contains a survey link, which the end customer clicks on to open the survey in a browser window. The end customer commences answering questions, and when finished, selects the “Submit” button. While taking the survey, the end customer has the ability to close the survey and return to the link at any time to finish responding as long as they have not selected the final submit option.

Q. Why are only partner-sent surveys counted?

A. Cisco would like to allow the partner the ability to define the best time in the sales cycle to send their end customer a survey invitation. We recognize that at times, a project may fall off course, and would like to provide the partner with an opportunity to remedy any issues before a survey is administered. The surveys sent by Cisco directly are not necessarily targeted specifically toward a partner's sales cycle.

Cisco Value Incentive Program Tool (VIP Tool)

Q. What is the Cisco Value Incentive Program tool (VIP Tool)?

A. The Cisco VIP Tool supports only the application process of the program. Partner Rebate View supports other activities of the Cisco Value Incentive Program, including the monitoring of partner bookings and customer satisfaction scores over the six-month program period.

Q. What are the features of the Cisco VIP Tool and Partner Rebate View?

A. The VIP Tool supports the application process and while Partner Rebate View helps enable participating partners to monitor their progress in meeting the program goals. All partners can submit applications and review application status in the VIP tool only.

Approved partners can monitor their progress in reaching booking and customer satisfaction targets in Partner Rebate View.

Cisco CAMs can review, approve, or reject partner applications in the VIP tool. Cisco CAMs can also track their approved partners' status on achieving the bookings and customer satisfaction targets in MBR (My Business Reports) which is Cisco’s internal portal for Partner Rebate View.

Q. Who can use the Cisco VIP Tool?

A. Cisco Channel Partners, Cisco CAMs, Cisco manager of channel operations, and Cisco theatre program administrators are authorized to use the VIP Tool. To help ensure security and confidentiality, users will have access only to those profiles with which they are associated.

Q. How do I access the Cisco VIP Tool and Partner Rebate View?

Access the online VIP Tool at: http://tools.cisco.com/WWChannels/VIP/action/home.

Access to Partner Rebate View at: https://tools.cisco.com/mbrre/saw.dll?Dashboard

Q. Why did I get an error message when logging into the Cisco VIP Tool?

A. Error messages may be due to several reasons. The most common access errors relate to user ID and password problems:

� To obtain a valid user ID, please go to http://www.cisco.com/register/ and follow the instructions to register with Cisco.com.

� For password assistance, please send an e-mail to cco-locksmith@cisco.com. � To associate your user ID to the Cisco Certified or Specialized Partner company in Cisco's

database, go to: http://www.cisco.com/go/partnerselfservice. Cisco is not able to provide Cisco Partner View access to Cisco employees, authorized resellers, and registered partners at this time.

If you have confirmed that your Cisco.com user ID and password are correct and that you are associated with the correct company in the Cisco database, please contact your Cisco CAM. The Cisco CAM will be able to look up your profile and help you access the VIP Tool. Alternatively, you can open a case with Partner Help at: http://www.ciscopartnerhelp.com.

Q. I am not associated with the right partner company. How do I change this?

A. To associate your Cisco.com user ID with your company in the Cisco partner database, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/partnerselfservice. Cisco is not able to provide Cisco Partner View access to Cisco authorized resellers or registered partners’ employees at this time. Alternatively, you can open a case with Partner Help by visiting: http://www.ciscopartnerhelp.com.

Q. How do I apply for the Cisco Value Incentive Program?

A. All applicants for the Cisco Value Incentive Program must submit an application using the VIP Tool located at: http://tools.cisco.com/WWChannels/VIP/action/home. Log on to the tool and click "Apply Online" in the navigation bar at left to begin the application.

If your company has already submitted an application for a different country or country group, this application will also be displayed on the summary screen. Each country or country group is required to submit a separate application for the Cisco Value Incentive Program.

Q. How does the Cisco Value Incentive Program application process work?

A. Partners must submit a completed Cisco Value Incentive Program application for Cisco Unified Communications, Wireless LAN and Security through the VIP Tool. Partners must select their Cisco CAMs when completing their application.

Cisco CAMs will be notified of all new applications. The assigned CAM will review each application to help ensure that partners have met all of the enrollment qualifications. Cisco CAMs may reject the application if the partner does not meet all of the requirements or if the partner needs to supply additional information. Partners whose applications require additional information will be required to re-apply for the program and supply complete information in order to have their applications considered. Approved applications will then be forwarded to a program administrator for final processing and approval.

Partners should expect notification on their applications within 10 business days.

Note: Partners must successfully complete the Cisco Value Incentive Program application. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed by Cisco.

Q. Can I submit applications for the Cisco Value Incentive Program in multiple countries?

A. Yes. You can apply for the Cisco Value Incentive Program in multiple countries. Final payout is contingent on meeting the specific country or country group requirements. Bookings and customer satisfaction surveys will only be applied to a single country or country grouping.

Q. How long is the review process for a Cisco Value Incentive Program application?

A. Partners should receive notification from Cisco within 10 business days.

Q. How do I know my Cisco Value Incentive Program application was successfully submitted?

A. Partners will receive a confirmation screen once the application has been successfully submitted.

Q. Can I check on my application status?

A. Yes. Partners should log onto the VIP Tool. The "Summary" table will provide information on the application status.

Q. It has been more than two weeks and my application is still in process. Who should I contact?

A. Partners should first contact their Cisco CAM and determine if the CAM has received the application. Alternatively, partners can open a case with Partner Help to determine the status of their application.

Q. How do I look up my current bookings and customer satisfaction results in the Cisco VIP Tool?

A. Log into the Partner Rebate View Tool at https://tools.cisco.com/mbrre/saw.dll

Please note: VIP net bookings reported in the Partner Rebate View tool provide resellers with a guide for meeting the minimum bookings requirement and calculating the customer satisfaction survey requirement for each VIP period. Resellers are expected to track their net bookings to accurately determine the number of surveys required. Resellers are encouraged to report discrepancies to their Cisco CAM as soon as possible.

Q. What should I do if the revenue target, bookings results, customer satisfaction target surveys and scores, and customer satisfaction actual surveys and scores do not match my company's records?

A. Notify your Cisco CAM of the issue and have him or her work directly with the Cisco Value Incentive Program administrators.

Q. Can several users log in to view a partner profile?

A. Yes. Multiple individuals from the partner company can view a single partner profile. Log into the VIP Tool and select the appropriate partner profile. Click "View/Update." Scroll down to "Additional Partner Cisco.com IDs." Add in the new Cisco.com IDs. Scroll to the bottom and click the "Update" button.

Q. How do I update my Cisco VIP partner profile with new contact names or Bank Account information?

A. Log into the VIP Tool. Select the correct partner profile from the summary table. Click "View/Update." Update the information in the editable fields. Scroll to the bottom and click the "Update" button.

Q. How do I ask questions or provide feedback on the Cisco VIP Tool?

A. Go to Partner Help. Partner Help can also be accessed from the right-side navigation of the VIP Tool. Common questions and answers are posted to the Partner Help tool under the "Q&A" tab.

For further assistance, click the "Open a Case" tab. For category, select either "Programs" or "Tool" with the subtopic of "Value Incentive Program." Next, select the most appropriate topic from the dropdown list. Then provide question or feedback details and click "Submit Request."