Comstor, a leading Cisco distributor and part of Westcon-Comstor, is pleased to announce that is has recently achieved the Cisco Customer Experience Specialisation and is now able to pass this expertise on to partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. The specialisation was awarded to Comstor in recognition of its skillset to drive recurring revenue and building a sustainable lifecycle practice.

Software and subscription-based models have staked their claim as the de facto tools to enable and facilitate digital transformation. It is with this that Cisco is keeping pace with industry trends by offering more of its solutions on a recurring basis and allowing customers to experience the benefits of its technology more easily and with greater flexibility. The result? A carefully curated customer experience has become more crucial than ever before.

“There is no doubt that there is a cost benefit derived from subscription models, however as partners to business and IT, we need to work with customers to help create the link between what they expect from their initial technology investments and what a subscription model can offer them,” said Rakesh Parbhoo, CEO at Westcon-Comstor Sub-Saharan Africa. “Without this understanding it is unlikely that customers will renew their business and it therefore our responsibility as Comstor to mentor partners as they make this transition to subscription-based services.

“By adding the Cisco Customer Experience Specialisation to our expertise we are in a position to not just enable a technology transition between procurement models, but also assist our partners to meet their customer’s evolving needs,” he added.

Certifications substantiate the knowledge and skills of certified Cisco partners, and rank among the most sought-after qualifications for professionals specialising in networking software. Recognising the importance of nurturing customers to secure recurring revenue, Comstor’s sales teams adhere to a sales approach that focuses on adoption and expansion engagements.

By understanding our African customers’ business outcome expectations, conversations are tailored towards finding ways to overcome barriers to adoption, resulting in objectives being met and the perceived value of the solutions substantially increased. The renewed confidence in Cisco's solutions leads to higher renewal rates and further opportunities to expand the sale.

“We have achieved the Cisco Customer Experience Specialisation as a direct result of our approach to customer engagement, while also demonstrating a thorough understanding of the customer journey. Our ongoing success will only be achieved by our partners having meaningful and quality conversations with end-users and mentoring them through the adoption of Cisco’s solutions. If this level of engagement is taking place, then we are confident we are meeting recurring revenue targets while also driving value for the Cisco brand,” he ends.