With the fast pace of technological innovations and the large number of solutions available, it’s difficult to keep up with everything. Managing up-to-date tech advancements can be a major challenge for any organization seeking to be digitally transformed.

To address this problem, Cisco Systems Inc. created a digital portal with experts in data analysis and content to help companies on their technology journey. The portal is available during the entire customer life cycle, including onboarding, implementation, adoption, and scaling.

“What we are trying to do is to get our customers to value quicker,” said Alistair Wildman (pictured), head of the EMEA Customer Experience Group at Cisco. “We take the business case out of the drawer and say: ‘What are you trying to achieve? Under what timeline? And let us map that with you.’”

Wildman spoke with John Furrier and Dave Vellante, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Cisco Live event in Barcelona. They discussed Cisco’s experience with the digital portal for customers, the role of partners in its strategy and the vision for customer success in the modern era. (* Disclosure below.)

Programs to encourage partners

The information available on the portal is based on the customers’ use case and the stage they are on in their tech journey. Content changes dynamically to align with a customer’s progress, according to Wildman.

“If the customer buys a wireless access solution, that portal will mirror that wireless access solution — and all the content on that page will be dynamically about that solution,” Wildman explained. “If [the company] is onboarding, all the information is about onboarding; when it goes past onboarding, all the information will then change to the next stage.”

The experts who help customers through the portal are from either Cisco or one of its partners. Experts might change over time as customers go through their journey and have different needs. “We think that about 50% of the partners will want to come on this journey with us, and that’s of all different sizes,” he said. “Currently, some of our biggest partners are the service providers.”

Because partners are an important part of the custom experience portal, Cisco incentivizes them with different programs. “If a partner sells a solution to a customer, has got the right certifications, and wants to take part in that customer success motion, we will monetize it for them,” Wildman highlighted. “We will incentivize them, and they have the right to lead.”

The portal still has room to evolve. “Eventually, everything will be there, so everything that the customers do post-sales with us or partners will be on that portal,” Wildman concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Cisco Live event. (* Disclosure: Cisco Systems Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Cisco nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE