The Channel Is Proving Itself

Marketplaces are all the hype in the channel these days. Has the customer purchasing mindset shifted to favor direct marketplaces? Will vendors go there? 

Cisco’s Andrew Sage gave a nuanced answer. 

“We’re trying every new way that our customers are asking us to buy, and then we’re going to double down on the ones that are working right now,” he said.

However, he said the channel’s go-to-market motion has absolutely proven itself as a purchasing method that is working. 

“The idea that we would get to millions of these customers somehow by putting up a clever website and selling direct to them is absolutely never going to happen. And everybody at Cisco knows that,” he said.