Certification and specialization are based on meeting all requirements within a given country, or country grouping where relevant. There are three components that comprise the requirements of becoming a Cisco Certified Partner. Within each component, you have the flexibility to select capabilities that match your specific business model, whether this is based on professional services, technical support, or product resale.
- Base requirements:
- Specialization points
- Extra Credit points obtained from extra Specializations, extra Career Certified individuals above the base requirements, or by exceeding theatre-established Customer Satisfaction targets.
Note: Individual career certifications for Gold, Silver, and Premier may be used to meet the career certification requirements for specializations.
| Requirement Summary | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Career Certified Individuals | |||
| Gold | Silver | Premier | |
| Sales Experts (CSE) | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Associates (CCNA, CCDA) | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Professionals (CCNP, CCDP, CCIP, CCSP, CCVP) | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Experts (CCIEs) | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Minimum # of Individuals | 16 | 8 | 3 |
One additional CCIE for each $40 million in annual Cisco revenue |
|||
| Support Requirements | |||
| Core Support Requirements | Gold | Silver | Premier |
| Support Lab Gold, Silver |
Based on partner's Support Agreement | Based on partner's Support Agreement | |
| Demo Lab | Required | Required | Required |
| Customer Service | 24 x 7 | 8 x 5 | 8 x 5 |
| Call Back | 1 hour | 1 hour | 24 hour |
| Pre-Sales Support | Required | Required | Required |
| Escalation Process | Required | Required | |
| Additional Support Requirements | Based on partner's Support Agreement | ||
| Customer Satisfaction | |||
Participation in the Cisco partner customer satisfaction survey is required. |
|||
| Gold | Silver | Premier | |
| New Certification | Minimum of 15 responses Must achieve 95% of the theatre Customer Satisfaction target |
N/A | |
| Recertification | Minimum of 30 responses. Must achieve theatre Customer Satisfaction target. |
Minimum of 10 responses. Must achieve theatre Customer Satisfaction target by next anniversary date after August 1, 2004. |
|
| The definition of "new" partner as it relates to the enforcement of the customer satisfaction requirement is a partner that has not been certified at any level (Premier, Silver or Gold) within the previous six months. If a partner has been certified at any level within six months of applying for certification (at any level) they will be treated as a recertifying partner for purposes of customer satisfaction and will need to meet the requirements as such. | |||
| Point Requirements | |||
| Gold | Silver | Premier | |
| Specialization Points | 70 | 40 | 20 |
| Extra Credit Points | 30 | 20 | 0 |
| Total Points | 100 | 60 | 20 |
Before Silver or Gold Certification or Re-certification
is awarded, an independent firm will conduct an on-site audit in order
to ensure that your company has met all of the Silver or Gold Certification
Program requirements. To understand the complete Silver or Gold Certification
requirements, please review the Certification
Audit and Policies Document 
(PDF - 126 KB). This document includes guidelines
for the on-site audit and policies related to the Silver and Gold Certification
Program.
Apply for Certification or Specialization.