Announcement: Retirement of Cisco Network Hosted Storage Applications ATP Program

Announcement Date: May 12, 2009
Retirement Date: August 12, 2009

Cisco will retire the Cisco® Network Hosted Storage Applications Authorized Technology Provider (NHSA ATP) Program effective August 12, 2009, and will move direct access to MDS storage networking products from the NHSA ATP Program to the Cisco Data Center Storage Networking (DCSN) Specialization to further streamline direct access for DCSN Specialized Partners when appropriate. (The DCSN Specialization was already a prerequisite for the NHSA ATP Program.)

Although original storage manufacturers (OSMs) and solution technology integrators (STIs) remain Cisco’s primary route to market for MDS storage networking deals, starting May 12, 2009, as appropriate, Cisco will also allow DCSN Specialized Partners to have direct, unrestricted access to MDS 9100 Series and 9200 Series fabric switches through participating Cisco Authorized Distributors.

Direct access to MDS 9500 Series director switches requires following an additional exception process (just as was used in the NHSA ATP Program), to allow Cisco the opportunity to ensure that potentially affected OSMs and STIs have been appropriately taken into consideration.

Examples of acceptable situations in which partners may choose to source MDS storage switching products directly rather than through OSMs/STIs include the following:

• The customer has only "white box" storage arrays (that is, no named OSMs or STIs), and therefore is not creating a conflict with Cisco OSMs or STIs.
• An OSM or STI is leading with a competitive storage switching solution and will not switch to a Cisco MDS storage switching solution.
• The deal involves Cisco data center products in addition to MDS storage switching, and the customer documents their request that the entire deal be through Cisco and not sourced through an OSM or STI.

To determine which Cisco Authorized Distributors are participating in providing direct access to MDS storage switching, or if you have any further questions, please contact your assigned Cisco channel account manager (CAM).