DALLAS – Cisco Systems took a page out of the Shopping Channel’s play book and introduced Easy Pay.
Easy Pay works as a hardware payment plan carried over a 36-month term or three years. According to Worldwide Channel Chief for Cisco, Wendy Bahr, 90 per cent of the cost of the equipment is divided by 36. If the initial price is $100,000 it instantly drops to $90,000. Then divided by 36 and you get a monthly payment of $2,500.
What’s important to note is the customer through the solution provider has options to go through at the end of the 36-month term. Bahr said, the equipment can be returned and taken through an environmental cleanup process. The deal can be extended or the customer can buy it by paying back the original 10 per cent sayings.
Bahr believes this system will be able to help eliminate or at least curb grey market activity.
“With Easy Pay, Cisco solution providers who want to bundle all this on a monthly subscription and improve cashflow or price fluctuations like we have with Meraki can do it. And, partners will have the ability to sell new hardware at the end of the term,” she said.
Solution providers can also add 100 per cent of the software and services onto Easy Pay. Only hardware will be offering the 10 per cent discount. Cisco can bill on the partner’s behalf.
Currently, more than $250 million of equipment sales has gone through Easy Pay. Approximately, $600 million is in the pipeline around the world for Easy Pay, Bahr added.
New Cisco Canada President Rola Dagher, told CDN that a program such as Easy Pay goes back to customer choice. “Historically we are product centric company and the shift to cloud and the consumption model leads to customer’s wanting to pay of it in a way that works for them. This program maps to how they want to run their business today. For the channel if they are an MSP or want to become an MSP Easy Pay matches up to them and it goes back to the commitment we made to become simple to do business with. It’s called Easy Pay for a reason,” Dagher said.