The Cisco Renewals Manager (700-805 CRM) (700-805)

The primary measurement of success for a Renewals Manager is the renewal success rate, which is the percentage of customers who renew their contracts with Cisco at the end of their term. The renewal success rate reflects the Renewals Manager’s ability to retain customers and revenue, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The renewal success rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers who renew by the number of customers who are eligible to renew in a given period.  The renewal success rate is different from other metrics such as upsell percentage, percentage of contracts closed, or iARR rate, which are not directly related to the Renewals Manager’s role or performance.

The Cisco offer that represents the best value for the customer is to ask the Cisco team to engage into a Smart Account or Enterprise Agreement and propose a creation of a Customer Success Plan. A Smart Account is a centralized account management platform that gives customers full visibility and access to their Cisco software licenses, subscriptions, and services across their organization. A Smart Account simplifies license activation, usage tracking, and renewal management, as well as enables customers to move licenses across devices and locations as needed. An Enterprise Agreement is a simplified buying program that covers the entire organization’s software and services needs under one agreement, one renewal date, and one set of terms. An Enterprise Agreement offers customers preferred pricing, financial predictability, investment protection, and flexible expansion options. A Customer Success Plan is a document that captures the account team’s strategy and actions to achieve customer success. It defines the customer’s desired outcomes, identifies the potential barriers and risks, outlines the key milestones and deliverables, and assigns roles and responsibilities to the account team members.

By engaging into a Smart Account or Enterprise Agreement and proposing a Customer Success Plan, the customer can benefit from:

A comprehensive cloud calling plan with ease, in a single unified offer.

A world-class collaboration suite built for hybrid work that provides Webex Calling, Messaging, Meetings, Polling, and Webinars in one unified offering.

A best-in-class collaboration suite that leverages AI-driven intelligence to create engaging and inclusive collaboration experiences.

A lower total cost of ownership by providing multiple best-in-class products from a single vendor.

A simplified contract management by converging software licenses, support for software, and support for hardware into one agreement, one renewal date, and one set of terms.

A trusted support from Cisco Solution Support that centralizes support across software and hardware and any third-party provider technologies in the deployment.

A guidance at every step to accelerate technology transitions through expert resources, best practices, and proven methodologies focused on industry-wide solutions.

A proactive and predictive insights powered by AI/ML-driven analytics and automation that help recognize potential problems, optimize operations, and de-risk transformation.

A blueprint for account teams to achieve customer success by defining the customer’s vision, goals, metrics, milestones, deliverables, roles, responsibilities, progress, results, feedback, and recommendations.

A. Contracts/subscriptions that are available to renew.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation: According to the Cisco website 1 , ATR stands for Available To Renew, which is defined as:

Contracts/subscriptions that are available to renew within a defined time period (usually 90, 180, or 365 days)

A key metric for measuring the renewal opportunity and performance

A report that shows the contract details, status, expiration date, product coverage, etc.

References:  1 : Cisco Renewals Manager - Cisco

 La Carte licensing model is the most complex for a customer to manage because it requires the customer to purchase and activate individual licenses for each product and feature they want to use. This can result in a large number of licenses to track and renew, as well as compatibility issues between different products and versions.  A La Carte licensing also does not provide the benefits of Cisco’s Software Buying Programs, such as financial predictability, access to incentives, and subscription co-termination 1 .

References:  1 : Cisco Software Licensing Guide - Cisco

ATR stands for Annualized Total Revenue, which is a metric that measures the total revenue generated by a customer contract over a 12-month period. ATR is calculated by multiplying the monthly recurring revenue (MRR) by 12. For example, if a customer pays $100 per month for a service, the ATR is $100 x 12 = $1,200. Therefore, the ATR on a $10,000 one year recurring revenue contract is simply $10,000, since the MRR is already $10,000.  ATR is useful for comparing the revenue potential of different contracts with different billing cycles or durations

SD-WAN is the product that addresses network segmentation issues and is comprised of Viptela and Meraki products. SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network, which is a technology that simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling the networking hardware from its control mechanism. SD-WAN enables enterprises to use multiple types of transport services, such as MPLS, broadband, LTE, or 5G, to securely connect users to applications hosted in data centers or the cloud. SD-WAN also provides centralized visibility and control, dynamic path selection, application optimization, and security policies for the entire network.

Viptela and Meraki are two of Cisco’s SD-WAN solutions that cater to different customer needs and preferences. Viptela is a cloud-first SD-WAN solution that offers advanced routing, segmentation, and security capabilities for complex enterprise networks. Viptela can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, and supports multiple transport options, including cellular wireless. Meraki is a cloud-managed SD-WAN solution that offers simplicity, reliability, and automation for lean IT environments. Meraki can be deployed using plug-and-play devices, and provides easy configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting through a web-based dashboard.

Both Viptela and Meraki products help enterprises address network segmentation issues by enabling them to create secure virtual networks that isolate traffic based on business intent and policy.  Network segmentation improves network performance, security, and compliance by reducing congestion, preventing unauthorized access, and enforcing granular rules. 

A success indicator for a Renewals Manager that is valid is on-time renewal. On-time renewal measures the percentage of customers who renew their contracts with Cisco before or on the expiration date. On-time renewal reflects the Renewals Manager’s ability to retain customers and revenue, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. On-time renewal also reduces the risk of losing customers to competitors or alternative solutions. On-time renewal is calculated by dividing the number of customers who renew on time by the number of customers who are eligible to renew in a given period.  On-time renewal is different from other metrics such as increased deployment of licenses, stabilized customer satisfaction scores, or new product introductions, which are not directly related to the Renewals Manager’s role or performance.

Stealthwatch is one of the Cisco Security product offerings that focuses on identifying abnormal or suspicious network behaviors, which can help customers with:

Detecting and responding to advanced threats across their network

Gaining visibility and control over their network traffic and activity

Improving their network performance, security, and compliance

References:  2 : Cisco Stealthwatch - Cisco

On-time renewals on Cisco products and services can provide various business benefits to customers, such as ensuring continuous support, access to the latest software updates, and improved security and performance. One of the benefits that is valid according to the Cisco Renewals Manager exam is rebates and discounts from Cisco. This means that customers who renew their contracts on time can enjoy lower prices and incentives from Cisco, which can help them reduce their total cost of ownership and increase their return on investment.