Gold Certification offers the highest level of rewards and recognition. This designation rewards partners for their loyalty to Cisco, proven capabilities in providing value-added services, and a strong commitment to customer success. In addition, Gold Certified Partners have integrated Cisco Lifecycle Services into their offerings and demonstrated a high level of customer satisfaction. |
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After you gain certification, you can:
View country groupings Looking for a different certification? |
Partner Benefits
Cisco Gold Certified Partners benefit from an increased level of support and economic incentives from Cisco, including access to best-in-class products and services, technical support, productivity tools, online training, marketing resources, and sales promotions. In addition to branding as a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, benefits of Cisco Gold Certification include:
- Recognition as a Gold Certified Partner in the Cisco Partner Locator
- Incremental product discounts
- Invitations to Cisco-sponsored partner events
- Cisco Certified Partner kit with sales tools, logos, guidelines, and information
Gold Certified Partners also enjoy access to many Cisco resources, including customer satisfaction best practices and tools, the Partner Education Connection, the Joint Marketing Fund Builder (availability varies by geography), and restricted products (varies by geography).
Gold partners are eligible to participate in Cisco channel incentive programs, with higher economic incentives than all other certification levels.
Certification and specialization are based on meeting all requirements within a given country, or country grouping where relevant. All applicants must agree to the Cisco Channel Partner Program terms and conditions.
Current Requirements for Gold Certification
Base requirements:
- Specialization Requirements
- Certified Role Requirements
- Support Requirements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Service Requirements
Specialization Requirements
To achieve Gold Certification, a partner must have the following specializations:
- Advanced Unified Communications
- Advanced Routing and Switching
- Advanced Security
- Advanced Wireless LAN
Role sharing allows a single individual to fulfill similar roles across two or more specializations, based upon the specialization and the role. Cisco has reduced the number of unique individuals required across Express, Advanced, and Master Specializations. However, the total number of individuals required to achieve each certification level remains unchanged. Please note:
- A single, qualified individual may fill only the account manager (AM) role in up to a total of four specializations.
- A single, qualified individual may fill only the systems engineer (SE) role in up to a total of two specializations.
- A single, qualified individual may fill only the field engineer (FE) role in up to a total of two specializations.
- Individuals may not cross-populate between the AM, SE, and FE roles.
The Small Business specialization is not limited by these allocation rules.
| Support Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Type | Gold |
| Legal agreement | Valid resale agreement or Cisco Indirect Channel Partner Agreement (ICPA) in place |
| Demo capabilities | Ability to demonstrate one specialization technology at the time of onsite audit |
| Customer service | 24 hours a day, seven days a week |
| Escalation process | Required |
| Call Back | One hour |
| Support lab | Support lab equipment requirement for CSSP, SIS, and RSA partners only |
| Pre-Sales Support | Required |
| Post-Sales Support | Requirements based on Partner Support Agreement |
| Customer Satisfaction | |
|---|---|
| Note: Participation in the Cisco partner customer satisfaction survey is required. | |
| Type | Gold |
| New Certification* | Minimum of 15 responses, measured at the end of Cisco Q2FY11** and Q4FY11** on a rolling 12-month window)
and Must achieve the regional customer satisfaction target by either Cisco Q2FY11** or Q4FY11**, whichever comes first after annual certification anniversary |
| Recertification | Minimum of 30 responses, measured at the end of Cisco Q2FY11** and Q4FY11** on a rolling 12-month window
and Must achieve the regional customer satisfaction target by the end of both Cisco fiscal Q2FY11** and Q4FY11** |
| *The definition of "new" partner as it relates to the enforcement of the customer satisfaction requirement is a partner that has not been Premier, Silver, or Gold certified within the previous six months.
**The FY2011 Cisco Fiscal Year dates are:
Exceptions Silver partners moving to Gold must have a minimum of 30 valid responses and meet the theater Customer Satisfaction target. |
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| Service Requirements |
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| Service Attach Rate |
| New and renewing Silver and Gold Certified Partners are required to have a minimum service attach rate of 40 percent during the four previous Cisco quarters.
For partners who have not previously been Gold or Silver Certified, the Service Attach Rate requirement may be met by achieving a rate of 40 percent within the past 12 months. |
| Revenue from Services |
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New and renewing Silver and Gold Partners must generate at least 15 percent of revenue from services during the two previous Cisco quarters. For example:
The service requirements apply to both Cisco branded services (CBR, packaged services, pay-for-performance, and Partner branded services (CSSP, SIS, Co-Brand, Collaborative Technical Services). Additional details on how to calculate the Service Attach Rate and Revenue from Services can be found in the Audit Policies Document. |
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 program requirements.
Note: If a partner does not remain in compliance with the applicable specialization or certification requirements, Cisco reserves the right to revoke the specialization or certification. Partners must notify Cisco of non-compliance promptly, but in no event more than 30 days after the partner first becomes aware of its non-compliance.
Upon receipt of such notice, the partner may qualify for an extension of time in which to renew its compliance with the applicable specialization or certification requirements. The Partner's failure to provide such notice may disqualify the partner from receiving such an extension. If no extension is granted or if the partner fails to comply with the certification or specialization requirements by the end of the extension period, Cisco reserves the right to revoke the applicable specialization or certification immediately. Additional information regarding non-compliance may be found in the Audit and Policies Document.
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Certification and specialization are based on meeting all requirements within a given country, or country grouping where relevant. All applicants must agree to the Cisco Channel Partner Program terms and conditions.
New Gold Certification Requirements including Architectural Specializations
(effective 2012)
Base requirements:
- Specialization Requirements
- Career Certified Individuals
- Certification Transition
- Support Requirements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Service Requirements
Specialization Requirements
To achieve Gold Certification, a partner must have three architectural specializations:
- Borderless Networks Architecture Specialization
- Collaboration Architecture Specialization
- Data Center Architecture Specialization
| Certified Role Requirements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Account Manager | System Engineer | Field Engineer |
| Advanced Routing and Switching | CSE | CCDA | CCNP |
| Advanced Unified Communications | CSE | CCDA | CCVP |
| Advanced Security | CSE | CCDA | CCSP |
| Advanced Wireless LAN | CSE | CCDA | CCNA |
| CCIE requirements for Certification: Gold equal four. CCIEs can satisfy any technical CCxx specialization role. | |||
| Title | Account Manager | Arch System Engineer | Field Engineer |
| Collaboration Architecture | CSE | CCDA | CCNP Voice |
| Title | Account Manager | Arch System Engineer | Field Engineer (R&S) | Field Engineer (Security) | Field Engineer (Mobility) |
| Borderless Networks Architecture | CSE | CCDP | CCNP R&S | CCSP/CCNP Sec | CCNA Wireless or Adv WLAN Field Specialist CCNP Exams 642-731, 642-741 |
| Title | Account Manager | Arch System Engineer | Field Engineer (UCS) | Field Engineer (Unified Fabric) | Field Engineer (App Services) |
| Data Center Architecture | CSE | N/A | N/A | CCNP | CCNA |
Certification Transition
Certification transition begins in FY12. From August 2011 through July 2012 partners may submit certification applications for both technologies and architectures.
Effective August 2012, partners will be required to meet the new certification requirements at their next certification anniversary date.
New Certification Requirements Overview 
(PDF - 1.21 MB)
Certification Transition Tool 
(XLSX - 217 KB)
Tutorial: Certification Transition Tool 
| Support Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Type | Gold |
| Legal agreement | Valid resale agreement or Cisco Indirect Channel Partner Agreement (ICPA) in place |
| Demo capabilities | Ability to demonstrate one specialization technology at the time of onsite audit |
| Customer service | 24 hours a day, seven days a week |
| Escalation process | Required |
| Call Back | One hour |
| Support lab | Support lab equipment requirement for CSSP, SIS, and RSA partners only |
| Pre-Sales Support | Required |
| Post-Sales Support | Requirements based on Partner Support Agreement |
| Customer Satisfaction | |
|---|---|
| Note: Participation in the Cisco partner customer satisfaction survey is required. | |
| Type | Gold |
| New Certification* |
|
| Recertification |
|
| *The definition of "new" partner as it relates to the enforcement of the customer satisfaction requirement is a partner that has not been Premier, Silver, or Gold certified within the previous six months.
**The FY2011 Cisco Fiscal Year dates are:
Exceptions Silver partners moving to Gold must have a minimum of 30 valid responses and meet the theater Customer Satisfaction target. |
|
| Service Requirements |
|---|
| Service Attach Rate |
| New and renewing Silver and Gold Certified Partners are required to have a minimum service attach rate of 40 percent during the four previous Cisco quarters.
For partners who have not previously been Gold or Silver Certified, the Service Attach Rate requirement may be met by achieving a rate of 40 percent within the past 12 months. |
| Revenue from Services |
|
New and renewing Silver and Gold Partners must generate at least 15 percent of revenue from services during the two previous Cisco quarters. For example:
The service requirements apply to both Cisco branded services (CBR, packaged services, pay-for-performance, and Partner branded services (CSSP, SIS, Co-Brand, Collaborative Technical Services). Additional details on how to calculate the Service Attach Rate and Revenue from Services can be found in the Audit Policies Document. |
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 program requirements.
Note: If a partner does not remain in compliance with the applicable specialization or certification requirements, Cisco reserves the right to revoke the specialization or certification. Partners must notify Cisco of non-compliance promptly, but in no event more than 30 days after the partner first becomes aware of its non-compliance.
Upon receipt of such notice, the partner may qualify for an extension of time in which to renew its compliance with the applicable specialization or certification requirements. The Partner's failure to provide such notice may disqualify the partner from receiving such an extension. If no extension is granted or if the partner fails to comply with the certification or specialization requirements by the end of the extension period, Cisco reserves the right to revoke the applicable specialization or certification immediately. Additional information regarding non-compliance may be found in the Audit and Policies Document.
Your company must be a Registered Partner before applying for any specializations or certifications. Visit the Become a Registered Partner page if you have not registered for the Cisco Channel Partner Program.
How to Apply
- Verify that certified individuals fulfilling job roles are allocated to your company with their Cisco (CSCO) testing number.*
- Partner administrators and Cisco employees will verify this information using the Partner Self Service tool.
- Complete and submit the certification application.
If you encounter any issues in the application or renewal process, please open a case with the Partner Relationship Team.
*Cisco typically receives exam results within five to 10 days from its respective testing agencies.
How to Renew Your Certification
You have 90 days prior to your certification anniversary date to begin the re-certification process. In the 90 days prior to your anniversary date, your status will change from Approved to Re-Cert in the Certification and Specialization Application (CSApp) online tool. Once you verify that you are in compliance with current specialization requirements, please submit your application in the CSApp tool. You will not be able to submit your application unless all requirements are met.
If you encounter any issues in the application or renewal process, please open a case with the Partner Relationship Team.
Failure to submit a re-certification application 30 days after your anniversary date will result in loss of the certification.
Gold Certification Resources
Gold Certification At-a-Glance (PDF - 59 KB)
Gold Certification Overview (PDF - 298 KB)