Curriculum
Each learning partner must deliver the number of distinct authorized Cisco courses (not classes) required for the partner level, as the table below outlines. Cisco Learning Partner (CLP) requirements are 10 distinct advanced authorized Cisco courses.
Only the following derivative works will count toward the required number of distinct advanced courses for Cisco Learning Partners (CLPs) and Cisco Learning Solution Partners (CLSPs):
- Localization of a standard course
- CCIE boot camps (until the Cisco authorized CCIE curriculum becomes available)
Partners can deliver any of the technical, technical sales, or specialization courses that have an available course kit. See the Cisco Learning Store
for a complete list.
The following will determine proof of a Partners ability to deliver the required number of courses:
- Dedicated certified instructor for a specified course for the program year: Partners must have a dedicated contract covering the program year with any instructors who are contractors.
- Proven access to company-owned lab equipment or documented access to Cisco or remote lab learning partner equipment: Partners must establish and maintain ownership or access for the program year.
- Demonstrated delivery of required number of disctinct courses within 12 months of the program year, with passing Metrics that Matter (MTM) scores for both customer satisfaction and instructors.
- Completed FY'09 Delivery Qualification Form listing qualified staff and equipment for each course selected to meet the curriculum requirement.
Learning Services
CLPs must provide both course evaluations and an active Website. CLPs can then select additional services from the following table to bring the total number of services to a minimum of six. Partners may create any service under the terms of the agreement or as a result of a cooperative agreement with another partner or a third party. Any other partner or third party must meet the requirements that Cisco specifies, in its sole discretion, for delivering learning services.
For a partner to qualify for these learning services, the following will apply.
Course evaluations (mandatory service). Partners must:
- Submit student evaluations of all training courses using the MTM evaluation system within 10 working days after the course completion.
- Have a quarterly participation response rate for student evaluations in MTM of 50 percent or better.
Active Website (mandatory service). Customers must be able to view the full range of services that a partner offers through its Website. This site should:
- Include up-to-date scheduling, information about how to achieve Cisco Career Certifications, and descriptions of all the training courses that the partner offers
- Be interactive and well designed
- Not consist of static HTML pages
Online registration. Customers must be able to register for a training offering via the partner's Website using Web-based forms or e-mail. Ideally, a learning management system will handle this registration.
E-commerce capability. Customers must be able to pay on the Web for training, using any of the payment methods that the partner accepts. This system should have online transaction confirmation capability.
Specializations. Partners must offer training courses that cover the curriculum requirements to do either of the following:
- Prepare an individual for certification as a Cisco Qualified Specialist
- Prepare an organization in the Cisco Channel Partner Program to:
- Earn qualifying specialization credits toward status as a Cisco Authorized Technology Provider, or a Gold, Silver, or Premier Certified Partner, including, but not limited to:
- IP telephony
- Content networking
- Storage networking
- Wireless LANs
- Cable
- Voice
- Security
- Network management
- Participate in sales training ("specialization offerings")
These specialization courses may be Instructor Lead Training (ILT) or e-learning offerings. Two or more specialization offerings will fulfill this specializations elective. A partner can qualify by sponsoring Cisco CCSI certified instructors in training courses mapped to the specializations, and should nominate the qualifying Cisco CCSI certified instructors in the partner profiler in the Learning Partner Management System (LPMS).
Training needs analysis. Partners must demonstrate a proven, repeatable, documented process for analyzing customer training needs and have evidence of its use available to Cisco upon request.
Certification testing. Partners must obtain authorization from at least one of Cisco's approved testing vendors (currently Pearson VUE, and possibly other vendors in the future).
Pre- and post-class assessments. Partners must present a series of assessment questions to customers either before the class to determine the exact learning requirements or after the class to determine the customers' knowledge gained from the training.
Online mentoring. Partners must provide customers access to either of the following:
- Subject matter experts on the technical content of the course
- Instructors for pedagogical support before, during, or after the training course
This access should be via the Web, using a recognized instant messaging, e-mail, or learning management system support tool. It should also include a response time of 24 hours or less, or, ideally, a live chat feature.
Labs. Based on the need to assign lab exercises to students, partners may choose to provide either onsite physical lab equipment, remote lab equipment, or virtual or simulated tools. Remote labs must be at least equal to the functionality of onsite physical labs. Virtual or simulated tools must mirror the capabilities of physical lab equipment without actually accessing the real hardware or software.
Virtual or simulated classrooms. Partners delivering ILT offerings over the Internet use a simulated or virtual classroom environment for students to attend the sessions. Typically, Cisco CCSI certified instructors deliver the content, and a team of subject matter experts coach or support students during the delivery. With this method, the class size can exceed that of a typical physical classroom.
Blended e-learning. This method uses multiple delivery types combined into one offering. An example would be an ILT offering using:
- Virtual classroom
- Virtual labs
- Printed version of training materials as a course guide
- Access to a video-on-demand module of the class as a self-study aid
- E-learning infrastructure hardware and software
- Learning management systems
- Content
- Learning maps
- Collaborative tools
- Design
- Implementation
Derivative Works
The Worldwide Learning Partner Channels Derivative Works Program allows CLSPs and CLPs to modify the Cisco course content or other Cisco materials. Each learning partner must report the percentage of Cisco intellectual property included in the resulting product. Each derivative work is then subject to royalty payments to Cisco, as indicated on the CLSP Password Protected Resource Page.
Any new or existing learning partner that has developed courses (ILT, e-learning and labs) and other self-paced learning products (workbooks, CDs, DVDs, etc.) containing Cisco technology or Cisco intellectual property must have each product separately approved as a derivative work. Partners must then pay royalties on each derivative work as indicated on the CLSP Website.
Partners must obtain Cisco approval for all derivative works. In the request process, Cisco assigns an authorization code, previously called DW IDs, which the partner uses to post the course on the Global Learning Partner Locator and to report royalties. Following is the general derivative work approval process:
- CLSP completes the Cisco derivative work request form and submits to the alias: dw_request@cisco.com for review.
- Standard turnaround for a request with no identified issues will be 5 business days from the date of submission.
- Cisco returns the approved derivative work request form with a authorization code to the CLSP. The derivative work is approved for a 12-month period starting from the approval date.
- CLSP logs into the LPMS and submits course information using the approved Cisco authorization code. The derivative work now appears on the Global Learning Partner Locator. Note: Partners must have an approved Cisco authorization code to complete this required step.
- CLSP reports the royalty information on a monthly basis in the royalty tool on the Learning Store. The assigned authorization code will be used for selection of the works for which sales are being reported.
Cisco and the CLSP or CLP must work together to complete these steps before the partner gives the final derivative work training. There is no limit to the number of derivative works per CLSP or CLP.
For specific derivative work request process details, go to the CLSP Password Protected Resource Page.
Derivative Work Requirements
Partner must adhere to the requirements of what can and cannot be done with Derivative Works. The list below is not inclusive and Cisco has the right to add additional eligible and/or ineligible items at any time.
Derivative Works Monitoring
Cisco will track approved derivative work to evaluate and measure the benefits of customized training that customers receive through learning partners, and to facilitate the auditing process.
Cisco will place learning partners who abuse the derivative work process (for example, by submitting a smaller percentage of Cisco content to avoid paying required royalties) on probation, per the probation terms in the CLSP and CLP agreements. Failure to meet the conditions in the written probation notification will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination from the program.
Self Print of Course Kits
Cisco does not permit partners to print Cisco course kits.
