Cisco Licensing

Partner Holding Smart Accounts

What is a Partner Holding Account?

A Partner Holding Account is a type of Smart Account created for partners or distributors to temporarily hold a Smart license order until the Customer Smart Account is created or identified. During the ordering process, licenses can be assigned to either a Customer Smart Account or a Partner Holding Account. However, for the licenses to be usable by the customer, they must eventually be transferred to the Customer Smart Account. All partners and distributors who resell Cisco products are required to create a Partner Holding Account. Additionally, if a partner intends to purchase products for their own company’s use, they must create a separate Customer Smart Account to manage those licenses.

BENEFITS

• Using a Partner Holding Account streamlines the ordering process by allowing orders to proceed even if the customer's Smart Account information is not yet available.

BEST PRACTICES

• Whenever possible, assign licenses directly in Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW) to the end customer’s Smart Account and Virtual Account if known. Use a Partner Holding Account only when necessary.
• Although there is no time limit for how long an order can remain in a Partner Holding Account, it is recommended to reassign the order to the Customer Smart Account as soon as possible. This ensures the customer can access and consume their licenses without delay. Note that the subscription timer starts once the licenses are delivered to the Customer Smart Account.
• Regularly review orders placed in the Partner Holding Account to ensure prompt reassignment to the Customer Smart Account.

What is a Virtual Account?

Smart Accounts are organized using Virtual Accounts. When you create your Partner Holding Account a default Virtual Account is automatically created. You may add more Virtual Accounts as needed for managing licensing orders. Think of the Smart Account as a folder, and each Virtual Account as a subfolder, all organized based on your business.

Partner Holding Account Organization and Assigning Roles

When setting up your Partner Holding Account, you must decide how to structure it using Virtual Accounts. Additionally, you will determine which individuals should be assigned to the Smart Account and its Virtual Accounts, along with their respective access roles.

Organizing your Account

BEST PRACTICES

• Most partners only need to create one Partner Holding Account for their organization. However, if you are a global company with multiple independent subsidiaries and multiple purchasing departments, you have the option to request multiple Partner Holding Accounts.
• If you have a centralized purchasing department, one Virtual Account should be sufficient to manage your orders. Alternatively, you may want to create one additional Virtual Account alongside the Default Virtual Account. For purchasing departments located in multiple regions or countries, creating multiple Virtual Accounts is recommended.
• B2B partners use a single Cisco ID (CCO ID) to place orders for multiple entities. Therefore, they can only have one default Partner Holding Smart Account linked to their Cisco ID for B2B orders.

Partner Holding Account Roles

Holding Account Administrator: This role can create Virtual Accounts, add users to the Partner Holding Account, and manage all orders within the account.

Holding Account User: This role can manage orders assigned to a Virtual Account but cannot add or delete users or Virtual Accounts.

Virtual Account Administrator: This role can add users to their assigned Virtual Account and manage orders tied to that Virtual Account.

Virtual Account User: This role can only manage orders within a specific Virtual Account.

BEST PRACTICES

• Roles should be assigned to everyone based on their responsibilities, as the user's assigned role determines which orders they can view in Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW). Administrator roles are necessary for tasks such as setting up notifications, approving access requests, and creating or categorizing Virtual Accounts. User roles are for routine order management for their assigned Virtual Account or Partner Holding Account.

Distributor and Reseller Software License Orders

If a distributor creates the software license order in Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW), the distributor can assign the order to their reseller’s Partner Holding Account. The reseller can then reassign the order to their end customer’s Customer Smart Account. If the distributor is working directly with the end customer, the distributor will assign the order directly to the end customer’s Smart Account.

Managing your Customer’s Smart Account on their Behalf

Partners managing a customer's Smart Account on their behalf must be explicitly granted roles by the customer to manage licenses or users. Upon being granted access, partners receive email notifications and can then help with license management accordingly. However, partners are not allowed to accept Smart Licensing Agreements or be assigned the Smart Account Approver role on behalf of the customer. This helps partners support license and user management while certain critical approvals stay under the customer's direct control. For more information about Customer Smart Accounts, view Customer Smart Account Best Practices.