Introduction

Before you quote a Cisco product, you may want to know what rebate it carries, without building a full quote first. The CPI Search in StrataVAR PqW lets you look up any Cisco SKU's rebate percentage directly from the ingested Eligible Offers data. Enter a part number (or the first few characters), choose a portfolio and effective date, and the system returns the applicable rebate rates for both Partner and Preferred Partner tiers—along with any specialization bonus (accelerator) percentages.

Think of it as a rebate reference desk: a quick, self-service way to answer "what does Cisco pay on this SKU?" without touching a quote.

Why CPI Search Is Needed

When sales teams scope a deal or compare product options, they often need the rebate rate for a specific SKU before building or modifying a quote.  Without CPI Search, finding a rebate rate for a specific SKU means either searching the raw Eligible Offers Excel workbook manually (1.1 million+ SKUs across multiple worksheets), or adding the item to a quote and running the full CPI estimate, neither of which is designed for a quick reference check. CPI Search page is the dedicated, purpose-built tool for exactly this scenario.

CPI Search eliminates all three workarounds. Any PqW user can look up a rebate rate in seconds, directly from the ingested, date-indexed Eligible Offers data PqW already uses for calculation.

Using CPI Search to look up the rebate rates help in:

• Faster deal shaping: Sales engineers can quickly check rebate rates while on a call with a customer or distributor, without needing to build a quote first.
• Product comparison: When choosing between alternative Cisco SKUs for a solution, you can compare their rebate rates side-by-side to understand which option earns a higher incentive.
• Validation and troubleshooting: If a quote's estimated CPI looks unexpected, CPI Search lets you verify what the system should be showing for that SKU, portfolio, and date, independent of the quote.
• Pre-quote planning: Before committing to a BoM structure, teams can research which SKUs carry the strongest rebate at the partner's current tier, informing which products to lead with.
• Self-service for non-admin users: Sales and operations staff don't need to ask the administrator to check the Eligible Offers workbook on their behalf. They can look it up themselves in seconds.

Who Can Access CPI Search

CPI Search is accessible to all PqW users, it is not restricted to administrators.

• PqW Administrators can view CPI Search and look up rebate rates, and can also configure or modify PVI scores, specializations, and other CPI settings from the CPI Config page.
• Standard Users and Read Only users can view CPI Search and look up rebate rates. They cannot make any changes to CPI configuration.

Key Terms

Prerequisites

Before using CPI Search:

• Eligible Offers file ingested: CPI Search queries the ingested Eligible Offers data. If no file has been uploaded and committed, the search will return no results ("Record(s) Not Found").
• Know the SKU (or beginning of the SKU): You need at least the first few characters of the Cisco Part Number to search. Full part numbers return the most precise results.
• Know the effective date you want to query: The system uses the Effective Date to match against the correct Incentive Period. Defaults to today's date.

Step-by-Step Process to Utilize CPI Search
Step 1: Navigate to the CPI Search Page

CPI Search is a top-level navigation item in PqW. It appears in the main navigation bar alongside Home, Accounts, Opportunities, BoMs, Quotes, and other standard tabs.

1. Log in to your org.
2. Click on the App Launcher- 9 dots Menu on top left.
3. In Search bar, type CPI Search.
   

The page opens with the Search Criteria panel at the top and the Search Results table below.

Using the Search Criteria

The Search Criteria panel contains six fields. All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Step 2: Set the SKU Operator and Enter the SKU

1. Set the SKU Operator to the matching logic you need:
   • Starts with — when you know the beginning of the part number (e.g., "C9300" to find all Catalyst 9300 SKUs).
   • Contains — when you know a fragment but not the prefix (e.g., "DNA" to find all SKUs containing "DNA" in any position).
   • Equals — when you have the exact, full part number and want a single precise result.
2. Enter the Cisco SKU value (the Part Number or partial Part Number).

Step 3: Apply the Remaining Search Filters

1. Select the Cisco Portfolio if you want to limit results to a specific product area. Leave as "All Portfolios" to search across all seven.
2. If you are looking up a Services item, set the Geography to the relevant region. Otherwise, leave it as “All.”
3. Confirm the Effective Date is set to the date you want to query against. For current rates, leave it as today. For historical lookups, change it to the date of interest.
4. Adjust the Limit if needed.

   

Step 4: Run the Search

Click Search. The results table populates below the Search Criteria panel.

Reading the Search Results

After clicking Search, the results table populates below the criteria panel. Each row represents one Eligible Offers record - one SKU (or one GSP entry for Services) with its associated rebate data.

Pagination
Results are paginated. The page size (number of rows per page) can be changed using the selector at the bottom-right of the results table (default: 20 rows per page). Use the navigation arrows to move between pages.

If No Results Are Found

The table displays "Record(s) Not Found" when:

• The SKU you searched for does not exist in the Eligible Offers data for the selected Effective Date and portfolio.
• The Eligible Offers file for the period matching the Effective Date has not been ingested.
• The SKU exists but in a different portfolio than the one you selected.

In such cases, you might try following steps to get a search result

• Change the SKU Operator to "Contains" for a broader match.
• Set Cisco Portfolio to "All Portfolios" to search across all worksheets.
• Verify the Effective Date falls within an Incentive Period for which data has been uploaded.
• Check with your CPI Data Upload Manager to confirm the latest Eligible Offers file has been ingested.

Common Use Cases

Understanding the Relationship Between CPI Search and the Quote Calculation

CPI Search and the CPI calculation on a quote use the same underlying Eligible Offers data, but they serve different purposes:

• CPI Search is a reference tool. It shows the raw rebate rates for both the Partner and Preferred Partner tiers based on the SKU, portfolio, and effective date.
• CPI Search does not apply your PVI. It displays both tier rates so you can reference or compare them.
• The quote calculation is PVI-aware. When CPI is estimated on a quote, PqW uses the quote's PVI to select the applicable rebate tier and calculate the estimated dollar amount based on the item's VAR cost.

In short: Use CPI Search to find and validate the rebate rate; use the quote's CPI calculation to see the estimated rebate amount for the quote.

Summary

CPI Search is a self-service reference tool accessible to all PqW users in the org. It lets you look up Cisco SKU rebate rates directly from the ingested Eligible Offers data, without building a quote or asking an administrator. Enter a full or partial Part Number, choose a portfolio and effective date, and the system returns the applicable rebate percentages for both Partner and Preferred Partner tiers, plus any specialization bonus (accelerator) rates. Use it for pre-quote planning, SKU comparison, troubleshooting unexpected estimates, or confirming historical rates from a past incentive period.

What's Next
Once you've confirmed the rebate rate on a SKU using CPI Search, you can proceed to build your quote with confidence, knowing what the estimated CPI will be before you even add the item. If the rate you see in CPI Search doesn't match what appears on an existing quote, check that the quote's CPI Effective Date falls within the same Incentive Period, and confirm that the quote item's Part Number and Manufacturer are correct. If the estimate on the quote still looks wrong, re-run Estimate CPI to recalculate with the current data.