CS Holdings has entered its ninth year as a Cisco Gold Partner, recently passing a re-certification audit conducted by Belgian NSF International Strategic Registrations with flying colours. This makes JSE-listed CS Holdings a leading black empowered Gold Partner in SA.
Describing the company`s feelings in terms of the re-certification, Gary Lailvaux, division director for CS Holdings` Managed Services division, says: "We value Cisco as one of the top brands we represent and it forms a vital part of our infrastructure network solution offerings.
"Our re-certification as Gold Partner shows that we are committed to delivering high-quality Cisco solutions, reflects our customers` satisfaction with the solutions built on Cisco technology and the continual investment CS Holdings has made in its long-term support of this technology."
In terms of Cisco`s Gold certification, a partner has to meet strict requirements, including the ability to offer a high level of technically skilled personnel, the ability to provide its customers with a high level of technical support, being an expert in particular technology sectors and true commitment in the area of customer satisfaction.
In terms of the first requirement, namely skills and technical support, CS Holdings meets all requirements with ease, including the correct number of Cisco Certified Internetworking Experts (CCIE) and exceeding requirement both in the Cisco Certified Networking Professionals (CCNP) and Cisco Certified Networking Associates (CCNA) categories.
From a technical support perspective, Cisco Gold partners need to show commitment to the brand and must be able to solve customer problems quickly, while selling solutions that are both proven and tested. In compliance to Cisco Gold status requirement, CS Holdings has a lab environment which is used to solve client issues through diagnostics. This lab is also vital in proof of concept testing, before a solution is sold to a customer and is used in the training of staff and in updating skills.
In terms of the specialisation skills required for Gold certification, a partner must choose a minimum of four technology areas to specialise in. CS Holdings has met this requirement of specialisation, namely: wireless (which includes both LAN and WAN technology), network management, routing and switching, and content networking.
The most important and daunting measure of a partner`s abilities is measured by the customer satisfaction survey conducted by Cisco each year.
Essentially, Cisco contacts a partner`s clients and assesses their feelings in three areas, namely their perception towards Cisco as a brand, their perception of Cisco`s customer service and lastly, their perception of the partner`s level of customer service. The first two areas are extremely important from Cisco`s perspective, since these will reveal whether the partner is a good ambassador for the Cisco brand.
Says Lailvaux: "The most recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by Cisco resulted in CS Holdings being presented with Cisco`s South African 'Outstanding Customer Satisfaction award` for 2003."
"This year, we plan to look at adding new specialisations to our arsenal and are committed to once again walking away with top accolades for customer satisfaction, which ties in extremely strongly with Cisco`s vision of delivering solutions to the South African business community," Lailvaux concludes.
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CS Holdings provides business and IT solutions that enable sustainable competitive advantage for clients through reduced cost, managed risk, improved efficiency and added effectiveness. This is done by means of integrated solutions that incorporate the complete value chain of strategy formulation, best practice business processes, appropriate information technology and optimised people effectiveness.
CS Holdings is a leading BEE company for the ICT sector, and have received the prestigious Empowerdex A rating in 2003.
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