Local Cisco distributor Comstor is helping customers more effectively address the grey import problem, without them breaking the bank through the support of the Cisco Certified Refurbishment Equipment (CCRE) programme.
While the company acknowledges that not all grey products available in Africa are fake, they do come at a cost, which includes the lack of warranty, the need to purchase separate licences (at immense cost) and the absence of a support network to tap into.
"The CCRE programme is the perfect option for customers looking to build onto an existing network, but don't require the latest technologies," states Donovan Couve, business development manager, Cisco at Comstor. "The CCRE programme is specifically designed to help partners drive new business opportunities and enable customers who are on a limited budget, to still make use of official Cisco products that are supported by an official distribution channel which in this case is Comstor."
With the CCRE programme, Comstor partners can assure their customers that there is no compromise on the quality of the product, which is now also supported by a Cisco certified channel, enabling the end-user to tap into the support and services from vendor, reseller and distributor that they have grown accustomed to.
The programme has become so popular that there are now more than 2 800 certified end-of-life and remanufactured and refurbished Cisco devices in the catalogue, all of which come at a price tag that is affordable to the customer. However, due to the popularity of the programme stocks are limited, will not be held (reserved) and are sold on a first come, first served basis. The products are also sold exclusively through Cisco's distribution partners.
Another key benefit of the Comstor CCRE offering is that, through its parent company Westcon Group's services division, the company is able to offer SMARTnet service contracts for all products acquired through the programme.
"All of the products on the CCRE list have undergone a rigorous refurbishment process, have been upgraded, tested and inspected to ensure that they meet the most stringent Cisco quality controls," adds Couve. "The products ship with an official software licence and they cost between 25% and 75% of the original list price, pricing so competitive you are assured of not losing business.
"I do believe that the CCRE option allows our partners the ability to better service customers in the SME space who want to be Cisco certified, but are just not in the position to buy only new. In short, if financial constraints are a concern for your customer, they want to avoid grey products and stick to a trusted brand, with all the benefits of new, while you want to source and secure this through a trusted distributor, then CCRE is the obvious choice for you," ends Couve.
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