Driving added value through services

Business Connexion has been awarded the Cisco Services Partner of the Year: EMEAR South Africa (Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia). BCX became a Cisco Gold Partner in 1998 and it is the first South African company to win this award. BCX was also recognised at the Cisco One Africa Partner Summit, where it received two more awards: African Security Partner of the Year and African Services Partner of the Year.

Otto Koetje, Manager for Cisco Network Services at Business Connexion, says: "While we have adhered very strongly to the systems and processes that come along with maintaining Cisco Gold Partner status, we have also packaged the products with our own value-added services to make it a complete solution. This has resulted in us growing our install base exponentially in just four years."

The African Services Partner of the Year is testimony to the high-level standards of services that Business Connexion brings to its clients. Koetje adds it is no longer about the product, but rather the entire solution, which has to include world-class services. "Different industries require different levels of service, and here we work closely with our clients to understand their business and what the impact of network downtime could be."

The African Security Partner of the Year was awarded as a result of Business Connexion meeting all the criteria to become Advanced Internet of Things - Connected Safety and Security specialised in South Africa. "This accreditation proves that we have the ability to provide sophisticated, value-added Internet of things solutions through our in-depth sales capabilities, technology skills and service offerings. There are only an elite group of partners who qualify for this certification and the benefits that come along with it are tremendous. These include greater opportunities for competitive differentiation, branding and the opportunity to qualify for Select or Premier Certification from Cisco."

He goes on to add it's all about ensuring the clients' operations are running more efficiently, thus more effectively. "Our solution provides the client with far greater visibility of their network and related hardware, allowing them to make informed decisions about their network. In addition, it helps them plan ahead when changes are required, expansion of the network is required or devices need to be replaced."

Koetje says these awards are testimony to the level of skills that BCX has built over the years. "Global vendors have to ensure they have a consistent standard of skills supporting their products, regardless of territory. We continue to raise the bar in our service levels, providing value to both our clients and our partners," he concludes.