Johannesburg, 12 Apr 2006
Tarsus Technologies has announced the successful conclusion of a distribution agreement with Cisco Systems, a move that will see the small and medium-sized (SMB) range of Cisco products and services becoming available to Tarsus`s reseller channel.
"Tarsus is thrilled to include Cisco into our stable of hardware products," says Traci Maynard, business unit manager at Tarsus Technologies.
"Cisco is not only synonymous with quality but is also well-known as one of the most innovative and forward thinking companies in the IT market today. We are therefore confident that the addition of Cisco`s portfolio to our product mix will be well met with excitement by both our current and quickly growing new database of IT resellers," Maynard adds.
In terms of initial focus, Maynard believes the SMB space is massively untapped in the local market. "As a starting point, we will therefore be focusing on Cisco`s SMB-sized business range. This ties in strongly with Tarsus`s new focus on the SMB sector," she explains.
In showing its commitment to the Cisco brand, Maynard says from a skills and support perspective, Tarsus will also invest in training, thus ensuring easily accessible technical expertise for its channel. "Furthermore, we are affording resellers strong technical assistance through our configuration centre and front line technical support call centre," she says.
"As far as offering the necessary skills to the channel, Tarsus will have Cisco trained graduates based at its head office in Johannesburg to assist with specification requirements as well as hands-on advice," says Maynard.
"We are serious about bringing value and service excellence to the Cisco channel, using the 20-odd years` experience we have under the belt in the IT distribution game," confirms Maynard.
"And using the innovative channel appreciation and incentive programme we have in place through our PartneRewards programme, we believe we can provide a compelling reason for our resellers to champion the Cisco brand in the local market.
"Ultimately, Cisco`s solutions make business sense and that`s a critical part of the value proposition our resellers are driving to market. With all of these benefits, there`s no reason why our relationship with Cisco shouldn`t yield valuable and truly positive results," she concludes.
Prabashni Pillay, Regional Channel Manager for Cisco Systems South Africa, says: "We have seen an impressive uptake of Cisco`s SMB product portfolio. This highlights the trend that, much like larger enterprises have relied on the Intelligent Information Network as the enabler of change, SMBs are now looking to technology to unlock competitive advantage. Tarsus has developed relationships with an extensive group of SMB-focused resellers and, matched with their reputation for excellence in distribution management, we believe that they will drive new opportunities for Cisco by introducing their resellers to new technology."
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