Cisco itself isn’t really an MSP, but its networking and other gears power many of the world’s largest managed providers. Now the networking giant is working with Telecom Egypt (TE) to help offer better services. The deal is all based on a memorandum of understanding between the two entities and should help the Egyptian provider serve enterprise customers with efficient and flexible managed services.
“The Egyptian market is an exciting one, growing rapidly and with great prospects for future growth. Converged communication has become one of the basics of life, and as TE moves towards becoming a total telecom provider, we strive to provide our customers with technological solutions at competitive prices,” said Mohammed Elnawawy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Egypt.
Cisco drives these types of partnerships through its Cloud and Managed Services Program, which revolves around building certified Cisco Powered services. “Tiered partner levels make it easy to enter the program and increase levels of expertise and benefits, based on business needs and customer demands. The Cisco Powered Services designation is built upon a foundation of superior service, security, and 24-hour support. Partners can take advantage of financial rewards, branding, and go-to-market support from Cisco,” the company explained.
Cisco isn’t alone. IBM has a division in Egypt aimed exclusively at MSPs.
The Egyptian Market
Unlike the independently owned telcos in the U.S., Telecom Egypt is 80 percent government owned. In fact the company began way back in 1854 as a telegraph concern. “We have seen significant, steady growth in the services and solutions offered by our company, making it the first choice in the enterprise market and the largest provider of Internet services. TE understands its customers’ needs and as a result of this provides them with the latest, highest standards of security services,” said Tamer Gadallah, Head of Enterprise Business Unit of Telecom Egypt.
Cisco plans an active role in the partnership. “These new services offered to Cisco will save a lot of time, effort and cost for our customers. Cisco Services always rely on the use of cutting-edge technologies, efficiency and professionalism to provide our customers with the flexibility needed for their work,” LoaiiZoheir, Sales Manager of Cisco.
Cisco’s Not Just Networking
While known for routers and switches, Cisco is also helping MSPs provide backup, and a partnership with Asigra is one way it does so. Asigra Cloud Backup Connector Appliance uses both Cisco’s UCS E-Series server blade and its ISR G2 router.
“The Cloud Backup Connector appliance ensures that branch-office users receive LAN-like performance from their cloud backup application and that data is highly available and handled in a secure manner,” Asigra said.
Asigra has a bevy of MSP partners, and this management is what pleases customer L.K. Bennett. “Our switch to the Cloud Backup Connector Appliance helped the company to achieve several business benefits,” said David Van Eck, Head of IT at the company. “Through a centralized online monitoring portal made available by our service provider, Backup Technology, Ltd., we receive guaranteed backup and recovery for all of our data systems as a professional and fully managed service. The backup forms the basis for our enterprise-wide data recovery solution, which is essential to L.K. Bennett.”
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
