The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based distributor has sold Cisco products in the United States for 11 years, following its acquisition of Comstor, and also sells Cisco throughout Europe. It currently sells Nortel Networks in Canada.

"It's a significant opportunity for us. Cisco wants global players and specialty players to [distribute] their products. They feel we're a hybrid," said Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy, vice president of Westcon Canada, SMB North America.

Other Cisco distributors are Ingram Micro, Tech Data and D&H Distributing, which was authorized last year to carry the vendor's SMB product line.

Cisco is counting on Westcon to recruit new solution providers to the vendor, Smurthwaite-Murphy said.

"Cisco is not as well known in the SMB space, but they've brought the product line down market and into VoIP. Through our programs, we can help partners that have not made a big investment," she said. "We launched to our own customer base in early January. We've got a new team with great experience. We've already shipped our first orders. It's happened very quickly and with the support from Comstor in the U.S., we're very excited," she said.

The distributor will sell the products under the Westcon Group name, not Comstor, in Canada, and has replicated its OneDefense and OneVoice programs with Cisco in Canada, with its OneWave and OneNetwork programs set to launch shortly.