Cisco First Choice For VoIP

Partners gave the vendor a decisive victory in the 2007 VARBusiness Annual Report Card survey, leaving Cisco unbeaten in this product category since it was first included three years ago.

The vendor earned top marks across product innovation, support and partnership, winning all three subcategories. Indeed, Cisco placed first in every criterion but one, garnering an overall score of 72 points.

Its closest rival, D-Link, placed 6 points behind with a score of 66, just beating out Cisco's own Linksys division, which placed third at 65 points.

Rounding out the category were Alcatel-Lucent in fourth with a score of 61 points, Avaya in fifth at 58 points and 3Com in sixth with 53 points.

Cisco was strong in all subcategories, but its standout performance came in support, where it scored 12 points above average and earned first-place finishes for all of the technical, sales and marketing support criteria.

"Their [technical] support continues to get even better. When it comes to troubleshooting, we've had good success getting to people," said Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, a Cisco partner in St. Louis.

Partners also lauded Cisco for putting marketing support behind them.

"From a marketing standpoint, they create customer demand that's second to none," said Bryan Tate, founder, chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based solution provider Digitel.

Cisco's strong support offering is one element of its partner program that sets it apart from its peers, said Richard McLeod, director of unified communications for worldwide channels at Cisco, San Jose, Calif.

"We have award-winning support that was built for partners and customers over seven years, and that doesn't come easy," McLeod said.

Work Cisco has done on its product portfolio is also paying off big time for the channel, solution providers said.

"They have stabilized their product significantly over the last three to four years, so that's a significant piece," Kavanaugh said.

Cisco is now at the top of its game when it comes to VoIP technology, solution providers said.

"They always make sure they have the best technology for us. They envision the channel as the prime delivery mechanism for their technology and they make sure they keep their products on the forefront of VoIP technology for their customers," said Mark Hilz, president and COO of INX, a Houston-based solution provider.

VARs also credit the strength of their partnerships with Cisco as a primary enabler of their success.

"There's really no one better than channel partners to deliver technology to the market, and they were really the first to understand that and embrace it," Hilz said. "If they don't get it right the first time, they keep working it until they do."

Second-place D-Link and third-place Linksys were both new to the Voice Networking Hardware category this year and had strong showings.

VARs put D-Link's solution provider program on par with Cisco's, as the two vendors tied for first place in that criterion.