Vanguard Becomes Cisco CPN Designated Partner

Vanguard achieved the designation by combining its network management, consulting and integration services, called Careguard, with Cisco's 3000 series VPN concentrators.

"The reason Cisco is opening [the CPN designation to different types of companies is because they recognize that VPNs are not product sales," said Laura Whitcher, director of service marketing at Vanguard, based here. "There is so much more involved, from provisioning circuits and finding multiple carriers for the customers to help desk."

As a CPN solution provider, Vanguard also offers help-desk services in which Vanguard staff--not the customer's own IT people--resolve end-user issues.

Vanguard is also signing up and training Cisco Gold partners to sell its Careguard services. The services cover professional consulting for network evaluations; network design, including network audits and transition planning; network integration; and implementation, monitoring and management of the network.

"We are working to broaden partners' portfolios beyond hardware and software sales," Whitcher said.