Cisco and IBM mutual customers will be able to access a single helpdesk for the vendors' products under plans for combined support services.
IBM's managed maintenance solution for Cisco products will operate in 46 new countries, including Australia, according to a statement released yesterday. The service will see IBM technical centres support all Cisco networking products and be responsible for resolving customer issues. IBM technical support staff will be trained by Cisco.
"Providing a collaborative maintenance service offering means our mutual customers will no longer need to choose between Cisco networking skills or IBM multivendor systems integrator capabilities," said Karl Meulema, vice president, Cisco services marketing and channels, in the statement.
The service has been available in the US for the last three years. Details about the decision to open up the service beyond the US were not disclosed.
Full report to follow.
