Cisco® Certification®

Whether you provide services, solutions, or a combination of both, Cisco is committed to your success. That’s why both resellers and non-resellers who provide professional services related to Cisco products are eligible to become Cisco Registered Partners through the Boston University Corporate Education Center’s (BUCEC) Cisco certification program.

Companies choose to attain Cisco certification status for a number of reasons, but primarily because it can help them create a sustainable business model in a fast-changing environment where customers require focused technical expertise, value-added services and higher levels of satisfaction.

Specialization integration
In order to create a points-based structure of the overall program requirements, the Cisco certification Program integrates a variety of elements, including the technology focus of each Cisco Partner Specialization, flexible individual career certification requirements, customer satisfaction targets, and pre- and post-sales support capabilities.

As part of the program requirement, the integration of specializations requires that each partner specialize in technology areas. The partners themselves may choose the technology area for specialization, but they first must earn a minimum number of specialization points to become certified.

Cisco certification levels
There are three Cisco certification levels that partners can achieve: Gold Certification, Silver Certification, and Premier Certification. Before Silver or Gold Certification or Re-certification is awarded, an independent firm conducts an on-site audit to ensure that your company has met all of the Silver or Gold Certification Program requirements. Cisco has introduced more discipline into the Cisco certification Program recently by requiring that partners renew their certification annually.

Cisco certification benefits
As the most respected program of its kind in the industry, the Cisco certification Program offers its partners a number of valuable benefits, including:

• Credibility—Given that Cisco has one of the strongest brand names in the world, Cisco certification partners instantly achieve enormous credibility. As a result, their end-customers feel more comfortable and secure purchasing from them.
• Quality Standards—Cisco is the only company that hires an objective third party to conduct audits of its Silver and Gold partners. These annual audits ensure that only the highest quality partners are part of the program and that they meet uniform standards set for Cisco certification.
• Best Practices—Cisco certification partners have access to the same tools that Cisco uses to drive its own customer satisfaction, including regular customer satisfaction surveys and other Cisco Best Practices.
• Profitability—The Cisco certification Program provides a level playing field so that value-add partners are not at a disadvantage to pure hardware resellers.
• Partner Locator—This resourceful Web site allows end-customers to search globally for partners who are qualified for specific sales situations. Information regarding partner qualifications, certifications and specializations is available.
• Technology Learning—To stay at the forefront of their respective markets, Cisco certification partners have access to the very latest networking technologies through a variety of learning tools.