Cisco Certifications Allow BT to Offer New Services in Latin America

SAO PAULO, Brazil. - BT has earned Cisco Gold Certification in Brazil and Cisco Silver Certification in Argentina and Mexico. Additionally, a series of BT’s global managed services have qualified for Cisco Powered status, the highest designation within the Cisco Managed Services Channel Program. BT has also earned the status of Cisco Certified TelePresence Connection Provider, becoming the first network service provider in Latin America to receive this designation.

As a result, the certifications and designations will enable BT to deliver a new range of services to its Latin American clients. By incorporating Cisco’s innovative suite of IT and telecom services BT reinforces its commitment to manage its clients’ mission critical operations.

The new certifications in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are a result of a global certification initiative started by BT in 2006. In addition to these countries, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Colombia are scheduled for the second phase of the Cisco certification initiative for BT Latin America.

Joao Macias, vice president of BT Latin America, said: “Our customers trust and value BT as a technology partner that is able to provide solutions which add real benefits to their business. These certifications pay tribute to our investment to offer services, based on world class technology, to our customers.”

Cisco’s senior business manager for Latin America channels, Juan Pablo Estevez, added: “These Cisco certifications are proof of BT’s advanced technical skills and customer services capabilities. We have an excellent and ongoing collaboration with BT and value them highly within the Cisco partner community.”

Valdir de Souza, BT´s director of alliances and partnerships for Latin America said: “Gaining these designations and certifications represents an important step for the breadth and quality of BT services in the entire Latin American region. They demonstrate the company’s position as a global leader in managed IT network services and enable our local team to differentiate itself by providing innovative services to the entire Latin American market.”

In particular, BT has achieved and can offer the following designations and services respectively:

* Cisco TelePresence Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) designation in Latin America, enabling BT to sell, install and manage the Cisco TelePresence solution;

* Under the Cisco Managed Services Channel Program BT now offers Cisco Powered Managed Connectivity, Cisco Powered Managed Security and Cisco Powered Managed Unified Communications;

* BT Brazil became a Cisco Gold Certified Partner;

* BT Mexico became a Cisco Silver Certified Partner;

* BT Argentina became as a Cisco Silver Certified Partner (BT Argentina’s operations include the South Cone and extend to Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia);

* BT also earned a broad range of Cisco Specializations across a variety of technologies, including unified communications, security, wireless and routing & switching;

* The creation of an advanced lab called the BT Technology Briefing Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil for client presentations, training and Proof of Concepts;

* The introduction of state-of-the-art solutions for the Latin American market that are also being implemented and used in European and North American markets. These solutions include: Converged LAN (Managed LAN & Managed IPT); Unified Communications and Collaboration Managed Services; Managed Security Services (Firewall); Managed Wireless, and BT Unified Communications Video (TelePresence).

About Cisco certifications and designations

The Cisco Resale Channel Program provides partners with the training required to build sales, technical and Cisco Lifecycle Services skills, and then validates their skills through a third-party audit. Cisco channel partner certifications - Select, Premier, Silver and Gold - represent an increasing breadth of skills across key technologies and a partner’s ability to deliver integrated networking solutions. Cisco channel partner specializations - SMB, Express, Advanced and Master - reflect an increasing depth of sales, technical and service expertise in particular technologies.

The Cisco Managed Services Channel Program (MSCP) rewards managed-services providers based upon the value their managed services bring to the market. The program defines industry-standard best practices and validates a provider’s managed service against those standards. It also offers escalating rewards tied to the value delivered.