IT group teams up with giant Cisco

ITogether takes pride in the fact that it “does not do Dalek” and talks to customers in plain English.

The £2m turnover company, which has 12 staff, has achieved premier certification from Cisco. Simon Richardson, the co-founder and managing partner of Leeds-based ITogether, said: “It’s a great achievement to be awarded partner status by the world’s largest network communications company, and is testament to our fantastic team who have worked so hard to get here.

“As a channel partner we are in a position to be able to offer our clients the best of everything, enabling us to provide even better value in our pricing with our products and services.

“This allows us to keep costs down for our customers. Our next goal is to achieve silver certified partner status which will help drive even greater business benefits.”

Surinder Brar, senior director of worldwide channels at Cisco, said: “Cisco is committed to providing tools, training and programmes to help drive partner growth, differentiation and profitability. With specialisations in network security and managed services, ITogether has made an investment in delivering the integrated and customised technology services today’s customers demand.”

To achieve Cisco premier certification, ITogether had to pass the Cisco Express Foundation specialisation test, which includes an examination of its technical skills and customer service.

According to its website, Itogether, aims to make IT easier, smarter and more secure.

Cisco has faced challenging times in recent months.

In May, Cisco Systems revealed that it expected to cut thousands of jobs to meet chief executive John Chambers’ goal of cutting costs by $1bn.

Cisco’s previous record layoffs was set in fiscal 2002, when the company shed some 2,000 jobs,

Earlier this year, Mr Chambers, who has led Cisco for 16 of its 26-year history, said he would pull out of some non-strategic areas where Cisco is not the number one or number two player.

In April, Mr Chambers said Cisco would dump its Flip video camera business, cut 550 jobs and take a charge of $300m related to the move.