Life is full of risks. So why add to them by purchasing your Cisco equipment from someone who may not be able to guarantee the quality of their products or even supply you with a valid warranty?

While it might be tempting to buy your network technology from those offering very low prices, if you‘re putting the very foundations of your business at risk with substandard or counterfeit products, it‘s simply not worth it. The potential costs to your business from unsupported counterfeit and grey market equipment may far outweigh the initial savings.

Products sourced from outside the authorised Cisco Channels may not be guaranteed by Cisco. These products can pass through many hands before you get them. As a result Cisco cannot offer any assurance as to how these products have been handled, stored or shipped. Such shipments may include second hand, third party or even counterfeit products.

Not only could these products function poorly and jeopardise your network, they may also have invalid warranty and software licences, no support entitlement or falsified configurations.

Counterfeit and substandard, unauthorised market products could cost you far more over time as you may lose financially from:

• reduced productivity and revenue due to network downtime
• loss of data or corporate assets due to security vulnerabilities
• inability to deliver on business commitments
• damage to your reputation
• loss of customer confidence
• the cost of replacement products and support.