This year, there’s no need to struggle in a loveless Cisco partner relationship – make it your resolution to do better for yourself and your business. Read on to diagnose if you too are trapped in a toxic Cisco provider relationship.

Reasons why you shouldn’t hold on to a bad Cisco partner relationship

#1 Toxic relationships drain the enthusiasm

The idea of going home to something that’s not working is just depressing. That’s how it feels to go into an office where your tech partner isn’t doing what it should and you can’t get the right support to sort things out. What’s worse is if you’re not able to easily troubleshoot the problem with a local team who works when you do. It’s not long before you’re thinking of excuses to avoid these exhausting interactions altogether. And problems like these are not likely to help with your return to the office initiatives either…

#2 Poor pairings lead to dissatisfaction

Benefit mismatch is a sign of bad things to come. When was the last time your Cisco partner sat down and looked at your goals, aspirations, and needs? Did they have solutions or just try to sell you a standard fit-out? When you’re not just right for each other, your partner is trying to shoehorn you into a one size fits all relationship and everything is hard work; this frustration can lead to employee burnout and turnover. And you probably already know that bad tech is a huge cause of quiet and outright quitting. So, why try to fit this square peg into a round hole any longer? Look elsewhere.

#3 Jealous of other partnerships?

Have you got a wandering eye? Seeing other organisations benefiting from Cisco discounts and working with one of the only six Cisco Master collaborators in the UK like us? Oof, that can be a sign of rocky days ahead. If you’re not getting what you think you should out of your partner relationship, maybe it’s time to end things on good terms before it all goes south. You deserve a partner that will treat you right and give you the whole world of benefits that only a Cisco Master Collaborator can.

#4 Not talking like you used to?

Remember those early days when every late-night phone call was answered quickly and the voice on the other end of the line was enthusiastic and happy to hear from you? Maybe they even rang you out of the blue to check what sort of day you were having? But now, you’re not getting answers at all or they’re being delivered in a untimely fashion. Don’t you deserve better? It’s time to sense-check your communication to make sure it is living up to your expectations. From rapid response time to passionate and helpful replies; there are more elements to high-quality SLAs than just the base agreement. How it’s delivered matters too.

#5 Compounding problems

If your Cisco partner is repeatedly failing to set clear goals or meet their SLAs and your shared objectives keep going wrong, it’s time to look elsewhere. But it’s also concerning if they show no interest in your aspirations. Your provider should actively seek out information on your goals: primary, secondary, and otherwise, your challenges and pain points and whether any projects are imminent on the horizon that may impact your systems.” Without this information, they’re accidentally setting up a domino chain of cascading issues created from simple ignorance of your needs which will come back to haunt you both.

#6 Not feeling like a priority

Remember the honeymoon phase of a relationship? The times your partner would seemingly drop everything to help you out and every whim was enthusiastically considered? Why does it have to come to an end? If you’re waiting forever for quotes, their default response to your ideas is “no” or kit takes forever to be delivered, this is really telling and you shouldn’t have to put up with that – it’s a form of gaslighting. When you’re no longer the priority and more of a mundane task to be ticked off and looked over, that doesn’t say valued partnership does it? It’s unlikely you’ll get all your needs met with a partner who is only interested in doing the bare minimum to keep the lights on.

#7 Feeling trapped

Are you locked in? Trapped by contracts and red tape? Do you feel like you’re missing out on other, better fits or upgrades? It might be time to do the hard work of untangling yourself from this legacy relationship that is holding you back. If they’re smug that you won’t go anywhere or they’re not looking after themselves anymore, you should find a partner who is committed to being their best selves at all times – just like you are. Don’t let a bit of paperwork stop you from finding a better fit.

#8 No check-ins or check-ups

If you used to make your relationship a priority with weekly or monthly sense-checks and now that has all gone by the wayside, it could be a sign that they no longer value you. You deserve a partner that benchmarks how they’re doing with a regular satisfaction score and then actively acts on the pain points they identify to keep improving; tailoring their service to your needs. According to Cisco there is no one-size-fits-all solution anymore. So, the role of a provider is becoming more important. As a result, providers of the future will be focused on business outcomes, with flexible service delivery, through a combination of methods and capabilities.

#9 Not helping you out

Feeling like you’re doing more than your fair share? Wishing your Cisco partner would be more proactive? By engaging with an MSP that manages all the proactive issues, handles all the day to business as usual tasks, manages critical systems, whilst minimising downtime, allows your in-house team to focus on delivering a strategy designed to drive your business forward. Isn’t that the kind of real partnership you want… one where they are just as committed to your dreams as you are?

Ready for a cheeky speed date with a new Cisco partner?

Test the waters and find your true Cisco soulmate. If you’re secure and in the right relationship already then no harm can come from just talking, right?

Chat about how the right Cisco partner will:

Offer proactive, personal support

We’re obsessed with your business and it shows. When we assign a team to work on your account, they’ll get to know the ins and outs of who and what you are, where you’re going and how we can help you get there. Then, you’ll never be treated like a number – we’ll keep track of all those important dates in your calendar just like a treasured anniversary. This means expert support alongside every business-critical project to further improve your ROI.

Have an understanding and concern for your business

While we could never do what you can, we don’t have to care any less. We’ll look after your Cisco systems and their interactions within your business like it’s our business. That means helpful support and forward-thinking solutions that are focused on making your dreams into reality. Don’t believe us? We’re backed up by a 98.8% Simplesat satisfaction score. We’re confident enough in our service promise to actively seek out feedback and act on it.

Work around what you have

Struggling to let go of the past? That’s okay – just like couple’s therapy, we’ll look to work through the issues to get the best out of what you’ve got – even if that’s end-of-life equipment or legacy systems. Our UK-based Cisco-trained engineers have been around the block and know a thing or two about navigating interdependencies and existing workarounds. We can help you save money by using what’s in place for as long as possible. But, we’ll also keep our eyes open for critical updates that will help you compete in the future.

Bring in the big guns

Part of being a supportive partner is knowing when you need to get serious about a problem in your relationship. That’s why we’re also backed by direct escalation to Cisco. As a Cisco Master Collaborator with Master Security Specialization, we’re not threatened by getting more professionals in to make our relationships stronger. And you’ll benefit from that special link we have directly with Cisco themselves that a handful of other businesses in the UK have.

Put in the work to keep you going strong

Not only do we have some of the fastest response times of any Cisco Gold Provider and proactive critical device monitoring to always keep our focus on your needs; but we’re committed to doing whatever it takes to keep our partnership going strong. So, if you do experience an outage, we’ll get you back up and running in hours, not days. We won’t abandon you or leave you adrift; not for a second. And that’s evidenced by the amazing feedback we’ve gotten from other relationships. We’re no one’s ‘crazy’ ex.

And there are many more benefits of choosing us. Don’t linger in your loveless Cisco partner relationship any longer. Talk to our helpful team about your needs today.