Cisco UK boss labels grey crackdown a high priority

Phil Smith says punishing channel rulebreakers is necessary to ensure excellent service to customers and loyal partners

Cisco's UK boss says cracking down on grey and counterfeit kit in the channel is "high on his radar" as the vendor seeks to protect customers and loyal partners.

Although the exact nature of the fall-out has not been discussed publicly by either party, Cisco demonstrated its tough stance on partners it believes haven't played by the rules when it stripped Phoenix IT Group of Gold partner status last Autumn.

Cisco UK chief executive Phil Smith (pictured) said policing its channel was vital in Cisco's efforts to ensure "excellent service" for its customers.

"It's something we've always been fairly robust about, but there are occasionally more visible [cases] periodically," he told CRN.

"The truth is, we have a great solution for our customers and if we have things that are compromising that solution - whether it's counterfeit, or if it's not serviced properly, or if it's misrepresented to the customer - that's a big problem for us. So it's high on my radar.

"The one thing I want is for customers to have excellent service, and if we don't focus on always giving them that and they are not buying and receiving the stuff they thought they were, it's a problem. I don't know if it's getting any worse, but it's something we need to be continually looking at. It's a bit like hacking: you see spurts of a particular type of something happening and then you have to close down on that and then maybe it goes back to a more stable environment."

Smith said resellers who do play by the rules will also lose out if Cisco's enforcement efforts slackened.

"We've got very loyal channels that obey all the rules," he said. "It's not fair for me to be compromising them. Why would I not come down on someone who's making our channels less successful?"