Doha, Qatar – 27 February 2011 – Consolidated Gulf Co. (CGC) announced today it has achieved Silver Certification from Cisco®. To earn Silver Certification, CGC had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction set forth by Cisco.

Anil Mahajan, COO, CGC, expressed happiness over the upgraded partner status. He said, “This achievement further strengthens our resolve to provide qualified and quality technological solutions to our valued clients in Qatar. The silver certification brings CGC to an elite group of solution providers with proven, in-depth technology skills and customer success in selling, deploying, and providing services for Cisco solutions. It reinforces CGC’s role as a trusted technology advisor, helping customers accelerate productivity and growth, gain and keep a competitive advantage besides being exposed to latest technology.

“Cisco is committed to providing tools, training and programs to help drive CGC’s growth, differentiation and profitability,” said Mazen Raad, Regional Channel Manager at Cisco Qatar. “With specializations in two main technology domains - Express Unified Communications and Advance Wireless LAN, CGC has made an investment in delivering the integrated and customized technology solutions today’s customers demand.”

As a Cisco Silver Certified Partner, CGC has met requirements for attaining a broad range of expertise. To achieve Cisco Silver Certification, CGC was required to achieve either two from the following four Cisco advanced specializations: Unified Communications, Routing and Switching, Security, and Wireless LAN, or the Cisco Express Unified Communications Specialization and one of the following advanced specializations: Routing and Switching, Security, and Wireless LAN. In addition, CGC was required to integrate Cisco Lifecycle Services into their offerings and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction based on independently audited customer satisfaction surveys.

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 resale partner certifications - Gold, Silver, Premier and Select -represent an increasing breadth of skills across key technologies and a partner’s ability to deliver integrated networking solutions. Cisco resale partner specializations - Master, Advanced and Express - reflect an increasing depth of sales, technical and service expertise in particular technologies.

Mohammed Tamimi, Channel Account Manager, Cisco, and CGC’s Dileep Kumar, AGM,
Aditya Yadav, Presales Manager, Rajesh Kumar, Deputy Presales Manager and Saurav Tripathy, Assistant Network Solution Manager, were also present during the ceremony held at CGC corporate office in Doha.