by Alex Scroxton

21 November 2008

In a move aimed at appeasing the concerns of resellers struggling to make ends meet on low-margin networking gear, Cisco is understood to be ramping up its official remarketing channel.

There has been little publicity surrounding the Cisco Authorised Refurbished Equipment (CARE) Programme in the past, but according to Cisco distributor Comstor end-users are becoming more open to the idea of taking boxed ex-distribution stock or refurbished second-hand kit as they seek to trim their costs during the recession.

According to Comstor European vice president and managing director, Jon Pritchard said that while there were plenty of legitimate refurbished dealers there had been some “horrendous cases” of counterfeit or stolen goods in unofficial channels and believed it was important for Cisco to build a “credible alternative”.

Speaking exclusively to MicroScope, Pritchard said: “We’ve been working with Cisco on refurbished goods and we’re seeing a reasonable take-up.”

David Galton-Fenzi, group sales director at Zycko, which runs some remarketed Cisco business through its Hardware.com wing, agreed that refurbished kit was set to become even more important in the recession.

“People are very focused on looking at maintaining their network strategy without paying exorbitant prices at the minute,” he said.

He said that Cisco kit historically held its value well, so there was still a certain amount of margin to be made, and welcomed the involvement of vendors in the space.

Tin Direct managing director Rod Haddrell also supported the involvement of the vendor community in the refurbished market. He said that he was working closely with more than one manufacturer in this space, although he declined to name names.

“They are often best placed to provide fantastic offers on refurbished kit, but in terms of operation and delivery, we can manage it more effectively for them,” he said.

Cisco was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

MicroScope will be featuring an in-depth interview with Comstor’s Jon Pritchard in December.