Channel support services firm Comms-care has revealed it went “through the pain barrier” to achieve Cisco Silver Partner status, but is confident of making the step up to Gold this year.

The company was awarded Cisco Collaborative Partner Services status last month and has now successfully completed the audit process for Silver accreditation. Comms-care had to provide evidence that it had the requisite number of trained engineers and a demonstration facility.

It also had to prove it had the correct procedures in place with regards to security policies, quality assurance, incident management and staff training.

Richard Eglon, Comms-care’s marketing manager, told CRN: “Gold partner requirements have been met along the way and it is now a case of fine tuning. I am confident we have the necessary infrastructure to achieve Gold status in weeks.”

Eglon indicated his company had invested time and resources in training its engineers who had to balance studying and sitting exams alongside performing their day-to-day duties. “It is a volatile time for resellers and it is difficult to find top-quality engineers,” he said.

“If people need to support complex voice and data applications, they need partners like Comms-care and Gold or Silver status can give them even more confidence.”

Alan Edwards, managing director of reseller Orange Information Systems, said: “We have been working with Comms-care for three years and it has been fantastic.”