"Organizations are under significant pressure to reduce costs while improving the delivery of technology as a service to their business," said Martin Steinhobel, vice president of national professional services at ePlus. "By leveraging leading IT processes, such as IT Infrastructure Library(R) ("ITIL(R)"), and the Cisco-Powered managed services framework, ePlus can package its offering in a utility computing model that allows organizations to off-load an enormous burden of day-to-day infrastructure management. ePlus' managed services solutions provide focused IT services at a predictable cost that help our customers optimize operations, manage risk, and deliver value from their technology investments."

The Cisco Master Managed Services Certification recognizes a solution provider's investment in the managed service ITIL processes, practices, and tools necessary to provide high-quality managed services. As a Cisco Master Managed Services certified partner, ePlus has demonstrated the ability to deliver sophisticated solutions, met stringent requirements that reflect a depth of capabilities, and undergone an independent audit by an objective third-party auditor. ePlus was also required to offer at least two managed services using the resources and procedures necessary to deploy, manage, and support Cisco solutions.

"ePlus' investment in the Cisco Master Managed Services certification ranks it among an elite group of channel partners with the resources to deploy, manage, and support services for multiple technologies," said Edison Peres, senior vice president of the worldwide channels go-to-market group at Cisco.

In addition, ePlus has achieved Cisco Powered managed service designations in Cisco Powered Managed Security and Cisco Powered Managed Unified Communications. Cisco Powered managed service designations acknowledge that a managed service provider has invested in industry-leading Cisco architectures and that its services have met the highest Cisco user-experience standards.

ePlus holds Cisco Master Specializations in Security and Unified Communications as well as Cisco Advanced Specializations in Routing and Switching, Data Center Storage Networking, Data Center Networking Infrastructure, and Wireless LAN.