NTT DATA and Cisco: an innovative, future-proof partnership

NTT DATA has recently been awarded a Cisco Powered Services specialization in Webex Contact Center, making us one of only four Cisco global partners with 11 or more Cisco Powered Services specializations and bolstering our status as an experienced, knowledgeable and reliable managed service provider (MSP).

This specialization – which enables us to sell Cisco Webex Contact Center as part of our Customer Experience Managed Services to mid-market clients as a trusted partner, including implementation and support – validates our investment in platform-based services and is just the latest feather in our cap when it comes to Cisco.

For more than 30 years, organizations around the world have been turning to NTT DATA and Cisco for innovative services and solutions. From an agreement that started with a handshake in South Africa, our partnership now stretches across the globe, involving over 14,000 technical experts in more than 50 countries to service 11,000 clients – including 65% of the Fortune 500.

Service excellence powered by Cisco

NTT DATA is a trusted global advisor that enables substantial business outcomes for our clients. We offer a suite of 11 Cisco Powered Services in networking, data centers, security, cloud and wireless LAN, among other business areas.

This means we are well-positioned to assist the increasing number of organizations that are looking to consume their IT infrastructure in a managed or as-a-service model.

We use Cisco’s broad range of technology to meet the needs of any client: from setting up a branch network for a small organization that requires wireless access points and connected IoT devices to enabling a high-performance, low-latency global network with private 5G.

Of course, we also trust Cisco technology to power NTT DATA’s own infrastructure – for instance, we use Cisco SD-WAN for our corporate network, Webex for collaboration purposes alongside Microsoft Teams, and Cisco’s high-end routing and optical networking equipment for our Global IP Network that delivers ultra-high-speed, high-availability connectivity to clients such as hyperscalers.

One platform for the full Cisco view

Furthermore, we have integrated more than 180 Cisco application programming interfaces (APIs), including dozens that consolidate data, into our software-defined infrastructure (SDI) platform.

These APIs provide important telemetry across a client’s infrastructure, from networking and security to collaboration and data centers, and we record metrics including software license usage, security vulnerabilities, the age of the client’s hardware, and a range of client configurations.

For the client, being able to track all their Cisco hardware, software and support services centrally through the NTT DATA portal means they can simplify their administration, save money and reap the full benefits of their Cisco investment.

A verified vote of confidence in our abilities

NTT DATA is designated a Cisco Gold Provider, which gives us credibility in the market and assures our clients of our service and support capabilities – and our Cisco Powered Services specializations are a key contributing factor to this status, confirming that we can build, manage and support various services built on Cisco technologies.

For example, our recently awarded Webex Contact Center specialization means we can support organizations with our CX Managed Services, offering a comprehensive cloud-based solution that delivers great user experiences across contact channels for both employees (agents) and customers.

To qualify for a specialization, organizations have to undergo an independent audit to verify that they comply with Cisco’s requirements in terms of their general capabilities, the Cisco-related certification status of their employees, their usage and knowledge of Cisco technology, and their experience in selling and delivering managed solutions.

Having partnered with Cisco for more than three decades, it’s not surprising that NTT DATA has qualified across the board. For instance, we have 346 engineers holding 414 Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certificates (aimed at senior professionals who design, build, implement and maintain complex enterprise networks), as well as 1,309 Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certificates for advanced skills in core areas.

NTT DATA’s Cisco Powered Services specializations

We now hold the following Cisco Powered Services specializations across much of our global footprint:

1. Business Communications: For delivering Voice over Internet Protocol and other key functionality enabled by unified communication solutions
2. Campus Access: For delivering a managed local area network (LAN) or managed wireless local area network (WLAN) service built on Cisco Catalyst Center
3. Catalyst SD-WAN: For connecting distributed locations and multicloud environments securely and redundantly as a cloud-managed service
4. Cloud Calling: For delivering a robust, cloud-based unified communication service with a flexible consumption model
5. Full-Stack Observability: For delivering managed services that take advantage of data-driven user experience and insights to build better business outcomes
6. Hybrid Cloud: For providing an on-premises private cloud or hybrid cloud service that can be centrally managed
7. Infrastructure as a Service: For providing a cloud-computing service model that provides virtualized resources over the internet.
8. Managed Security: For providing a multitenant, subscription-based security service for hosted and managed models
9. Meraki Access: For delivering a managed LAN service and/or a managed WLAN service to connect users and devices
10. Unified Communications as a Service Based on HCS: For delivering a cloud service that offers clients a flexible way of consuming enterprise telephony services, using Cisco’s Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS)
11. Webex Contact Center: For offering a native contact-center solution that enables security, visibility and scalability, with flexible deployment options (cloud, on-premises or hybrid) to meet a range of client needs

Take the next step

This level of recognition by Cisco means NTT DATA stands out as a valuable partner, able to combine our global expertise as an MSP with Cisco technology to solve our clients’ most pressing challenges.

Clients who have benefited from this powerful partnership include major brands like HEINEKEN, who wanted to upgrade their Kraków, Poland, offices to a hybrid work environment; CILE in Belgium, who required real-time insights into the state of their municipal water delivery network to accelerate their sustainability initiatives; the County of Santa Clara in California, who needed a hybrid on-premises and cloud solution to revolutionize their contact center; and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, where a reliable digital network was required to give the global scientific community real-time access to the array’s valuable data – not to mention NTT DATA’s own efforts to improve visibility and control of our legacy and software-defined assets.

So, how can we help your organization succeed?

NTT Ltd. and its affiliates are NTT DATA, Inc. companies.