I found an interesting article that may give Cisco Resellers a glimmer of hope if they feel they have been given unfair treatment.
In the article, the company “Infra-Comm” is suing based on a claim that Cisco gave a 5-million dollar deal to AT&T. Here is what the judge says:
..the judge found three provisions in Cisco’s ICPA unconscionable: that the partner is not provided with an opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract when using Cisco’s Web site to renew contracts; that Cisco could terminate a reseller agreement with only a month’s notice, or without notice at the beginning of each year; and that the ICPA limits damages to what a reseller pays Cisco over the course of three months for services and products, which could be unfair to longtime resellers. -Network World Article
This is a very unfortunate case for Infra-Comm. This whole debacle has really crippled their ability to do business.
If you’re wondering why I care.. I’ve been following this saga for a while now because I’ve known Luke, the founder of Infra-Comm, and his engineers on a professional level for a while now. We used to be one of his clients.
As a Cisco user/advocate like myself, you are kind of torn as to who to side with. Cisco will continue to defend their image and integrity to the end – as they should. But on the other side, the small guy gets the short end of the stick – really short.
I just hope there is fair resolution to this in the very end.