If you’re in the market for IT hardware, then you’ve probably seen plenty of support for Cisco Systems, the industry leader in data center, telephony, network systems, security, and unified communications solutions.  With as many as 14 billion devices projected to be connected to the Internet by 2010, a company’s success and longevity depends on the right networking systems and hardware.  With Cisco’s revenue at $39.5 billion at the end of the 2008 Fiscal year, it’s easy to see why Cisco is the worldwide leader.

But Cisco has not relied only in innovation and marketing.  One of the reasons that Cisco leapt ahead of competitors has to do with the high quality equipment it manufactures.  Since the company’s inception in 1984, Cisco products have consistently been praised by reviewers and customers for their top-of-the-line quality. They’ve truly created a company that stands behind their products and built a reputation based on reliability.

The downside to purchasing IT hardware like routers and telephone systems from Cisco, is that you do get what you pay for and Cisco products are not cheap.  As a matter of fact, often small and growing businesses simply cannot afford to upgrade their IT hardware as often as they really need to in order to accommodate their expansion.  That’s where refurbished Cisco products come in.

Because Cisco hardware holds its value much longer than many of its competitors, refurbished Cisco products are, most of the time, hold their quality.  This is evident in the number of alternate Cisco providers that have cropped up, eager to refurbish and resell Cisco products at discounted prices.  The important factors when choosing one of these alternate Cisco distributors are to be sure the company has been around for a considerable length of time and proven that they, too, are reliable.  Make sure the company you buy your used Cisco hardware from allows you to speak to someone on the phone (a website that does not advertise a phone number so that you can reach a rep easily usually spells trouble).  Also be sure that the company offers a guarantee on the products they sell.  For example, one alternate Cisco provider, MULTI-LINK Communications Products, offers a one year standard warranty on all refurbished and new equipment.  This is actually four times longer than the warranty Cisco offers on most of its new products.  Lastly, you want to make sure that the company you order from has a large inventory of Cisco hardware.  Some of the smaller companies sell you a product and then have to go hunt it down which means guaranteeing you a delivery time can be next to impossible.