3Com Partners With Siemens to Extend Service Offerings To Enterprise Customers

3Com has announced a partnership with Siemens that will extend the networking company's service offerings to enterprise customers. 3Com currently offers professional services to small and medium-sized companies, but not to enterprise-level businesses.

As part of the agreement, over 34,000 Siemens support professionals in more than 44 countries will provide consulting, integration and management services to 3Com customers worldwide.

The agreement is part of a 3Com push further into the enterprise market. It has previously entered into a joint venture with Chinese networking manufacturer Huawei to manufacture and market enterprise-class LAN switches and WAN routers. 3Com has also developed a scalable 50,000-plus user IP telephony system. Additionally, it has relationships with Crossbeam and Trapeze Networks for security products and enterprise wireless switching.

"This agreement is a significant milestone for 3Com, complementing the successful work we have done to deliver new enterprise products in the past 12 months," said said Bruce Claflin, president and CEO, 3Com, in a statement. "We are substantially increasing our competitiveness by integrating new high-end service offerings and capabilities into our solution portfolio to better meet larger enterprise customers' stringent requirements for service and support."

"This strategic alliance is a win-win for 3Com and for Siemens Business Services. Together, our brands deliver powerful technology and IT services solutions to world-class organizations," added John McKenna, CEO of Siemens Business Services, North America.