Cisco Customer Reference Questionnaire

Thank you for agreeing to become a customer reference!

Our objective is to demonstrate how your organisation has achieved its business objectives
through the application of our solutions and services. Below is a list of questions to help us
gather the information required.

Please rest assured that you will have every opportunity to review and approve the case
study before it is published.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Question Explanatory notes (please provide your answers below it)
Company name Provide the full name of your company

Your company industry Identify the type of business your organisation is in, e.g. Contract
Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, etc

Please provide your full
name and designation
Provide spokespersons details for the case study

Your role in the
organisation
Provide a summary of your role within your organisation

Please provide a
description of your
business, operations
and locations.
Provide a sense of scale of the business (e.g. employee numbers,
revenue numbers, number of branches, geographic reach, customer
numbers, etc)





YOUR GOALS

Question Explanatory notes (please provide your answers below it)
What is the vision and
mission of your
organisation?
Please provide the strategic objectives of your organisation, and the
unique position that it occupies in the industry.

What are your
aspirations for your
organisation?
This helps to provide a more human-centric view of your
organisation, and how it makes a difference to the people and
communities you serve.

Please describe the
economic landscape in
your industry in your
region.

What are the key
business and
technological trends that
have a significant impact
on your business?

How competitive is your
industry?

Is your industry
regulated by the
government? If so, in
what way?

What are the social
trends (if any) that have
an impact on your
business? (E.g. ageing
demographics, savvy
Internet users)
Please provide a summary of the main economic, competitive and
social forces impacting your business.

What are your business
objectives/priorities for
the next six to 12
months?
Please provide the short-term business priorities of your
organisation

What is your
technological vision for
your organisation?
Please help us understand your companys strategic approach
towards technology, and how important a role it plays in your
achieving your business objectives.




BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES

Can you describe the
main pain points you
were facing in your
business?
Some typical examples may include:

High costs of operations
Employees unable to collaborate effectively with one
another and with customers
Unable to scale up with growth in number of employees,
geographic reach etc
Declining workplace efficiency as number of employees
increased
Unable to meet with compliance or business policy
requirements
Slow business processes
Outdated IT systems were costly and difficult to manage
No resources to run IT systems
Business risk due to security concerns
Limitations with existing solution (e.g. features,
performance)
Any other specific pain points

As much as possible, please provide details, anecdotes or
numbers (such as financial and time costs) that help to quantify
your pain points.

How did these limitations
affect your organisations
overall business success
and/or ability to respond
to your customers
needs?

Please help us make the link between the ICT challenges you
faced to your business priorities.

What were the
capabilities you needed
to help you address these
challenges?

Why was the existing
vendor, technology or
solution unable to provide
you with these
capabilities?
If its possible, please provide the name or description of your
previous vendor, product, service or solution. Why was the existing
ICT solution or vendor unable to meet your requirements?







ABOUT THE SOLUTION

How did you first hear
about this solution?
Did the customer get introduced to the solution via special events,
proof of concepts, product demos, sales visit, partner visit, etc.?

What were the various
offerings considered?

What was the evaluation
process like?
Please provide an indication of the other vendors or solutions that
were considered. Also, help us understand how your company
evaluated the proposal i.e. the people and processes that went
into making the right decision.

Why did you choose the
solution instead of other
proposals? How did
Cisco and the reseller
differentiate themselves?
What were you
impressed with?
What differentiated Cisco and its reseller from the competition?
Examples:

Vendor-related factors: reputable brand, financial strength,
strong support, multi-functional team, expertise, fast
response, strong references etc.
Product/solution-related factors: cost, performance,
scalability, manageability, security etc.

Briefly describe the
solution implemented
Briefly describe:
The product(s), service(s) or solution(s) included
The scale of implementation (e.g. number of employees or
number of offices affected)
If relevant, please provide an architectural or network
diagram that provides a useful overview of the solution(s)
implemented




IMPLEMENTATION

How were staff members
involved during the
implementation?
Please provide a brief description of the various parties involved
in the implementation. This could include:
Your employees and their respective roles
Resellers or Partners (if any)
Representatives from Cisco (if any)

What was role of the Cisco
team in this
implementation?
Describe our role in assisting you. For instance, were we
involved in:
Planning and design of the ICT solution to fit your
business requirements
Project management during the implementation

When did implementation
begin? When did it end?
Did it occur in phases?
Provide an idea of the timeframe and progression

Were there any challenges
faced during
implementation? How
were they rectified?
Let us know if you faced any challenges or issues during the
implementation, and how they were rectified. Were you satisfied
with the responses provided by Cisco and/or partners? Describe
any specific positive or negative examples you may have.

What is the status of the
project now? Has it passed
a significant milestone?
In some cases, the project may still be ongoing. We would like to
know what is completed so far, and what remains to be done.

What is your perception of
the services rendered
Cisco and/or its partners?
Please let us know what you think of our:
Responsiveness to requests and issues that may have
cropped up
Flexibility to accommodate requests, changes or new
developments
Reliability to adhere to timelines and budget
Professionalism to cope with potentially stressful
situations during implementation
Collaboration with you and your employees to move the
project forward
Ability to come up with effective or creative ways to
address challenges
Any other attributes





BUSINESS VALUE

What can your users do
now that they couldn't do
before?
Please describe any new capabilities or services (or
improvements in existing services) that you are now able to
offer as a result of the new solution.

What were the first
impressions from your
users? Any
quotes/statements from
them to share?
If possible, please share any initial impressions that your
employees may have had in response to the new solution. For
example, did they notice an appreciable improvement in
speed, or quality of service?

Are you now able to provide
new services, or improve
current services to your
customers? Can you
provide 2 or 3 examples?
Please describe any new services (or improvements in existing
services) that you are now able to offer your customers as a
result of the new solution.

What were the first
impressions from your
customer? Any
quotes/statements to
share?
If possible, please share any initial impressions that your
customers may have had in response to the new solution. For
example, did they notice an appreciable improvement in
speed, or quality of service?

Do you think this solution
has had an impact on
financial results?
Can you attribute cost savings, revenue increase, TCO, or ROI
to the solution? Can you provide a quantitative number?

Does the solution perform
better?
Are you able to provide any numbers to describe the
improvement to business performance? E.g. have you
increased efficiency? Production speed? Any benchmarks to
show this?

Is the solution easy to
manage?
Please describe the solution features that make management
and administration easier. As far as possible, please quantify
with actual numbers

How scalable and flexible is
the solution in meeting the
changing or growing
requirements of your
organisation?



Please describe how the solution has performed in responding
to changes in the number of employees, growth in the number
of branches/locations, or changes in the business environment.

As far as possible, please quantify with actual numbers

What features of the
solution have helped
improve productivity and
collaboration among
internal and external
parties?
Please describe the improvements (if any) in productivity and
collaboration to achieve business goals, meet customer needs,
or solve business challenges. As far as possible, please
quantify with actual numbers.

Has there been any
improvement to the
business reliability or
availability?
Does your business now experience less downtime? Any
numbers to demonstrate this?

Has your organisation
received any industry
recognition or achieved a
significant milestone since
implementation, and can it
be attributed in part to the
solution or the partnership
with Cisco and reseller?
Please describe the award or industry recognition, as well as
the reasons for receiving it. Is this a direct or indirect outcome
of the solution that was implemented?

Do you have any other
benefits to add?
Let us know if we have missed anything.

How has this new
implementation brought you
closer to the vision for your
company?
Let us know how the solution ties back to your aspirations.






FUTURE OUTLOOK

What new plans/initiatives
are in the pipeline? How
will the partnership with
Cisco and reseller enable
this?
Please describe your future plans, and the role that the new
solution (and Cisco) will play in enabling them.

Will you continue to work
with Cisco in the future?
Can you share reasons
why?
Let us know your closing thoughts on your organisations
ongoing relationship with us.



PHOTOS

Please provide ANY of the following pictures if possible (Any professionally taken
marketing photographs are preferred):

Your staff/customers using the solution
General operations in your organisation, made possible by the solution
Results of using the solution technology (e.g. video conference, wireless roaming, etc)

3 or 4 photos will be sufficient. These images should be in high-resolution (300 dpi, or
about 500kb at least), otherwise it will not print sharp enough.