Dalian, China, September 16, 2014 – A grand ceremony was held today to launch the Cisco® Global Support Center Dalian in Dalian Software Park. Government officials from the Dalian Hi-tech Zone and the Dalian Software Park cut the ribbon and spoke at the ceremony together with Janet Ramey, Vice President of Technical Services at Cisco. Owen Chan, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Greater China, congratulated Cisco Global Support Center Dalian for its opening through a Cisco video appearance.

The opening of Cisco Global Support Center Dalian is a major move of Cisco under its global strategy. This has also, once again, demonstrated the importance of the China market to Cisco as well as the company’s long-term commitment to China.

Cisco Global Support Center Dalian will enable Cisco to provide 24/7 technical support and services for customers in countries including China, Korea, Japan and Russia. The center currently provides services in languages including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese. Others such as Russian and Asian languages will be added over time.

Providing the best experience for customers is vital for Cisco. The Dalian center will work closely with Cisco partners to provide best services for customers. The opening of this center will enable Cisco to better fulfill its support imperative to “get closer to the customer”, to expand its current service delivery capacity, to increase customer satisfaction, and to proactively explore potential service growth opportunities, especially in Asia.

In addition, Cisco will collaborate closely with universities in Dalian for recruiting staff and building an online training platform with the best resources available. Through this center, Cisco will recruit and train professionals of an international caliber.

Through the successful operation of the Dalian center, Cisco hopes to bring new opportunities, new businesses and great service experiences to a broader customer base on one hand, and to help improve the skills of local talents against international standards and contribute to Dalian’s economic growth and personal development on the other.

Dalian has always been one of the most important strategic markets for Cisco in China. Prior to this, Cisco had already established the Cisco Technical Services (Dalian) Co., Ltd., and the Cisco Networking Training Center in Dalian. Cisco chose Dalian as the site for the new support center because of the city’s strategic location, the availability of the highly educated talent and excellent communications infrastructure in Dalian, and its huge potential of becoming the regional or even global center of networking professionals.

Owen Chan, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Greater China, said: “The year 2014 is the 20th year for Cisco in China. Cisco has been dedicated to providing the best experience as well as services and products coming with local innovations to our customers. Opening this support center in Dalian enables Cisco to share its global best practices and cutting-edge technologies with Asia Pacific customers and provide great services for a broader customer base. Meanwhile, this will also help us to explore the local talent pool, improve their skills and contribute to Dalian’s economic growth.”

Janet Ramey, Vice President of Technical Services at Cisco, said: “Cisco has been attaching great importance to its operations in China. The Dalian Support Center forms part of the Cisco site strategy providing location-agnostic, shared service teams. The Dalian Support Center will enable Cisco to prepare for services growth opportunities specifically in Asia. By establishing a presence in Dalian, we will be better positioned to provide central shared infrastructure across multiple functions that will support us in retaining our competitive position.”