Cisco rated Best by consumers, but price can still make them jump ship
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Cisco is the highest-rated switch manufacturer in terms of overall customer satisfaction, according to a new survey by Infonetics Research. The study also found that cost tops the list of reasons why respondents might consider jumping from their existing switch vendor to a different vendor in 2005 and 2006.
The study shows that the LAN switch market is about to get interesting as users drop their brand preference in search of security and voice over IP features and cost savings. In "User Plans for LAN Switches," Matthias Machowinski found that users rated management, VLANs, 1G interfaces and Layer 3 routing protocols as the most important switch features. However, respondents showed interest in emerging switch technologies, with a particular focus on increasing security and improving network availability.