Cisco Systems and IBM are <A HREF="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=32434">expanding a cooperative support offering</A> from the U.S. to 46 other markets.

Through the offering, called Managed Maintenance Solutions for Cisco Products, enterprises that use IBM as a systems integrator can get Cisco technical support by calling IBM. It is designed to simplify IT administrators' jobs and prevent them from having to choose between turning to Cisco or IBM for help, said Cisco spokeswoman Mandy Knotts.

Cisco has a worldwide technical support organization but is not a systems integrator.