Certifications & Vendor Partnerships

Microsoft sits at the centre of virtually every UK business IT environment, and for good reason: the breadth of the Microsoft platform — spanning cloud infrastructure, productivity, security, communications, identity management, and device management — is unmatched in its integration and its alignment with UK enterprise and SME requirements. Vertex9's membership of the Microsoft Partner Network gives our clients access to Microsoft expertise at every layer of that platform. Our certified engineers hold credentials across Microsoft 365, Azure, and the Microsoft security stack, meaning that advice and implementation quality are backed by examinations that Microsoft itself has set and validated.

In practical terms, our Microsoft partnership covers the full range of Microsoft 365 licences — Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, and E5 — as well as Microsoft Azure infrastructure services including virtual machines, Azure Virtual Desktop, Azure Backup, and hybrid connectivity via Azure Arc and ExpressRoute. Our engineers are trained and certified in Microsoft Intune for mobile device management, Microsoft Defender for endpoint and identity protection, and Microsoft Teams for voice and collaboration, including Direct Routing deployments that connect Teams to the PSTN. Where clients require SharePoint intranet design, OneDrive governance configuration, or Exchange Online migration from legacy on-premises mail systems, we manage the complete project lifecycle from assessment through to user adoption support.

Microsoft's partner programme provides Vertex9 with direct access to Microsoft technical support escalation — a resource that is entirely unavailable when purchasing Microsoft products direct or through a non-partner reseller. This means that genuinely complex Microsoft 365 tenant issues, Azure infrastructure problems, or Microsoft Defender configuration challenges that exceed standard troubleshooting can be escalated directly to Microsoft engineering teams with whom we have an established working relationship. Clients also benefit from partner-rate licensing, which reduces the per-seat cost of Microsoft 365 and Azure consumption compared to purchasing through the standard Microsoft website.

Fortinet is one of the most comprehensive and widely deployed network security platforms in the world, and Vertex9 has invested deeply in building certified expertise across the Fortinet product portfolio. Our engineers hold Fortinet NSE (Network Security Expert) certifications at NSE 4 and NSE 5 levels — the practitioner and analyst tiers of Fortinet's certification programme, covering FortiGate firewall deployment, security policy design, SD-WAN configuration, VPN architecture, and the FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager centralised management platforms. NSE certification requires passing practical, scenario-based examinations that test the ability to configure and troubleshoot real Fortinet deployments, not simply recall product documentation.

What makes Fortinet particularly compelling for UK businesses is the Security Fabric architecture. Every Fortinet product — FortiGate firewalls, FortiClient endpoint security, FortiAnalyzer log management, FortiManager policy management, and the broader SASE and ZTNA components — shares threat intelligence through a unified platform. When a new threat is detected on one device, the intelligence propagates across the entire fabric in near-real time. This integration dramatically reduces mean-time-to-detect and mean-time-to-respond because security events are correlated across network layers rather than isolated in separate tools that do not communicate with each other. For businesses that have historically run separate firewall, endpoint, and SIEM tools from different vendors, the Fortinet Security Fabric consolidates these into a single management plane with significantly lower operational overhead.

For multi-site UK businesses, Fortinet's FortiGate SD-WAN solution is Vertex9's primary recommendation. FortiGate SD-WAN integrates enterprise-grade next-generation firewall capability and software-defined WAN management into a single physical appliance, eliminating the need to deploy separate firewall and SD-WAN devices at each site. This means businesses replacing MPLS circuits with broadband or 4G/5G connections do not sacrifice security in order to reduce connectivity costs — the same device that handles intelligent traffic routing also enforces consistent security policy across every location, managed centrally through FortiManager. Vertex9's Fortinet partnership provides access to Fortinet's TAC (Technical Assistance Centre) escalation, partner pricing on hardware and licences, and advance notification of firmware updates and threat intelligence releases.

Juniper Networks is the enterprise networking platform of choice for organisations that require carrier-class reliability and performance in their switching, routing, and wireless infrastructure. Vertex9 engineers hold JNCIA (Juniper Networks Certified Associate) and JNCIS (Juniper Networks Certified Specialist) certifications, which cover Junos OS configuration and troubleshooting, enterprise switching architecture, routing protocol implementation, and the Juniper Mist AI wireless management platform. These certifications are administered by Juniper themselves and require candidates to demonstrate practical configuration capability at an associate and specialist level respectively, not simply familiarity with product marketing material.

The centrepiece of Vertex9's Juniper practice is Juniper Mist AI, which represents the current state of the art in enterprise wireless networking. Mist AI applies machine learning to wireless environment data collected continuously from every access point across your estate. The Marvis virtual network assistant analyses this data to identify connectivity issues, interference sources, and performance degradation before they surface as user complaints — a capability that fundamentally changes how Wi-Fi is managed. Rather than reacting when a user reports that they cannot connect or that their video call is breaking up, Mist AI identifies the root cause and often resolves it autonomously before anyone has noticed a problem. For organisations with large wireless deployments — office buildings, campuses, multi-floor environments, or retail spaces — this proactive fault resolution translates directly into fewer helpdesk calls, better end-user experience, and lower operational burden on IT teams.

For core switching and routing infrastructure, Juniper's EX Series and QFX Series switches deliver the high-throughput, low-latency performance that growing UK organisations need as their reliance on cloud services, video communications, and bandwidth-intensive applications increases. Vertex9 designs and deploys Juniper switching architectures for clients replacing end-of-life Cisco or unmanaged switching infrastructure, ensuring that the core network layer provides the stability and segmentation capability required for modern IT environments. Our Juniper partnership provides access to Juniper's technical support organisation and partner pricing on hardware, which is particularly significant given that Juniper enterprise switching delivers enterprise-grade capability at a price point that competes strongly with incumbent alternatives.

Cisco remains the gold standard for enterprise networking infrastructure, and a significant proportion of the UK's installed networking base — across businesses of all sizes — runs on Cisco hardware. Vertex9 engineers hold Cisco CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) level credentials, which provide the depth of knowledge required to design, deploy, troubleshoot, and manage Cisco switching and routing infrastructure to vendor best-practice standards. This means that clients with existing Cisco investments receive support from engineers who genuinely understand the platform at a technical level, rather than those applying generic networking knowledge to proprietary hardware.

For clients operating across multiple sites who require centralised management and visibility, Cisco Meraki represents a compelling cloud-managed networking solution. Vertex9 designs and deploys Meraki SD-WAN, switching, and wireless solutions for organisations that prioritise operational simplicity alongside networking capability — the Meraki dashboard provides a single-pane-of-glass view across all locations, with policy management, traffic analytics, and security controls all accessible from a unified cloud interface. This is particularly well suited to businesses with distributed offices, retail locations, or hybrid site structures where the operational overhead of managing individual device configurations across many sites would be prohibitive without a cloud management layer.

Where clients have existing Cisco infrastructure already deployed — Catalyst switching, ISR routing, Cisco ASA firewalls, or legacy Cisco wireless deployments — Vertex9 provides ongoing management, security hardening, firmware maintenance, and lifecycle planning as part of its managed IT service. We work collaboratively with clients to assess Cisco infrastructure against current best-practice security configuration guides, identify any deviations, and implement remediation on a risk-prioritised basis. Where equipment is approaching end-of-life or end-of-support dates, we provide timely advice and migration planning to ensure that changes are managed proactively rather than reactively.

Veeam is the global leader in backup, replication, and data protection, trusted by over 450,000 organisations worldwide including the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies. Vertex9 holds Veeam Managed Service Provider (VMSP) certification, which qualifies our engineers to design, deploy, and manage Veeam-powered backup and disaster recovery solutions on behalf of clients. VMSP certification requires completion of Veeam's managed service provider training programme and passing the associated technical examinations, validating capability across Veeam's full product portfolio including Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365, and Veeam ONE monitoring and analytics.

The centrepiece of Vertex9's Veeam practice is the implementation of immutable backup repositories as the foundational defence against ransomware. Immutable backups cannot be encrypted, deleted, or modified by ransomware — a critical distinction in an environment where ransomware operators increasingly target backup systems as part of their attack strategy, knowing that destroying backups dramatically increases the likelihood of a victim paying a ransom. Vertex9 implements the 3-2-1 backup rule for all clients: three copies of data, on two different storage media, with at least one copy stored offsite. Where clients require a higher tier of protection, we implement the 3-2-1-1-0 variant: three copies, two media types, one offsite, one immutable, and zero unverified backups — meaning every backup is tested for recoverability as part of the management process, not assumed to be intact.

Beyond backup, Vertex9's Veeam practice includes structured disaster recovery planning and regular DR failover testing. Having a backup is not the same as having a tested recovery procedure — an untested DR plan is a plan that will almost certainly encounter unexpected problems under the pressure of a real incident. We conduct scheduled DR failover tests for managed clients, simulating the recovery of critical systems in an isolated environment and documenting the results against agreed RTO and RPO targets. Where testing reveals gaps between the tested recovery time and the target, we work with clients to adjust the solution design, storage tiering, or recovery procedure until the target is reliably met.

SonicWall specialises in network security solutions purpose-built for small and mid-sized businesses that require enterprise-grade threat protection without the operational complexity or price point of enterprise platforms. Vertex9 is SonicWall-certified, enabling us to design, deploy, and manage SonicWall TZ and NSa Series firewalls across SME client environments. These certifications validate our engineers' ability to configure SonicWall's security features to their full capability — including deep packet inspection, application control, intrusion prevention, content filtering, and SSL inspection — rather than deploying devices in their out-of-the-box state with default settings that leave significant security capability unused.

SonicWall's Capture ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) cloud sandboxing capability is particularly significant in the context of modern SME cyber threats. When SonicWall encounters a file or network payload that has not been seen before, it sends it to SonicWall's cloud analysis environment where it is executed in a contained sandbox and observed for malicious behaviour. This process occurs within seconds and blocks the payload if malicious activity is detected before it reaches the network. SonicWall's Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMI) technology further extends this capability to catch threats that specifically attempt to evade sandbox detection by delaying or concealing their malicious behaviour during analysis. For SME businesses that are increasingly targeted by ransomware operators precisely because their defences are assumed to be weaker than large enterprises, this level of threat detection capability provides meaningful protection.

Vertex9 manages SonicWall firewall deployments as part of its managed network security service, handling firmware updates, security subscription renewals, rule set reviews, log monitoring, and alert triage. We also manage SonicWall secure remote access solutions for clients requiring site-to-site VPN connectivity between office locations and SSL VPN access for remote workers — configurations that require careful attention to authentication, encryption standards, and split tunnelling policy to ensure that remote connectivity does not introduce security weaknesses into the network perimeter.