That's a fair point. And it's a good point. There's a difference in types of contracts and the relationships they represent. An employee/employer relationship is distinct from a customer/vendor relationship.

An employee/employer relationship is defined by a few key properties. As an employee, you sell your time and your expertise to your employer, and you agree to submit to the authority of your employer in exchange for a salary. The extent of your responsibility - and this is absolutely key - is captured in your contract.

It also means that many things simply aren't your responsibility to begin with, even though you deal with them on a day-to-day basis.

As a systems administrator you, quite likely, won't get fired for failing Cisco gear or services because you're not the one who ultimately signs off on the contract with Cisco on behalf of your employer. Responsibility has always resided with the executives who cover and sanction your actions and decisions.

An executive, though, usually won't get fired over failing Cisco gear/services itself, but they will get fired over any ensuing loss of revenue, damage to brand/image, litigation over exposed liabilities,...

A great example of this is President Harry S. Truman who famously had a sign on his desk stating "The buck stops here".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_passing

As for the systems administrator, your role is to actively engage in day-to-day operations. You're basically hired "to keep the lights on". Whether the proverbial "light" was procured from Cisco or handcrafted in-house is inconsequential to your employer as far as your individual role as an employee is concerned.