Reduce Cisco SMARTnet Costs with No Risk to Cisco Smart Licensing Entitlements

With the introduction of Cisco Smart Licensing, Cisco permanently changed its clients’ ability to reduce Cisco SMARTnet costs. Simply explained, Smart Licensing created a technical barrier for anybody but the original purchaser to use the hardware. This “innovation” created a roadblock to proactive cost containment by using independent hardware maintainers (third party maintenance providers) and hardware resellers. Only very old Cisco hardware wasn’t impacted by Cisco Smart Licensing. At the same time, Cisco subjected several clients to intrusive and expensive compliance audits – targeting clients who leveraged the secondary market or third party maintenance for cost savings. The end result: you’re either overpaying for Cisco SMARTnet or at risk of a costly audit.

As Cisco SMARTnet clients complained, and independent service providers wrung their hands, XSi went into solutions-mode and built XSi’s Cisco Lifecycle & Asset Assurance program. What is it? This service allows Cisco hardware users to continue – and even expand product classes able to be maintained – using lower-cost independent maintenance with zero risk to entitlement compliance. Ongoing Cisco SMARTnet cost reductions can be broader and more proactive. Support savings can be easily discovered prior to milestone dates (EoS/LDoS, EoSW, EoL) to proactively further SMARTnet cost reductions. In addition to reducing Cisco SMARTnet costs, entitlement compliance and proactive cost containment, this service also creates a greater level of simplicity and transparency for hardware asset management. It’s genius!

Here are a few examples of Cisco Smart Licensed hardware that other third party maintenance companies can’t maintain (with 100% entitlement compliance), but can be maintained by XSi with 100% compliance assurance:

• Catalyst 9300s, 9400s, 9500s
• Nexus 9k Family
• 3850s and ISR Routers beyond IOS 16
• Also, current products with freely available OS updates

While no other independent maintainer can support these asset classes – with full compliance, these are XSi’s fastest growing asset types, and are 100% maintainable under XSi’s Cisco Lifecycle & Asset Assurance program. In addition to EoS/LDoS (End of Support), EoSW (End of Software Support) and EoL (End of Life) hardware, XSi can effectively cover so much more – dramatically impacting your annual SMARTnet spend. This service:

1. Quickly provides you with a highly-detailed quote (from our custom-built pricing tool), creating an unprecedented level of transparency,
2. Expands the class/type of assets (50-80% more assets) able to be moved off Cisco SMARTnet, yet are unable to be supported (without great risk) by any other independent maintenance provider,
3. Creates per-asset logic for Hybrid Hardware Support vendor selection,
4. Designs a compliant sparing model, then takes over the ITAM burden and logistics with equal or better SLAs than clients have with SMARTnet,
5. Provides ongoing milestone data alerts for per-asset ability to move to our service,
6. Provides ticketing service and independent support for all eligible assets.

Our detailed quoting tool is available to anyone prepping for their Cisco SMARTnet renewal. Rather than waiting weeks for your VAR to return pricing needed for budget planning, a quote from XSi always includes a preview of current Cisco SMARTnet pricing, which is 98% accurate. This Cisco pricing preview isn’t provided by most other independent maintenance providers.

Unclear about Cisco Smart Licensing impacts to cost containment? Started to realize the constraints of Cisco Smart Licensing? Read this XSi white paper, “Where Have Cisco Pricing, Policies & SMARTnet Support Failed its Customers?”