Cisco Enterprise Agreements – Are they right for you?

Choosing the right software can be a complex task and in a time where the Internet of Things (IoT) is growing and developing, there is a need for ongoing improvements of network agility and maximising efficiency. Cisco recognises the growing demand and has evolved their software offering to simplify and optimise intelligence across businesses. There is extensive information surrounding Cisco’s Enterprise Agreement’s (EA) currently, which can be difficult to comprehend, but here at Softcat, we like to keep things simple, so let’s take a look at the facts and see what works for you.

A Cisco EA is a consolidation buying programme that helps you, focus more time on your business objectives, in oppose to managing multiple renewal dates/contracts, and Terms and conditions. It’s a three, five or seven year buying programme that’s cost reducing and time saving.

There are currently five architectures available for a Cisco Enterprise Agreement:

• Networking Infrastructure
• Applications Infrastructure
• Collaboration
• Security
• Meraki

How does it work? 

The Cisco Enterprise Agreement is ideal for organisations that want financial predictability, a simplified IT environment, or have a technology growth plan, allowing organisations to select from one or more architectures to address business needs.

To be eligible for a Cisco Enterprise agreement you need to be spending 100k on your software first, then we can wrap up your hardware, services and support all under one contract, keeping it simple to manage taking away those pain points for you.

Below is a guide on how it can impact on your business and showcases how it comes to life.

The DNA EA enrolment requires a subscription across either routing, wireless or switching. The Data Centre and security enrolments introduce a self-selection element: for Data Centre you pick two subscriptions and for Security, three subscriptions to suit your requirements from the listed products.  The collaboration enrolment works slightly differently as it is a flexible plan based on a minimum number of knowledge workers.

Weighing up the benefits

- We’re seeing much higher savings from Cisco EA’s over perpetual licensing. In addition, Cisco will recognise your prior investments to consolidate existing software into an EA, providing further cost saving to your organisation rather than transactional purchases. It also makes budgeting easy with a three, five and 7 year (dependant on architecture) fixed term.

- Investing in a Cisco EA will give you one contract, one renewal date and one set of T&C's, allowing you more time to focus on your business, meet your goals and strive for more success.

- Softcat offer a Cisco Customer Success Manager and Technical Success Manager aligned to your account, as an additional resource at no extra cost. They can then support you with software lifecycle adoption and enablement.

- You will have one pane of glass to view, manage, procure, and deploy your licenses via a platform called EA workspace. As well as making monitoring compliance easier, it shows you which software features are being utilised, so on renewal you can reduce wasted costs and only buy the licences you need.

- Cisco Enterprise Agreements are available globally.

Is a Cisco Enterprise Agreement right for you?

Cisco Enterprise Agreements allow great agility and can increase efficiency for your organisation, however there are some exceptions to consider. If you feel a Cisco EA would benefit your business and you like the sound of the above, please liaise with your Softcat account team. There is an expert Cisco team here at Softcat of 17 people ready to help you meet success.

Finance available options too.

Why Softcat Cisco CX

Our Cisco CX Practice is a dedicated team of experts that are exclusively focused on ensuring our customers realise the full value of their Cisco products and services at every stage in their Cisco journey. Our Softcat Cisco CX practice has also been accredited by Third Party Auditors to the highest level, endorsing Softcat with the Advanced Customer Experience Specialisation.