XSi's Blog: The Alternative in IT Maintenance & Services

Cisco SMARTnet® Maintenance: Manufacturer versus Alternative vendors

  

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Dominating the support market with approximately 90% penetration, Cisco likes the fact that most people believe Cisco is the only provider of SMARTnet support contracts. However, as cost-conscious C-level executives examine their budgets, it is important they realize there are reliable, safe alternatives to Cisco’s own brand of SMARTnet support contracts. In fact, many organizations have already found that teaming with an Alternative vendor is an effective way to get complete Cisco SMARTnet support that is more responsive, more customized, less costly than Cisco’s OEM support and is an added value.

Many alternative vendors are more:

• Versatile,
• Responsive,
• Accommodating, and
• Value-conscious.

Selecting the contract that’s right for your organization

While Alternative vendors of SMARTnet support services are often a better solution for organizations, picking the right solution for an organization requires some attention and effort. This time investment is worthwhile, as it is possible that organizations can save up to 50% on IT costs (according to ASCDI’s President Joe Marion). Before contracting any organization, consider the following aspects of that contract.

• Guaranteed response times - One of the main complaints of current and former Cisco SMARTnet OEM buyers is that technical personnel are hard to reach because the call is screened by customer service agents, and on site technicians can take a day or more to show up. Rather than just “putting up” with these slow response times, be sure to get hours of availability and guaranteed response times in writing.
• Independent verification - Cisco often claims that they are the only SMARTnet supplier capable of supplying full SMARTnet support including OS updates and software upgrades. However, through Cisco’s Authorised Reseller program, Alternative vendors can supply identical software updates, upgrades and support. Recent lawsuits against Cisco that settled out of court has softened Cisco’s stance on providing OS updates and software support to customers regardless of whether they have a SMARTnet contract.
• Overall cost – Most of the Cisco equipment in a customer’s data center has been installed over a period of years. Alternative vendors of SMARTnet services can bundle both OEM SMARTnet (For equipment that requires both OS updates and software upgrades) and Alternative SMARTnet for equipment that only requires OS support and/or has is equipment that has been deemed End-of-Life and is not eligible for Cisco SMARTnet support any longer. Most customers do not realize that Cisco continues OS support on End-of-Life equipment for 3-5 years more.

Don’t buy unnecessarily

In addition to the considerations discussed above, buyers should be aware that, as part of their warranty and support contracts, Cisco often pressures organizations into buying new hardware. They do this by refusing to support legacy hardware, which they consider to be outdated. This adds to support costs, as new hardware carries more than simple upfront investment costs. Additional, unconsidered costs include:

• Labor and training costs to train staff and implement a new hardware,
• Labor and other costs associated with downtime due to installation,
• and environmental costs in the form of recycling or other forms of proper disposal.

In order to minimize these costs, team with an Alternative vendor that will support older equipment that has worked for years and customers only consider replacing because Cisco has deemed it End-of-Life for Support. Much of this hardware can continue to perform for years to come, with only minor maintenance costs.