As you can see above, it would be difficult to combine all these elements into one agreement because they are consumed and the fact that they usually have different teams responsible for each stack. This makes consolidation more difficult. Finally, Cisco`s “True Forward” fees may apply if customers exceed their number of eligible licenses, but these rates are not set. If a customer achieves growth of more than 5% in the first six months of the agreement, Cisco has the right to re-evaluate the agreement. Therefore, customers should carefully monitor their usage and know that Cisco can request a review of their deployments at any time. Since the under- and over-provision of licences involve financial risks, the need to validate the application cannot be overestimated. ● Easy to buy: Customers get a single contract, duration, and workspace to manage license eligibility The most viewed proposals this year were EA DNA, although EA security demand and the latest version of Cisco`s Collaboration Flex (3.0) plan remains strong. This article explains how to mitigate Cisco`s sales tactics, reduce EA risk, and leverage your next business. If your entire technology stack is covered by a single contract, you can create labs, cut licenses at will, and move them to another hardware. This importantly ensures that all of your software modules are consistent and regularly updated with the latest threat prevention features or versions. Taking the time to certify current accounts and determine expected growth over time will protect against over-provisioning.
This includes removing unnecessary solutions, especially any free value that Cisco has bundled in the agreement and that the company will not use. What for? Because these “free” bundled products are re-evaluated at unspecified levels defined by the Cisco sales team at the time of renewal. For example, ClearEdge recently observed a customer proposal for a multi-EA agreement that included collaboration, DNA, and security solutions. Although the prices seemed competitive, the offer was conditional on the conclusion of the three agreements with an offer within the month. The client did not have enough time to review and validate their application in all three sectors, and if they withdrew from one of the EAs, the cost of the other two would increase. Cisco adjusted the proposal at year-end and ensured that all renewals are made during the last fiscal quarter and ensure consistent revenue. For example, in a recent proposal reviewed for a Meraki EA, the customer received some of the biggest discounts we`ve seen on all previous listings. As a result, customers who plan to purchase new Cisco products in 2021 will be able to benefit from an accelerated EA transaction before the end of Cisco`s fiscal year.
As companies adopt more innovative technologies, they face the challenge of managing different licensing agreements. Cisco`s new EA simplifies the experience with: Second, there`s no protection on the EA`s backend: Cisco doesn`t offer upper limits for renewal increases. This leaves much higher costs for customers to maintain the solutions after the initial contract expires. The only way to protect themselves from this situation is for customers to use net new spending or growth to motivate Cisco to promise lower price increases. Cisco Enterprise Agreement (EA) is a software purchase program that digitizes and simplifies license management for Cisco Suite customers. Enterprise agreements are used to license large enterprises to use software applications. With Cisco EA, instead of purchasing software products on an individual basis, a company would pay a fixed upfront fee to include all purchases of one or more product suites over a period of time. This makes it easier for Cisco customers to purchase, use, and manage software licenses through their Cisco Workspace online portal. “Cisco continues to refine its business agreements to make it easier for customers and partners to do business with Cisco. The new Enterprise Agreement (EA) now covers the entire Cisco product and service portfolio, where customers and partners previously had to manage multiple EAs to consolidate the entire portfolio into a single purchase agreement.
The new EA is expected to allow customers and partners to review their contracts more efficiently, spend less time on administrative tasks, and spend more time managing their business. One of the unique features of Cisco`s EA is the True Forward program. This provision states that the company is entitled to a growth allowance of 20%. Instead of charging an additional fee for use outside of the license agreement, True Forward doesn`t penalize a company for unexpected growth and expansion as long as it doesn`t exceed 120%. If you have an EA in the pipeline, speeding up or slowing down the agreement schedule to adjust it at the end of Cisco`s fiscal year can offer opportunities to add value as long as the request is validated in advance. Customers should review contractual risks, screen all users who do not need the software, and describe the growth and potential expenses they can use against Cisco at the time of renewal. Currently, the Cisco Enterprise Contract is offered with a contractual term of three or five years. The prices of each contract vary and depend on the number of users and devices allowed. The last quarter showed a 30% year-over-year increase in Cisco EA proposals submitted for review by Clearedge customers. With Cisco`s fiscal year ending fast approaching July 31, sales reps are scrambling to introduce new issues and last-minute offerings.
The seller promises customers big savings and big discounts, but let the buyer be careful: Cisco usually bundles these suggestions in a way that makes it difficult to compare prices, significantly overestimates your request, and includes little, if any, contractual protections. ● Easy to manage: financial predictability, lower costs, and better visibility with EA Workspace ● Easy to use: on-demand deployment, anytime access to new software, and True Forward (no retroactive billing) Optimize contracts and costs, extend service coverage, and get data-driven lifecycle support. Articles, Cisco, Cisco Licensing Explained, Enterprise Agreements, Licensing In our previous article, we discussed the operational challenges associated with the traditional licensing model. We will now review how these are challenged with a Cisco enterprise agreement. The discount eliminates the double dip scenario that often occurs when changing the licensing model. The same applies to receiving a discount on the rest on your existing SWSS (Software and Subscription Services). These savings are directly integrated into the final result of the Enterprise Agreement. Network lifecycle and infrastructure services, IDC Webex Suite is the world`s first industry-leading suite designed for hybrid work. The transition process is easier than you can imagine. At Tesrex, we specialize in aligning these types of contracts.
What we simply need from you is a meeting to discuss your goals, determine which Cisco enterprise agreements you are best suited for and so we can start creating a financial summary. The summary includes your current footprint at Cisco, the distribution of discounts (if any), the cost of the EA, and the possible financing options that best suit your budget. ● Major, minor and software maintenance updates Integrate and manage cloud operations and application experiences. ● Free Cisco ISR 1100-4G and/or Cisco ISR 1100-6G devices for Cisco DNA enrollment in SD-WAN and Routing Suite with a net TCV of $500,000 To read our previous article in this series on Cisco licensing, click here. ● Access to online resources and software downloads Next up is a significant 20% free growth offer during the contract term. Let`s just say your initial contract is $300,000 over three years. Cisco allows you to extend your use of the software up to 60k value added for free during the term of the contract. .