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Cisco® Business Dashboard is a network management tool for deploying and maintaining Cisco Business switches, routers, and wireless access points. This guide presents ordering and licensing information for the tool.
To place an order for Cisco Business Dashboard licenses, the following steps are required:
● Identify the number of licenses and types required
● Obtain a Cisco Smart Account if you do not already have one
● Place an order with your preferred supplier, and provide the supplier with your Smart Account details
Cisco Business Dashboard is licensed based on the number of infrastructure devices in your network. Licenses are required only for the Cisco Business and Cisco Small Business products in your network. Device licenses are required for using Cisco Business Dashboard, and integration licenses are required when Cisco Business Dashboard is being used with third-party applications such as Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools. An instance of Cisco Business Dashboard includes 25 device licenses free of charge. If you have more than 25 devices, Cisco Business Dashboard will run in evaluation mode for up to 90 days while offering full functionality. Once you have finished your evaluation and if you have more than 25 devices in the network, you must obtain licenses for each additional Cisco Business or Cisco Small Business device in your network in excess of 25. Cisco Business Dashboard uses Cisco Smart Licensing and Cisco Smart Accounts for license management.
Cisco Business Dashboard may also be deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS) by ordering through the AWS Marketplace. Two options are available: 1) Bring Your Own Licence (BYOL) deployments that are licensed using Smart Licensing and Smart Accounts, and 2) Metered deployments that are licensed on usage, charged through your AWS account, and do not require Smart Licensing or a Smart Account.
The Cisco Smart Account is a software licensing solution that provides a central location with full visibility to Cisco software licenses across an entire organization, allowing partners and customers to optimize their software management. To better understand Smart Accounts, think of a single container that allows you to manage license entitlements across various individual software portals that are all connected to your Smart Account. This solution provides you with complete visibility into the licenses you own and an enhanced understanding of how you are using them.
The goal is to provide visibility to all of your company’s Cisco software assets in a single view. To obtain that view, you first need to set up a Smart Account, the same way that you would set up a bank account to store your financial assets in one place.
Like a bank account, a Smart Account allows you to:
● See all your Cisco software assets and entitlements in a centralized location
● Create subaccounts, similar to having separate savings and checking accounts at the bank
● Virtually move your assets between those accounts as necessary
● Add and remove users with varying levels of access
● Count on security
Cisco Smart Software Licensing is a standardized licensing paradigm that helps you understand how Cisco software is used across your network, thereby reducing administrative overhead and saving on operating expenses.
When Smart Software Licenses are linked to a Smart Account, customers and partners can manage licenses for greater visibility, flexibility, and productivity. In addition, a Smart Account and Smart Software Licensing together give you:
● License pooling that allows you to use any compatible license with any device
● Automatic registration of a device, upon activation
● License flexibility that allows you to use any available license, with no Product Authorization Key (PAK) fulfillment necessary
● Proactive alerts and notifications
● Usage reports that show where and how your software is being used across your company
To obtain a Smart account, navigate to https://software.cisco.com and select the Request a Smart Account option under the Administration heading. You may also request access to an existing Smart Account.
You must have a Smart Account before you can place an order for Cisco Business Dashboard licenses. If you do not have a Smart Account, follow the process described in the “Obtaining a Smart Account” section of this document to obtain one.
Two types of licenses are available for Cisco Business Dashboard, device licenses and integration licenses. Cisco Business Dashboard device licenses are required for each device being managed in the network. The second license type is required if Cisco Business Dashboard is integrated with the Kaseya VSA remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform. This integration is performed using the Cisco FindIT Plugin for Kaseya, and sufficient Kaseya integration licenses for FindIT are required for each device being managed through the Kaseya VSA.
You can order licenses in three different ways: 1) as standalone license packs that will expire at the end of the term, 2) as a subscription with automatic invoicing and renewal at the end of the term, and 3) by selecting the metered option for Cisco Business Dashboard for AWS and obtaining licenses through your AWS account (no Smart Account required). Not all Cisco resellers offer the subscription option, so check with your reseller prior to making a selection. Option descriptions follow:
Option 1: Standalone license packs
You can order Cisco Business Dashboard licenses in packs of various quantities, with a license term of 1 year. The tables below list the part numbers of the different license packs.
Table 1. Device license part numbers
| Part Number |
Description |
| LS-CBD-1-1Y= |
Single device license for Cisco Business Dashboard - 1 year |
| LS-CBD-15-1Y= |
15-device license for Cisco Business Dashboard - 1 year |
| LS-CBD-25-1Y= |
25-device license for Cisco Business Dashboard - 1 year |
| LS-CBD-50-1Y= |
50-device license for Cisco Business Dashboard - 1 year |
Table 2. FindIT-Kaseya integration license part numbers
| Part Number |
Description |
| LS-FNM-KAS-15-1Y= |
15-device Kaseya integration license for FindIT - 1 year |
| LS-FNM-KAS-25-1Y= |
25-device Kaseya integration license for FindIT - 1 year |
| LS-FNM-KAS-50-1Y= |
50-device Kaseya integration license for FindIT - 1 year |
License parts are cumulative and may be used in any combination to obtain sufficient licenses for your network.
Option 2: Subscription licenses
You also can order Cisco Business Dashboard licenses as a subscription, with more flexible terms and quantities. However, licenses subscriptions may not be available through all distributors and partners. You should check with your partner or distributor ahead of time to ensure they can offer Cisco software subscriptions. Table 3 shows offer and payment terms for Cisco Business Dashboard.
Table 3. Offer and payment terms
| Item |
Terms Available |
| Requested start date |
3 days after order placed and within 90 days |
| Initial terms available |
12, 36, and 60 months |
| Renewal terms available |
12 months |
| Payment terms |
Annual, quarterly or monthly billing, or prepaid in advance |
To order a Cisco Business Dashboard subscription using the Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW), use the following steps:
● Search for the top-level part number for a Cisco Business Dashboard subscription – LS-CBD-SUB. Add the subscription part to the order.
● Click Select Options to tailor the subscription to your requirements.
● Click Term and Payments and select the desired license term from the list of options provided, and optionally specify a start date for the subscription.
● Click Subscription Options, and specify the number of device licenses required against the LS-CBD-DEV line item.
If you order directly through your distributor’s ordering tools instead of ordering with CCW, look for the part numbers listed in Table 4. Then select the required quantities and term using the options provided in the ordering tools.
Table 4. Cisco Business Dashboard subscription part numbers
| Item |
Description |
| LS-CBD-SUB |
License subscription for Cisco Business Dashboard |
| LS-CBD-DEV |
Device license for Cisco Business Dashboard |
Subscription licenses for integration with third-party applications are not available at this time.
Option 3: Cisco Business Dashboard for AWS - Metered Licensing
If you wish to deploy Cisco Business Dashboard in Amazon Web Services, you may select the Cisco Business Dashboard (Metered) option from the AWS Marketplace. When using this option, license usage is calculated hourly based on the number of devices under management and charged monthly to your AWS account. No additional licenses are required, and there is no need to have a Smart Account to make use of this option.
Integration with third-party applications is not available at this time for metered deployments of Cisco Business Dashboard for AWS.
A properly licensed installation of Cisco Business Dashboard includes phone support from the Cisco Business Support Center and software updates for Cisco Business Dashboard for the duration of the license term. To find the local contact number for the Cisco Business Support Center, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/sbsc.
Cisco Business Dashboard is a distributed application that comprises two separate components or interfaces: the main Cisco Business Dashboard application, and the Cisco Business Dashboard Probe. An instance of Cisco Business Dashboard Probe is deployed in each site being managed, and each probe connects back to a common instance of Cisco Business Dashboard that provides a single interface for managing the network. For more information, consult the Cisco Business Dashboard documentation at https://www.cisco.com/go/cbd-docs.
You can download the software for both the dashboard and the probe from the Cisco Software Center at: https://www.cisco.com/go/cbd-sw. Cisco Business Dashboard for AWS may be accessed by searching for Cisco Business Dashboard in the AWS Marketplace at: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace.
Cisco Business Dashboard allows you can manage any number of devices for up to 90 days without device licenses when evaluating the software. No special configuration is necessary to evaluate the software, but support is limited to community support through the Cisco Business Dashboard support forum at: https://www.cisco.com/go/cbd-support.
● For more information about Cisco Business Dashboard, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/cbd
● For more information about Cisco Smart Licensing, visit https://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/smart-software-licensing/index.html
● For more information about Cisco Smart accounts, visit https://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/smart-software-manager/smart-accounts.html