Cisco DNA Software Subscriptions for Access Wireless Ordering Guide
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Cisco® Networking is your team’s bridge to an intent-based network. It is an open, extensible, software-driven portfolio that helps accelerate and simplify your enterprise network operations while lowering costs and reducing your risk. Only Cisco provides a single-network fabric that is powered by deep intelligence and integrated security to delivery automation and assurance across your entire network organization at scale. Cisco Networking gives IT time back from time-consuming, repetitive network configuration tasks so you can focus on the innovations your business needs.
Cisco DNA Software subscriptions provide customers with four key benefits:
● Investment protection of software purchases through software services-enabled license portability
● Software suites that address typical customer use case scenarios at an attractive price
● Flexible licensing models to smoothly distribute customer’s software spending over time
● Access to new technology from Cisco
Table 1 outlines common IT management challenges and the ways that Cisco DNA Software helps customers to address them.
Table 1. IT management challenges and Cisco DNA Software benefits
| IT management challenges |
Cisco DNA Software benefits |
| Shrinking IT budgets Budgets are shrinking while IT demands continue to accelerate. As the costs of IT and downtime skyrocket, companies need to balance shrinking budgets with easy-to-deploy networks that enhance operation efficiency. |
Deliver more value for your money Cisco DNA Software is designed for typical customer use scenarios and is offered at a better-together price, making it easier and less expensive for you to deploy complete solutions. Increase investment protection Software services-enabled license portability lets your software licenses stay current through hardware upgrades and replacements at no additional cost. |
| Infrastructure inflexibility IT organizations lack an automated way to keep pace with changing business needs and demands for more resources. It often takes months or weeks to procure and provision a new network service. |
Enhance business agility Cisco DNA Software delivers critical business solutions and provides you with the tools you need to deploy, maintain, and manage your software. |
| Lack of buying options Organizations need more options for buying software to improve their flexibility, reduce risk, and cut costs. |
Supplies flexible licensing models Evenly distribute your software spending over time with subscription- based and other flexible purchasing models. |
| Implementation obstacles Deploying software and implementing new use cases can often cause major disruptions in your current operations. |
Reduce risk Cisco’s technical and professional services provide the expertise, smart tools, and proven processes that reduce risk and downtime. |
| Excessive time and costs for maintenance The majority of your IT budget and most of your workloads are focused on routine maintenance, limiting your ability to innovate and grow your business. |
Accelerate ROI and time-to-value Optimize the performance of your networks to get the most from your technology investments. Accelerate your business outcomes with expert guidance from Cisco® technical and professional services. |
Benefits of software subscriptions
Software subscriptions provide a number of benefits:
● Faster access to innovation
◦ Frequent access to the latest features: New features are being released more often than in the past. Subscriptions give you regular, real-time access to the latest features and accelerate your journey to the cloud.
◦ Up-to-date security protection: Software subscriptions help you to stay current with changing security requirements through access to the latest features.
◦ Software refresh independent of hardware: Subscriptions free the software refresh cycle from the hardware for ongoing access to innovation.
● Enhanced agility
◦ Capability to renew and scale what you want: Stay synchronized with the dynamic nature of your business. Easily update your technology capabilities, as your business needs change.
◦ License portability for flexibility: Subscriptions enable shorter planning cycles and help avoid the overspending associated with long-term capacity planning.
● Better financial planning
◦ Linear, predictable budget spending: Subscriptions give you more spending predictability and linearity and help avoid spending peaks and valleys.
◦ Shift from Capital Expenditures (CapEx) to Operating Expenses (OpEx): Be OpEx-centric in the cloud and consumption economy era. In addition, you lower your initial investment.
◦ Keep vendors focused on value: Subscriptions keep vendors more focused on growing value, a key decision-making factor at renewal time.
Cisco DNA Software delivers an unbound network on an open and extensible architecture to help you navigate the digital journey. Benefits include lower initial costs, investment protection, agility to respond more quickly to business needs, and better budget predictability. These 3-, 5-, and 7-year subscriptions include full Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) capabilities supported by Cisco Software-Defined Access (SDA) analytics, automation, and security. Wireless subscription offers are categorized into two tiers:
Cisco DNA Essentials and Cisco DNA Advantage.
All Cisco DNA Subscription offers include embedded support with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC), knowledge base access, and software downloads. Additional services, such as Cisco Solution Support with Smart Net Total Care® and Cisco Solution Support with Software Support Services, are available for purchase separately.
More details about the available features in each tier can be found here - https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/products/software/dna-subscription-wireless/en-sw-sub-matrix-wireless.html?oid=porew018984
Cisco platforms supported by Cisco DNA Wireless Subscription
The following access-point platforms are supported:
● All Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 2 access points and Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points are fully supported.
● Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 1 access points are supported with limited capabilities.
The following Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) platforms are supported:
● Cisco Catalyst 9800 controller.
How to Order a Cisco DNA Wireless Subscription
Cisco DNA Software Subscription for Access Wireless can be ordered through the following two methods –
1. Cisco DNA Software Subscription, along with an access point order.
2. Standalone Cisco DNA Software Subscription (See Figure 2.)
1. Ordering Cisco DNA Subscription along with an Access Points order:
● Cisco DNA Software Subscriptions are available to order along with all Cisco Access Points.
● For convenience, Cisco DNA Advantage 5 Year is preselected as the default option with Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 2 and Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points.
To order Cisco DNA subscription in the Cisco Commerce Workspace with Access Point, follow these steps:
a. Enter Access Point SKU e.g. AIR-AP4800-X-K9.
b. Select the appropriate AIR-DNA (AIR-DNA-A or AIR-DNA-E) desired license type.
c. Choose the Cisco DNA term license (3, 5, or 7 years).
Ordering the access point
Selecting a Cisco DNA subscription
2. Cisco DNA Standalone SKUs for Ordering:
| SKU |
|
Description |
| AIR-DNA |
|
CISCO DNA Licenses for Wireless |
| AIR-DNA-A |
CISCO DNA Advantage Term Licenses |
|
| AIR-DNA-E |
CISCO DNA Essentials Term Licenses |
To order in the Cisco Commerce Workspace, follow these steps:
a. Enter AIR-DNA.
b. Select the appropriate AIR-DNA desired license type.
c. Choose the Cisco DNA term license (3, 5, or 7 years).
Specifying AIR-DNA
Choosing a license type
Choosing a license term
Our industry-leading methodology and tools, expertise, best practices, and established partner relationships help our customers deliver extraordinary outcomes. We take a holistic approach to planning, implementing, and managing your next-generation network. With our services, you quickly recognize the full value of your SD-Access investment. For more information about this and other Cisco Services, contact your local account representative or visit https://www.cisco.com/go/enservices.
We recommend that Cisco DNA subscription customers purchase Cisco Solution Support for both hardware and license support.
Cisco Embedded Support is included with the purchase of the software subscription. Cisco Embedded Support provides Cisco technical support access online or by phone.
Cisco Embedded Software Support includes:
1. Access to support and troubleshooting through online tools and web case submission; case severity or escalation guidelines are not applicable.
2. TAC access 24 hours a day to assist by telephone, or web case submission and online tools with application software use and troubleshooting problems.
3. Entitlement to maintenance releases, and software updates for software.
4. Access to https://www.cisco.com; this system offers customer’s helpful technical and general information about Cisco products as well as access to the online Cisco Software Center library.
No additional products or fees are required to receive these services with a software subscription.
Cisco Solution Support is the recommended service on both the hardware and software licenses. Cisco Solution Support is an essential element of the Cisco DNA networking architecture because it helps customers maintain its performance, reliability, and return on investment. This service delivers centralized support across the Cisco and third-party solution partner products in your solution ecosystem. Cisco’s team of solution experts is the primary point of contact and owns the case from first call to resolution, no matter where the problem resides in the customer’s network.
Refer to the service description for more detailed information regarding Cisco Solution Support.
● Cisco Solution Support with Smart Net Total Care.
● Cisco Solution Support with Software Support Services.
You can learn more about Cisco Solution Support at https://www.cisco.com/go/solutionsupport.
Flexible payment solutions to help you achieve your objectives
Cisco Capital makes it easier to get the right technology to achieve your objectives, enable business transformation and help you stay competitive. We can help you reduce the total cost of ownership, conserve capital, and accelerate growth. In more than 100 countries, our flexible payment solutions can help you acquire hardware, software, services and complementary third-party equipment in easy, predictable payments. Learn more.
Introduction to Smart Licensing
Cisco Smart Licensing is a flexible licensing model that provides you with an easier, faster, and more consistent way to purchase and manage software across the Cisco portfolio and across your organization. And it’s secure – you control what users can access. With Smart Licensing you get:
● Easy Activation: Smart Licensing establishes a pool of software licenses that can be used across the entire organization—no more PAKs (Product Activation Keys).
● Unified Management: My Cisco Entitlements (MCE) provides a complete view into all of your Cisco products and services in an easy-to-use portal, so you always know what you have and what you are using.
● License Flexibility: Your software is not node-locked to your hardware, so you can easily use and transfer licenses as needed.
To use Smart Licensing, you must first set up a Smart Account on Cisco Software Central.
For a more detailed overview on Cisco Licensing, go to https://www.cisco.com/go/licensingguide.
To learn more about how Cisco DNA Software can help your organization, please contact your account manager or authorized reseller.