Services Enrollment for Cisco Enterprise Agreement FAQ for Cisco customers

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Updated:May 12, 2021

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Updated:May 12, 2021
 

 

Executive summary

The Cisco® Enterprise Agreement is now more comprehensive, helping you get more efficient. We’re introducing Cisco Customer Experience (CX) services in a new Services Enrollment—initially for Cisco Solution Support—giving you the option to upgrade to a high-value support offer.

By choosing to purchase a Services Enrollment to complement your Software Enrollment, you can expand your support from Cisco software only by Cisco Software Support, to software and hardware from Cisco and other providers by Solution Support. This eliminates your need to maintain separate hardware support contracts in addition to your Enterprise Agreement contract, and further reduces support costs through Enterprise Agreement economies of scale for hardware support.

And to help you get the greatest value out of your contract, the Services Enrollment includes Enterprise Agreement Management Support. Initial onboarding and quarterly touchpoints sessions are designed to help you get the most value from your agreement and high-value services, as well as strategize for innovation and growth.

Note that the new Services Enrollment, initially featuring Solution Support, is available for Cisco data center networking and Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) solutions. More services and Cisco technology areas will be made available in the coming year.

Cisco Enterprise Agreement overview

Q.  What is a Cisco Enterprise Agreement?
A.  The Cisco Enterprise Agreement is a buying program that helps organizations buy, consume, and manage Cisco collaboration, data center, enterprise networking and security software through a three- or five-year agreement with unified terms and conditions. A Cisco Enterprise Agreement:

      Simplifies and centralizes software licensing management to help drive operational efficiencies

      Saves time through co-termination of software subscriptions, consolidating contracts for easier installed base management and reduced renewal events

      Controls costs by providing investment protection for existing software licenses and services, as well as budget predictability for growth

      Never charges retroactive fees by offering the industry’s only “True Forward” capability, helping you expand usage or pivot to new technologies on demand, without impacting your current budget

      Organizes all contract software subscriptions in one workspace to view what’s procured, deployed, and due for renewal

Q.  What’s unique about the Cisco Enterprise Agreement compared to other offers in the industry?
A.  The Cisco Enterprise Agreement offers the industry’s only True Forward capability. Typically, technology providers include a true-up feature in their enterprise agreements. This requires you to retroactively pay for changes to your original contract estimations, such as additional software usage or new software deployments, at your contract anniversary date.
Instead, Cisco offers a different kind of annual license adjustment that is designed to encourage growth and innovation: You can increase your software usage or adopt new software during your contract period, and these changes in consumption are built into each new year of your Enterprise Agreement contract. We never bill retroactively. True Forward is a feature of all Cisco Enterprise Agreement contracts, and is built into Cisco ONE ®, Cisco DNA, Data Center, Security 2.0, and Security Choice.

What’s new: Services Enrollment

Q.  What’s changing with the Cisco Enterprise Agreement?
A.  To help create greater purchasing and planning efficiencies, as well as enhance and expand the service coverage you may elect for your Cisco technology purchased through an Enterprise Agreement, we’re offering a new Services Enrollment option that includes high-value Cisco Services. You get:

      Solution Support. This service centralizes support across hardware and software from Cisco and Solution Support Alliance Partner products by Cisco engineers with deep solution, product, and interoperability expertise.

      Enterprise Agreement Management Support. New onboarding and regular quarterly sessions (Cisco led) are designed to guide you in effectively managing contracts by helping you analyze actual license consumption, address changes, and strategize for innovation and growth through the industry’s only enterprise agreement True Forward feature. You can pivot to adopt new solutions when and where you need to, and now scale your Solution Support coverage with it.

      Architecture focus. Services Enrollment, including Solution Support and Enterprise Agreement Management Support, will be initially available for all Cisco data center networking and Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) solutions.

Q.  How does choosing to purchase the new Services Enrollment help me?
A.  By opting to pair a Services Enrollment with your Software Enrollment for your Cisco Enterprise Agreement, you can:

      Further streamline contract management by eliminating separate hardware support contracts since Solution Support addresses both software and hardware from Cisco and other providers. Because it resolves complex issues on average 44 percent faster than product support, it’s the right kind of support service for multiproduct or multivendor solution environments.

      Reduce support costs and gain financial predictability by adding hardware support to your Cisco Enterprise Agreement, which offers economies of scale to lower your pricing compared to purchasing support transactionally.

      Receive a more consistent support experience across software and hardware through Solution Support engineers, who address your solution as a whole, versus working with separate software and hardware engineer teams.

      Extract the highest value out of your Enterprise Agreement through quarterly consultative sessions with Cisco experts, who help you analyze asset coverage and usage, plan for change and growth, and prepare you for True Forward.

Q.  Is the new Services Enrollment mandatory or optional with a Software Enrollment for Cisco Enterprise Agreement?
A.  Pairing a Services Enrollment with your Software Enrollment is optional. You can still choose to purchase only a Software Enrollment, which automatically entitles you to Cisco Software Support Basic included with your purchased software licenses.
A.  However, if you are purchasing a Cisco data center networking or Cisco DNA solution, consider purchasing a Services Enrollment for the following reasons:

      Solution Support is purpose-built to address the kinds of complex issues that can arise in a multiproduct or multivendor solution environment, as it covers both hardware and software from Cisco and our Alliance Partners.

      Because most of our customers want help fast, no matter how small or large the issue, we’ve built speed into critical steps of Solution Support delivery that are not available through Cisco product support (that is to say, Cisco Software Support Basic and Cisco Smart Net Total Care® Service):

      You don’t need to isolate your issue to a product in order to open a case (unlike product support)

      Solution Support provides a 30-minute response for severity 1 and 2 issues (versus 60 minutes for Cisco Smart Net Total Care)

      Solution Support cases are prioritized over product support service requests

These benefits, combined with Solution Support engineers’ deep expertise, result in an average 44 percent faster complex issue resolution than product support. 1

      Solution Support includes underlying Smart Net Total Care and Software Support Basic, so you don’t lose any of the features you may be familiar with today. You get additional high-value support features designed to efficiently and effectively resolve solution-level issues.

      Enterprise Agreement Management Support offers 1:1 consultative engagements that help you get the most value out of their agreements by reviewing data that can inform decisions about technology strategy and growth.

1 July 2020 Cisco internal study of 300,000 support cases
Q.  If I opt to pair a Services Enrollment with a Software Enrollment, do I purchase it at the suite level for Cisco data center networking or Cisco DNA technologies?
A.  Yes, both the Services Enrollment and the Software Enrollment must be purchased at the suite level for your chosen technologies.
Q.  How does True Forward work for the new Services Enrollment?
A.  Find complete details on True Forward and how it works in the new Services Enrollment in the Cisco Enterprise Agreement True Forward customer FAQs on Cisco.com.

What’s new: Enterprise Agreement Management Support

Q.  What is Enterprise Agreement Management Support?
A.  Enterprise Agreement Management Support is a component of the new Services Enrollment that is included with your purchase. It is designed to help you get the full value of your Enterprise Agreement contract features and Cisco Service(s) through high-touch engagements led by Cisco, with input from your partner.
An initial onboarding session within 30 days after the Enterprise Agreement start date provides:

      Enterprise Agreement benefits overview and business rules

      Initial entitlement overview (software licenses and support coverage)

      Walkthrough of the workspace portal, consumption reports, and how to generate and provision licenses

      An overview of support channels (that is to say, Enterprise Agreement Learning Center, collateral, how to open a support case related to an Enterprise Agreement, etc.)

      Solution Support features and benefits overview, how to open a case, and other available resources

Quarterly touchpoints will also be provided to:

      Assess asset management through review of consumption reports (software licenses, hardware installed base, and support coverage)

      Clean up and prepare for True Forward

      Provide expertise around licensing generation or provisioning barriers

Q.  Is there a cost for Enterprise Agreement Management Support?
A.  No, you receive Enterprise Agreement Management Support as part of the new Services Enrollment.

Compatibility with other enrollments and offers

Q.  Can the Services Enrollment be purchased as a standalone agreement; that is to say, without a Software Enrollment?
A.  Customers with a current Cisco Enterprise Agreement can elect to add a Services Enrollment to their contract. Otherwise, you cannot opt to purchase a Services Enrollment without a Software Enrollment.

Note:         Solution Support requires you to purchase hardware and software product support for any Solution Support Alliance Partner (third-party) products in your deployment directly from those providers. Contact them for more information. Visit the Solution Support Resource Guide for more information on Solution Support requirements, processes, etc.

Q.  Cisco currently offers the option of Cisco Software Support Enhanced or Premium in Enterprise Agreements. How do these choices fit with the option to purchase a Services Enrollment featuring Solution Support?
A.  Cisco Software Support Enhanced and Premium are only available for Cisco security and collaboration products today. They do not cover Cisco data center or enterprise networking technologies. Only Cisco Software Support Basic is currently available for these architectures.
Because Cisco data center networking and Cisco DNA are typically deployed as complete multiproduct or multivendor solutions, a different type of technical service beyond product support is needed to address the complex issues that can arise. Solution Support resolves complex solution issues, on average 44 percent faster than product support 1, making it the ideal technical service for Cisco data center and Cisco DNA environments. When you choose the new Services Enrollment featuring Solution Support for Cisco data center networking and Cisco DNA solutions, you get access to premium deliverables that help speed Return On Investment (ROI) and increase your overall satisfaction with your purchase.
1 July 2020 Cisco internal study of 300,000 support cases
Q.  Can the new Services Enrollment be purchased with the Collaboration or Security Choice Enterprise Agreement?
A.  Not at this time. The new Services Enrollment featuring Solution Support is only available as an option to purchase with a Software Enrollment for Cisco data center networking and Cisco DNA solutions.
Q.  How is the new Services Enrollment different than a Cisco Services Full Coverage (SFC) contract?
A.  Cisco Services Full Coverage is a buying program that addresses Cisco hardware products across all architectures in one contract, creating enterprise-wide coverage. The new Services Enrollment featuring Solution Support addresses both hardware and software, but for specific products and architectures (initially, Cisco data center networking and Cisco DNA solutions) in separate contracts for each technology area.
Q.  What is the best way to identify whether the new Services Enrollment or a Services Full Coverage agreement is right for me?
A.  The new Services Enrollment is appropriate when you:

      Require support coverage for a specific architecture (initially for Cisco data center networking or Cisco DNA only)

      Have a limited number of existing service contracts and partners

Coverage options

Q.  Will the new Services Enrollment offer a choice of Return Materials Authorization Service-Level Agreements (RMA SLAs)?
A.  Yes. Solution Support includes underlying Smart Net Total Care, which offers three RMA options: 4-hour, next business day, and next calendar day.
Q.  Can I choose different SLAs for RMA support entitlement at the device level, or must it be the same SLA for the entire suite?
A.  You can have different SLAs of RMA support. Device-level (serial-based) RMA SLA entitlements will be available.

More information

Q.  Where can I get additional information about the new Services Enrollment?
A.  Find more information by talking to your Cisco representative and visiting us at Cisco.com:

      Enterprise Agreement on Cisco.com

      Services Enrollment for Cisco Enterprise Agreement at-a-glance

      Solution Support on Cisco.com

      Solution Support at-a-glance

      Solution Support ebook

 

 

 

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