Cisco Business Dashboard License End of Sale FAQ - Transition to Free Device Management Licensing

Objective

This article contains answers to frequently asked questions about the end of sale of Cisco Business Dashboard (CBD) licenses and transition to free device management licensing.

Table of Contents

1. What is changing with Cisco Business Dashboard licensing?
2. Do I still need to buy the licenses to operate Cisco Business Dashboard?
3. When does this change take effect?
4. Do I need to take any action to take advantage of license free device management?
5. What happens to my current paid license?
6. I recently purchased a paid license. Am I eligible for a refund or credit?
7. I have a monthly billing subscription. What do I need to do?
8. What information do I need to request a refund?
9. Does this change affect other products or services?
10. Is there a limit to how many devices I can manage now?
11. Are there any changes to the terms of service or privacy policy?
12. Who can I contact if I have more questions?

CBD Licensing Update FAQs

1. What is changing with Cisco Business Dashboard licensing?

Beginning with version 2.11.1 of Cisco Business Dashboard, users will not require a paid license to use Cisco Business Dashboard and manage supported Cisco products on the platform. There will be no restrictions on the number of supported devices that can be managed through Cisco Business Dashboard without purchasing a license.

2. Do I still need to buy the licenses to operate Cisco Business Dashboard?

No. The licensing SKUs for Cisco Business Dashboard have reached their End of Sale milestone and are being retired. Starting from version 2.11.1, customers can continue to use Cisco Business Dashboard to manage their networks without the requirement of purchasing licenses for deployments exceeding 25 devices.

3. When does this change take effect?

The transition to license-free device management takes effect on Cisco Business Dashboard version 2.11.1 (releasing in February 2026).

4. Do I need to take any action to take advantage of license free device management?

Ensure that your implementation of Cisco Business Dashboard has been updated to 2.11.1. To easily upgrade your CBD, refer to the article Upgrade Firmware for Cisco Business Dashboard .

5. What happens to my current paid license?

All existing paid licenses for device management will no longer be required for managing your network with Cisco Business Dashboard. For customers with existing prepaid active subscriptions, please reach out to the Point of Sale (respective distributor or partner) and/or the Cisco Account team for further assistance.

6. I recently purchased a paid license. Am I eligible for a refund or credit?

If you have purchased a prepaid term license (multi-year license or annual billing) for device management on Cisco business Dashboard and if your subscription has more than 30 days of validity, then please reach out to Point of Sale or Cisco Account team to explore refund options.

7. I have a monthly billing subscription. What do I need to do?

You can cancel the subscription and upgrade Cisco Business Dashboard to version 2.11.1 to take advantage of license-free management.

8. What information do I need to request a refund?

You will need your license subscription ID and your Cisco registered email address when requesting the refund. You can find your subscription ID using Cisco Software Central portal.

9. Does this change affect other products or services?

This change applies only to the device management dashboard called Cisco Business Dashboard.

10. Is there a limit to how many devices I can manage now?

The requirement to purchase a license for managing more than 25 devices has been removed. While the technical scale and performance limits remain unchanged as specified in the datasheet (CBD datasheet), you can now manage your network up to its full supported capacity entirely for free.

11. Are there any changes to the terms of service or privacy policy?

Our terms of service and privacy policy remain unchanged. Any updates will be communicated via official channels.

12. Who can I contact if I have more questions?

For further assistance, please raise a support request with the Cisco support team by visiting our support portal (https://mycase.cloudapps.cisco.com/case).