The world's largest interdealer broker signs a 3 year Cisco Enterprise Agreement with Natilik - Now what on Earth is that?

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CISCO’S NEW LICENSING STRUCTURE

You may or may not be aware that Cisco has recently overhauled their Enterprise level licensing structure globally, so we thought it best to put together this quick blog post to help explain more.

WHAT IS A CISCO ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT?

Cisco licensing has often been notoriously difficult to understand, complicated to purchase with huge forecast spend unpredictability, and almost impossible to manage successfully.

ALIGNING TECHNOLOGY USAGE TO BUSINESS OUTCOMES

 

Thankfully, it would appear Cisco has actioned a change in structure and sought to simplify the model moving forward; in line with its overall software first strategy, changing consumption demands from clients, and a more focused approach to aligning technology usage to business outcomes.

 

WHAT’S THE BENEFIT?

Enterprise Agreements aren’t new in the industry, Microsoft, for instance, has a long established heritage in this space so there is nothing too radical in Cisco’s new approach. However, there are some unique additions that might be of significant interest to you.

A SINGLE AGREEMENT ACROSS ONE OR MULTIPLE TECHNOLOGIES OVER EITHER A 3YR OR 5YR TERM

 

The new model will allow clients to deploy and manage their Cisco Software in a single agreement across one or multiple technologies, over either a 3yr or 5yr term. This means that it can cover everything from Cisco ONE subscriptions, the newly announced Network Intuitive, Collaboration or Security. Clients can even opt to take advantage of the whole shooting match with a cross architecture variant.

 

 

CISCO WILL ALSO ALLOW FOR A STAGGERING 20% LICENSING GROWTH PER ANNUM, FREE OF CHARGE

 

It’s also even better news for clients, as Cisco is prioritising the sale of EA agreements with more competitive pricing than standard licencing. Most excitingly, however, Cisco will also allow for a staggering 20% licensing growth per annum, free of charge. This is significant, especially as the new model tolerates both organic or inorganic growth, making it hugely appealing to organisations with strong growth or acquisition strategies. A genuine statement of intent from Cisco to align their software strategy directly to a clients business initiatives

 

WHAT’S THE CATCH?

The new EA model is designed for organisations who are looking to make a broad, multi-year investment in one or a combination of Cisco architectures. There are economies of scale to be sought. Whilst it may not be wholly cost effective for small businesses (think Microsoft's EA) it's difficult to really put a starting point on it. We’d recommend a user base of 400+ but again, if your business is a high consumer of multiple Cisco architectures, then the economies of scale may still apply with a lower count than that. We have a number of tools available to run an analysis for you so it’s always worth running the comparison first.

END-USER ADOPTION IS KEY

 

The second catch for some may be that as an ‘all you can eat’ model, end-user adoption is key. So many organisations fail to gain the maximum benefits from these types of agreements by not utilising all the software access available to them, resulting in rather expensive basic licensing!

 

 

FROM REPORTING, TO TRAINING END-USERS, WE WILL WORK WITH YOU AND YOUR TEAMS TO ENSURE FULL REWARD FROM THE CONTRACT

 

As a Lifecycle Advisor, this is where we can really help drive the maximum return on investment for your business. With a dedicated Account Team including an Account Director, Service Delivery Manager and Contracts Executive, you’re in good hands to ensure the maximum levels of adoption. From reporting, to training end-users, we will work with you and your teams to ensure full reward from the contract.

Having performed a number of these already, despite the structure’s infancy, we’re well placed to assist. So whether you keen to learn more, explore a comparison, run an analysis of your current licencing model or want to speak to us around pricing, then click here to get in contact.