Cisco End-Of-Life Calculator?

[Bob Smith]

Is there an easy way to figure out an estimate of end-of-life on some of these cisco products?

For example, I need to purchase over one-hundred 881W and 861W routers for our business but don't want to run into the issue when I find that Cisco puts out an end-of-life announcement in a couple months and slashes our software support (In otherwords, I accidently purchased the _older_ 800 series model). This would cost our business tens of thousands of dollars if this happens, as we are looking to keep these routers as long as possible with full software support.

So far, I've just been going through trying to find the release date for some of these routers, but even thats been hard enough (I've been resorting to using the wayback machine). I figure that a router typically lasts three years on the market, historically, this is what happened to the 871, (Released in 2005, EoL in 2008).

So, is there any way to figure this out or estimate this? Or do I bite the bullet and risk losing a lot of money for the company?

[Thotsaphon Lueangwattanaphong]

Hi Bob,

       It's hard to predict what you asked for. Cisco says "Products reach the end of their Product Life Cycle  for a number of reasons. These reasons may be due to market demands,  technology innovation and development driving changes in the product, or  the products simply mature over time and are replaced by functionally  richer technology." 

       You may want to read this. Ref: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_end-of-life_policy.html

        I know that there are many reasons to buy the router. It depends on Budget,Performance,Function etc. IMHO,If you're concerned about investment protection, you could also consider Cisco 891W. You may also ask your local partner for ideas.

HTH,

Toshi