cisco support services

[MZydorczyk2]

I am look to get cisco support services such as warrenties and or things like software for our cisco devices. Where can I buy these services? Is there info for something like this on the cisco site? Thanks.

[mark.hodge]

Warentees vary on Cisco devices from 90 days up to "limited lifetime" which realy means 10 years. Details can be found here

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_warranties_listing.html

Warenty generaly only covers hardware replacement, not software support or updates.

After warenty has expired, or even during warenty period, you can get SmartNET support contracts, which cover both hardware and software from Cisco.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/svcs/ps3034/ps2827/ps2978/serv_group_home.html

Or there are other options available throght Cisco Partners.

[MZydorczyk2]

So how do you get device images then? Do you need to buy a service contract? Or can you buy them individually? or both?

[mark.hodge]

It depends on the device, most of the lower level access switches can be upgdated from the Cisco site without a contract.

The distribution switches, routers, firewalls etc require a contract with Cisco, or a one time charge to upgrade.

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[scuzzlightyear]

Hi mark,

We have a hardware mainteneance & support contract with a cisco reseller. I recently got quotes for Wireless Solution and an upgrade to ACS 4.0. They then rectified the quotes to include warranty charges per Access Point and a warranty charge on the ACS software also. They gave me a spiel that the warranty covers Updates for the software. I think they made a mistake on pricing originally and have included these costs to make up the difference. It would be great if someone could shed light on this issue. Thks

[Richard Burts]

John

The Cisco price list will show a price for products such as Access Points and a separate item price for warranty. It will also show a price for software such as ACS and a separate item price for warranty. The warranty does include upgrades to the software during the period of the warranty.

Without knowing more detail it would be difficult for us to say for sure, but it sounds to me like the difference between the first quote and the second quote is a legitimate inclusion of warranty.

HTH

Rick

[scuzzlightyear]

Just got this from Cisco:

For a product such as ACS, the software is typically guaranteed to function as specified for 90 days. Software updates for the application or for IOS are not included in the warranty and can only be downloaded and used under the terms of a valid support agreement. Any customer using software updates or upgrades downloaded outside of a support agreement is in breach of the software licence.

Why would I want to pay warranty amounting to 10% of the actual price when Software warranty seemingly only covers the software and the media it's on for 90 days?

[Richard Burts]

John

I believe that there is some confusion and perhaps some terms used a bit loosely. It would be more technically correct to go back to your question and replace "warranty" with "service agreement". When you purchase the software Cisco will warrant it to work for a period of 90 days and this does not include any right to update or upgrade the software. What you would purchase in the service agreement (or warranty) is for a period of a year instead of 90 days, includes the right to open a case with the Cisco TAC if it does not work correctly, and does include the right to update or upgrade the software. So there is a real value in the service agreement.

I know some customers who do not purchase service agreements on their equipment or software. And in the short term they do save some money. But if the equipment develops a problem or the software has a bug, or they want a new feature which requires a software update then the price for these is pretty steep.

So you have a choice about whether to purchase the service agreement or not. How much of a gambler are you?

HTH

Rick

[scuzzlightyear]

Rick,

Thanks for the responses, much appreciated.