I'd thought this would be an easy thing to sort out from the main Cisco website, but I've had no luck so far. I'm trying to understand the software support requirements for our WCS software.
We started a few years ago with a WLC4402-25, WCS 5.0 base on Windows, and about 20 APs. As we added wireless to more buildings on campus, our next upgrade was adding a WLC-440-50, and we're now up to 46 APs and WCS version 6.0.196.0. We pay annual support for 8x5 NBD service on both WLCs, and we've also had software support, specifically product number "CON-SAU-WCS-WB1X" described as "Cisco Software Application Support plus Upgrades (SAU) - 1 Year - 24x7 - Maintenance - New Releases Update Mfr: CISCO Cust: 3/11/2011-3/10/2012" for about $720 per year. I assume this item is what lets me log in and download new versions of WCS.
So far, so good. Now, we've got plans to bring another building on-line with wireless, so I've added an additional 100 AP license to our WCS software. (Our WLC hardware capability is only for 75 APs, but adding 100 licenses to WCS was the next step beyond the base 50 that came with the original WCS install.) This license shows up on the WCS via the "Administration > License Center" menu as "AP Limit: 150" and "Type: Permanent" so I think that should be all set, (though I guess I won't know for certain until I add that 51st AP).
However, we are coming up to our annual support renewal, and my Cisco vendor has informed me that since I've added these new licenses to our WCS, I now need an additional annual support item as well, namely "CON-SAU-WLB100EX", described as "Cisco Software Application Support plus Upgrades (SAU) 1 Year - 24x7 Mfr: CISCO Cust: AIR-WCS-WLB-100EX, 3/11/2011-3/10/2012"
For this they want an additional $1,080 per year.
To me this seems kind of bogus and unfair. As far as I can tell, adding this 100 AP license (which I was told would be essentially a one-time charge) does not make my WCS software any more challenging to support. It was a little tricky to install and activate the license, but now that it is installed, WCS software version updates work exactly as they did before.
So, why should it now cost more than twice as much to support my WCS software?
I'm hoping my vendor is confused about this. Worst case, maybe I now need the $1080 package instead of the original $720 package. But I really don't want to have to spring for $1080 in addition to the original $720. Especially since, due to my current WLC hardware, I'm really only able to use an additional 25 AP licenses out of the 100.
Conversly, what happens if I just buy support for my original WCS software, but not for the extra 100 AP pack of licenses? Perhaps I could get support for any issues with the regular software, but I'd be on my own if the additional license somehow failed to work?
Anyone have any ideas about this? Even basic stuff like "how do I find out what these friggin' Cisco part numbers mean?" would be helpful. (Searching for "CON-SAU-WLB100EX" in the main search box at www.cisco.com gets no results.)
Thanks for any suggestions,
Steve
