Networking Infrastructure Portfolio Guide

Enterprise Agreement Networking Infrastructure Portfolio Guide

Solve the broadest set of customer problems with a worldwide leader in networking.

The Cisco Networking Infrastructure portfolio solves a broad range of networking-related customer problems across various industries and segments. It helps you quickly adapt in order to change, simplify, and scale operations as technologies and requirements evolve.

The new Cisco Enterprise Agreement brings together industry-leading Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) software, Cisco Meraki®, and Cisco Data Center Networking offerings with other Cisco capabilities to enhance every business. With the Cisco EA, you can implement critical cross-technology solutions more effectively and adjust and adapt your networking infrastructure dynamically. Enjoy the convenience of addressing all networking needs in one unified agreement.

Introduction

The Cisco® Enterprise Agreement (EA) comprises six portfolios that encompass our software and services suites. These include Networking Infrastructure, Applications Infrastructure, Collaboration, Provider Connectivity, Security, and Services. An EA offers you more than just a service agreement or buying program; it brings you the power and breadth of our entire software and services portfolio under a single, simplified agreement. It gives you easy access to the Cisco technologies you need to scale rapidly and accelerate at the speed of business. Not only does an EA simplify purchasing, it also offers you a future-ready software subscription strategy that delivers greater value, agility, and flexibility for your organization.

  • One agreement

    The Cisco EA is designed to cover your entire organization. When you purchase through an EA, the EA Program Terms will apply from your initial purchase to any future purchases you make within the term of the agreement. With Cisco’s EA management platform, you can manage your Cisco EA from one place with complete visibility and granular control.

  • Easier expansion

    The Cisco EA makes it easy to invest in the technology to support accelerated business transformation when you need it. Add additional software and services to your existing contract without another enterprise-wide commitment. It includes flexible commitment levels and lower spending minimums so you can respond to business changes rapidly.

  • Comprehensive solutions

    Organizations can combine suites from the six portfolios available in a Cisco EA to create a custom solution to address business needs. Complementing the bespoke ability customers have to meet their needs, Cisco offers solutions specifically designed to address the network security threats customers face today.

  • Exceptional value

    The Cisco EA delivers preferred pricing that rewards increased commitment with invaluable benefits, including pricing incentives, financial predictability, and investment protection. Maximize your investment with access to exclusive offers such as multisuite discounts.

  • Simple membership

    Get all the benefits of the Cisco EA for as little as $100,000 total contract value. The Cisco EA makes it easy to invest in technology when you need it.

Enjoy more network choice and simplicity

The Cisco Networking Infrastructure portfolio focuses on helping you adapt quickly to change and simplify and scale operations, while protecting against service degradation and threats.

The simplicity of the new EA brings together industry-leading Cisco networking offerings with other Cisco offerings in a way that can help supercharge business operations. You can more easily and effectively implement critical cross-technology solutions, such as security and services. And you can dynamically adjust and adapt networking infrastructure and keep pace with your network’s expanding and evolving demands.

Suites

Cisco Networking Infrastructure solutions

Under the new EA, the Cisco Networking Infrastructure portfolio includes the following solutions:

  • Cisco DNA Software and Cisco Catalyst Software
  • Cisco Meraki
  • Cisco Data Center Networking
Cisco DNA Software and Cisco Catalyst Software

The software-defined approach of the Cisco Catalyst™ wired and wireless networks converts business intent into business results. It delivers end-to-end visibility, automation, and insights into your network so that you can innovate more quickly, reduce costs, and lower risk with easy-to-consume services. With the EA, you can gain access to the latest innovations more quickly and activate the features securely to the following software suites:

  • Cisco DNA Software for switching

    Scale business operations, segment networks, and manage switching secure access. Options include basic to advanced policy-based automation, monitoring, and Cisco DNA centralized management, as well as holistic traffic visibility, AI/ML-driven insights, and assurance capabilities.

    Learn more about Cisco DNA Software for Switching

  • Cisco Catalyst Software for switching

    Catalyst Software subscriptions accelerate and simplify your enterprise network operations with deep intelligence and integrated security to deliver advanced automation and assurance across your entire network organization at scale. On top of these advanced features, the Catalyst software subscription now includes ISE licenses in the Advantage tier, offering one easy subscription for zero-trust network security with solutions like SD-Access, Client Assurance and Network Authentication/Authorization. Basic product-level support and core support features for both software and now hardware are built right into the Catalyst software subscription.

    Learn more about Cisco Catalyst software for Switching

  • Cisco DNA Software for wireless

    Enhance wireless performance with Cisco Catalyst Center. Get centralized management and provisioning of wireless network devices, as well as options for advanced automation, assurance, and location analytics. You can also personalize services with location-based solutions and protect your network, devices, data, and business with strong, network-based security.

    Learn more about Cisco DNA Software for Wireless

  • Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing

    Embrace a new approach to managing and operating business WAN infrastructure, built on Cisco edge platforms and Cisco routers and managed with the vManage platform. You can prepare your network for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and simplify your WAN architecture, making it easier to manage and more cost-efficient to operate and deploy. Plus you gain the ability to deftly balance built-in security and application experience with direct internet access at the branch.

    Learn more about Cisco DNA software for SD-WAN and Routing

Optional add-ons:

  • Cisco Spaces: Location analytics
  • Cisco ThousandEyes®: Internet network visibility
  • Cisco Identity Services Engine: Microsegmentation for the SD-Access solution
  • Cisco Secure Network Analytics (formerly Stealthwatch): Encrypted traffic analytics for the SD-Access solution
Meraki networking

Cisco Meraki provides cloud-first agile networking solutions that provide an end-to-end “connect,” “converge,” and “observe” experience. The Meraki platform allows you to rapidly roll out a secure agile network with personalized experiences for employees and customers. With Meraki available on the new EA, customers can connect hybrid dispersed workforces, power smart spaces, and provide safe and secure environments via these Meraki suites:

  • Meraki networking suite

    The Meraki Networking suite allows business workforces to connect from anywhere with strong physical and digital security. It enables you to deliver the experiences your customers want no matter where they are, from a single platform. It includes three product families: Meraki wireless and switching, Meraki secure SD-WAN, and Meraki sensors.

    Meraki wireless and switching
    Help ensure seamless and faster wireless connections anywhere, support greater user capacity, and provide more coverage to transform how people connect. Intelligently adapt access control and application usage policies and dynamically enhance end-user experiences and network security.

    Learn more about Meraki wireless and switching

    Meraki secure SD-WAN
    Securely connect business users and devices, no matter where they are. Use wired or cellular uplinks for internet-based traffic, data center, or multicloud environments with the Meraki Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) building blocks. Efficiently maintain optimized performance for every application on the network and optimize the user experience. An integrated analytics engine intelligently analyzes connectivity from a client all the way to the application server.

    Learn more about Meraki secure SD-WAN

    Meraki sensors
    Provide real-time visibility into any physical environment and drive smarter business decisions. Increase operational efficiency, reduce inventory loss, and prevent downtime of business-critical assets through data-driven intelligence.

    Learn more about Meraki sensors

  • Meraki systems manager for mobile device management

    Enhance mobile security, empower workforce agility, and increase operational efficiency. Enjoy unrivaled security by simplifying the deployment of Cisco cloud security software. This subscription serves as the perfect bridge connecting cloud and network security.

    Learn more about Meraki Systems Manager for MDM

  • Meraki camera systems

    Help ensure complete connectivity and coverage of multiple locations by integrating physical security and network security into a single point of control. Whether protecting people, places, or things, you can customize security to safeguard what matters most to your customers and stakeholders. This subscription provides centralized cloud management across all the cameras in an enterprise, at any scale.

    Learn more about Meraki camera systems

Cisco Secure Connect

Cisco Secure Connect is a unified, turnkey solution with a blueprint for SASE made easy that converges Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and Security Service Edge (SSE) to enable operational consistency across premises to the cloud in one powerful Cisco Meraki® dashboard, streamlining management across networking and security. Designed to be simple, complete, and unified, Secure Connect powers hybrid work across branch and remote, delivering greater network resiliency and seamless user experiences, everywhere.

Learn more about Cisco Secure Connect

Crosswork Cloud

Crosswork Cloud is a powerful addition to any network operations using always-on, always-up to date, SaaS-based services to help improve routing health, increase network visibility, maintain trustworthy infrastructure, and generate network traffic insights.

Learn more about Crosswork Cloud

Data center networking

Cisco offers Data Center Networking solutions built for scale with industry-leading automation, programmability, and real-time visibility. You can easily gain access to a wide range of Cisco Data Center Networking technologies under the new EA through the following suites:

  • Cisco Nexus switching

    Take your networks to where the data is, with solutions that connect applications and data across public cloud and on-premises IT resources. The EA’s simple Cisco Nexus® switching software subscription enables you to choose the best time to migrate to the Cisco suite of Data Center Networking offerings.

    Learn more about Nexus switching

  • Storage Area Networking (SAN)

    Take advantage of single-point management of the Cisco MDS 9000 fabrics or leverage a full set of advanced traffic-engineering and security features that facilitate management of complex SANs. The EA subscription for MDS helps you get the most out of Cisco storage networking solutions so that you can respond quickly to new needs, control IT costs, meet compliance requirements, scale, and continue business during disruptions.

    Learn more about SAN

Eligibility requirements

Eligibility requirements

To make the EA more accessible, we’ve lowered its minimum eligibility requirements by reducing the required commitment across a business as follows:

Term minimum: 3- and 5-year terms with a 7-year exception
Contract value: $100,000 net at program level, after discount and pre-installed base credits at program level

Fully committed suite Partially committed suite
$50,000 minimum net requirement, enterprise-wide device coverage. No minimum requirement.
Customers receive all EA benefits for committed suites. Limited benefits for partially committed suites.

Popular add-ons, software support, and available services

Accessing security and services for networking infrastructure

One of the primary benefits of the new EA is that it makes it easier to quickly adopt and integrate a broad array of technologies from across Cisco portfolios.

Security portfolio offerings

The close, intertwined relationship between networking and security often leads Cisco networking customers to take advantage of solutions from the Security portfolio, such as Zero Trust, Cloud and Network Security, and Secure Platform and Response.

Solution support

Cisco Customer Experience (CX) has a portfolio of end-to-end services that provide world-class expert guidance and digital intelligence to help our customers drive business outcomes faster. Cisco Solution Support provides centralized support across more than 30 solutions and more than 250 products. Cisco Security Services offers you the technical expertise needed to implement, optimize, and manage your security.

Available portfolios

Easy access to other Cisco subscription portfolios

Now that the new EA brings all Cisco portfolios under one agreement, it’s easier for you to access our full complement of technologies and innovations and be able to respond to the dynamic changes in your industry.

Applications infrastructure portfolio

From hybrid cloud architectures to application experiences, enterprise-wide full stack observability to low-code workflow design, Cisco’s broad portfolio of applications can address your most pressing technology requirements and help you meet your strategic objectives.

The new Cisco EA makes it simpler to get the applications you need today and enables flexibility and agility as your needs shift. It also simplifies and speeds up your ability to deploy other critical Cisco portfolio solutions, such as combining with collaboration tools for hybrid work or leveraging networking technologies for more efficient data center operations.

Collaboration portfolio

Webex Suite, available in the new EA, delivers the calling, meeting, messaging, and events tools you need to bring people together easily and help them work together productively. It can also help you meet increasingly complex security and compliance requirements, which are key to keeping your business information safe and secure.

The new Cisco EA makes it easy to get a holistic collaboration enrollment with a single contract, standardized across an entire enterprise and with a higher level of comprehensive support. It also makes it easier to take advantage of Cisco collaboration solutions when you enroll for one of the other Cisco solution portfolios covered by the EA, including Networking Infrastructure and Applications Infrastructure.

Security portfolio

Cisco security solutions, known as Cisco Secure, take an integrated platform approach to radically simplify business security. They apply intelligence to anticipate the changing needs of your business and provide the protection you need everywhere to enable your employees to work from anywhere. The broad portfolio of Cisco security solutions includes leading solutions that protect organizations at the user, device, network, and application/data levels.

Plus the new EA makes it easy to get a holistic security enrollment with a single contract, standardized across an entire enterprise and with a higher level of comprehensive support. The new EA also makes it simpler to take advantage of Cisco Secure when you enroll for one of the other Cisco solution portfolios covered by the EA, including Networking Infrastructure, Collaboration, and Applications Infrastructure. Combine portfolios in ways that support cross-architectural solutions. For example, a SASE implementation might incorporate offerings from the Cisco Networking Infrastructure, Security, and Services portfolios.

Services portfolio

Customers like you have told us they feel pressure to defend investments and ROI, that a skills gap is slowing transformation, and that IT projects are more complex than ever before, increasing risk.

We designed Cisco Success Tracks to provide you with a more tailored approach to removing the roadblocks of today’s most critical technology challenges with the agility to navigate change. Success Tracks is a suite of success services connecting you to the right expertise, insights, learning, and support at the right time to accelerate success.

The Services portfolio, featuring Success Tracks, can help you get more value from your Cisco Enterprise Agreement. Simplify contract management by pairing the Services portfolio with one or more of the software portfolios, and you converge software and support for both software and hardware to one agreement, one renewal date, and one set of terms.

Provider connectivity portfolio

As a global leader in networking, Cisco’s Provider Connectivity portfolio offers wide area network, metropolitan area network, and data center interconnect solutions for Enterprises, Public Sectors, and Service Provider agreements.

From connecting private or public sector networks to distributed sites, connecting data centers, colocation sites or cloud providers using routing and optical technologies to support mission-critical traffic, to providing real-time data to identify and address service issues, our networking solutions help you quickly adapt to change, simplify operations, and drive outstanding customer experience.

Financial benefits

Financial benefits of EA

In addition to delivering on technology and business needs, EA offers financial benefits designed for the needs of enterprises. The following are a few examples:

Financial flexibility

As with technology, financing increasingly needs to be more dynamic. The new EA delivers new levels of flexibility for financing, such as flexible terms and volume ramp options.

Financial predictability with True Forward

The financial predictability of True Forward makes the EA stand out from other agreements. Unlike enterprise licensing agreements from other technology providers that require businesses to true up every year, the new EA does not retroactively charge for a year's extra usage if it stays within 15 percent of the initial order. This saves you from potentially having a large, unexpected bill at your contract anniversary—as frequently happens with other technology providers. Instead, Cisco will work with you to update the next year’s contract to bring it closer in line with your actual usage.

Read the True Forward FAQ

Cisco Capital

Flexible payment solutions to help you achieve your objectives

Cisco Capital® makes it easier to get the right technology to achieve your objectives, enable business transformation and help you stay competitive. We can help you reduce the total cost of ownership, conserve capital, and accelerate growth. In more than 100 countries, our flexible payment solutions can help you acquire hardware, software, services and complementary third-party equipment in easy, predictable payments. Learn more.