Cisco DNA Enterprise Agreements Introduction

Cisco’s DNA (Digital Network Architecture) is a forward looking architecture that consists of a number of platforms that we traditionally associate with Enterprise Networking. This includes; switching infrastructure for campus networks, controller or fabric wireless, Cisco’s class leading SD-WAN platform and all your routing infrastructure. Your entire LAN and WAN is covered under a single contract.

Similar to the other enterprise agreements (Collaboration, Security and DataCenter), this is focused on the software elements that drive these platforms. We’re decoupling all the software components of LAN/WAN from any hardware they’re associated to and putting them into a single contract for a 3/5/7 year.

Product Eligibility

The following products are all eligible for Cisco DNA Enterprise Agreements.

DNA enterprise agreement solutions

Example of a Cisco DNA Enterprise Agreement

Company Size : 5,000 users

Number of sites : 40

Routers = ASR’s and ISR’s Total = 44 routers 

Switches = Combination of 3850, 44xx, 93xx, 95xx Total = 68 campus switches 

Wireless = Cisco Wireless AP and controllers Total = 280 AP’s 

SD-WAN = Virtual Edge devices Total = 48 devices

Without Enterprise Agreement
Number of contracts = 15
Number of renewal dates = 20
Number of subscriptions = 25
License audit = emails, pak files, network shares
With Enterprise Agreement
Number of contracts = 1
Number of renewal dates = 1
Number of subscriptions = 1
License audit = Single control for all license management

Benefits of a Cisco DNA Enterprise Agreement

A simpler configuration

The controller-based architecture supersedes CLI (command line interface). The concept of building a configuration per devices is gone. You build your policy within the controller GUI and let the controller build and apply the device specific configuration on its own.

A changing role

The role of an Enterprise Networking engineer starts to transition from a configuration builder to a policy maker. Want to give access to a certain group of users to a specific network resource? No CLI needs. Simply build the policy that gives the groups the appropriate permissions and let the controller do the job. Instead, the engineer can now focus on enhancing the end user experience. Accelerate the BYOD adoption, mature your access control policies.

A platform for integration

DNA is about bringing different platforms together into a single fabric and extending the policy to all users and endpoints. To accomplish this, the architecture includes Cisco controller based Wireless family of products natively built into the same controller. SD-WAN is integrated, and its policies also built out to ensure parity across the WAN. Network Access Control via Cisco ISE (Identify services engines) future provides consistency by mapping the campus policy to the data center policy for Nexus and ACI users. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is three the maximum number of security products you can have in a Security Choice EA 2.0?

    No. Three is the minimum. You can add as many as you like. However, there is a crossover point where the Security ELA makes more sense. We’ll work closely with your team to help align with the best option.

  • Can you mix between firewalls which are device based and email security with is user based?

    The contract as based on the value of the contract, not the type of license in the agreement. This gives the flexibility of being able to combine device license and per user license into a single contract.

  • Will Cisco be adding more products to the matrix? Or removing them?

    Cisco has been rapidly expanding its security footprint in recent years. That was a large motivation to build the Security EA’s. As new products are developed, they will be added to the matrix. Similarly, older products might be removed but there would be an extensive notice time before a product is removed. We step through the roadmap of each platform as part of due diligence with clients to ensure there are no unforeseen issues.

  • What happens to my current licenses?

    All eligible licenses that would be converted under the EA would be rebated on a pro rata bases. At Tesrex, we believe in great transparency thus you’ll be provided with a line-by-line breakdown of each item and its rebate value. Your confidence is critical to us.

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Working with us

We work closely with companies to build Cisco Enterprise Agreements that enable our clients to flexibly incorporate new technologies, whilst ensuring peak financial savings. In the last few years, the Enterprise Agreement model has become the strongly favoured option for both vendors and progressive customers.

Our well-defined process enables us to accomplish these tasks in a short time-frame (usually 2-3 weeks), with minimal involvement on your part, reducing interruptions to your productivity. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you are interested in Cisco Enterprise Agreements. We are specialists on the topic and would love to discuss them further with you.

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