There are two primary methods of buying Cisco hardware maintenance support. The first is directly with Cisco via the Cisco SMARTnet program. The second is buying support through a Cisco partner with Partner Shared Support. Every business needs some level of support for their hardware and choosing between these two options can be difficult.

To see why you need Cisco SMARTnet, please visit our recent articles about what’s included with SMARTnet and how to save money on SMARTnet.

Partner Shared Support works differently to Cisco SMARTnet. This option means that whenever you have an issue that requires external assistance to resolve, you have to contact the partner you bought the support from instead of Cisco directly.

If the partner can help you resolve the issue then Cisco will never be contacted. However, if the partner cannot, then as the customer, you are not able to raise the issue to Cisco. This action must be performed by the partner.

Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of Partner Shared Support:

Although Cisco SMARTnet is a great way to structure your Cisco licences, there’s no use doing the dishes in a dirty sink. This means you’ve got some cleaning to do! We recommend that you map your current Cisco architecture and get a clear overview of the used products and services. Find out how you do this in our ebook The Big Cisco Clean Up – a guide that helps you create a manageable and cost-effective Cisco environment.