Cisco Flex 3.0 is available now! This is the latest version of the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan and it comes with some great benefits as well as having all the features from Flex 2.0. Four main points distinguish Flex 3.0 from its predecessor:

Important note: You can no longer purchase perpetual licenses as of Jan 21^st 2021 thus Flex will be the only way forward (See here).

The Flex Plan Enterprise Agreement just got a lot simpler with the release of Flex 3.0. Based on community feedback Cisco have decided to consolidate the three previously available tiers into just one. This will go a long way in streamlining the process and preventing confusion around Cisco collaboration enterprise agreements. Whether it’s getting blanket coverage companywide or with the added ability to do module add-ons and per-user based licensing all scenarios can be covered.

One of the biggest changes that have come from Flex 3.0 is the new inability to purchase perpetual licenses. Everything item of Cisco Collaboration that is purchased from Jan 21^st 2021 will have to be done on a Flex Plan. Customers with existing contracts can continue how they have been, but all new customers will have to buy into Flex 3.0 subscription licenses. Existing customer with perpetual licensing will be able to have a Flex 3.0 Named Users offering which works in parallel with their current license thus giving more options for an existing customer. No forced upgrade needed.

This is the new change that has everyone the most interested. Cisco have made it so that their Collaboration portfolio is more competitive than ever. Huge discounts are available on both hardware and software. This is most true for bundle discounts when you are buying several pieces of technology that work together at once. This is fantastic news for both Cisco partners and customers alike!

There have been some additions to the features that are available with Flex plans. An example of a few of these are: Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) & Emergency Responder which are both options to enhance Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) based on your use case. The full version of Webex Teams is also now available for free with some Flex 3.0 subscriptions.

Cisco have created Flex 3.0 based on feedback from their customers and the community. Some people said Flex 2.0 could be confusing at times. This is why there have been many changes to rectify this by streamlining the entire process. Licensing tiers have been simplified, bundles are now more clear, and there are no complicated a-la-carte options anymore. Along with the pricing reductions, these are all very welcomed changes that are likely to make purchase decisions a lot easier going forward.

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