Vendor Practice · Cisco

Cisco bundles. We unbundle the leverage.

Cisco's Enterprise Agreement is a commercial bundle: networking, collaboration, security, observability — and now Splunk — wrapped into a multi-year suite with true-forward clauses that punish growth. Our Cisco practice is led by former Cisco licensing executives who built the EA programmes now used against you. We benchmark every commercial lever and restructure proposals before they become signed.

Cisco practice areas

Where Cisco buyers overpay.

Enterprise Agreement (EA 3.0)

Networking, Collaboration, Security, and Observability suites with true-forward clauses, growth allowances, and renewal mechanics designed to compound spend. We restructure suites against actual consumption.

Smart Licensing

Cisco Smart Licensing introduced telemetry-based entitlement tracking via CSSM and Smart Account hierarchies. Most enterprises drift out of compliance silently. We audit before Cisco does.

Webex & collaboration

Webex versus Microsoft Teams versus Zoom is the most common collaboration consolidation decision we model. We engineer the leverage across Cisco and Microsoft simultaneously.

Splunk integration

Cisco's 2024 Splunk acquisition is being used as an upsell vector inside the Cisco EA. We separate the Splunk commercial conversation and prevent forced bundling at renewal.

DNA / Catalyst Center

DNA Advantage and Catalyst Center licensing is shifting under the Cisco Networking Subscription model. We model the migration economics against existing Smart License entitlement.

Security suite

Cisco Secure (formerly Umbrella, Duo, Secure Endpoint, XDR) is being bundled into the Security suite of the EA. We benchmark suite economics against best-of-breed alternatives.

Why buyers choose our Cisco practice

Former Cisco insiders. Now on your side.

EA architecture experience

Our Cisco leads include former Cisco commercial executives who designed EA suite logic and renewal mechanics. They know which clauses Cisco will concede and which are scripted to hold.

Partner-channel awareness

Cisco's tiered partner model creates pricing variance most buyers never see. We benchmark Gold, Premier, and direct-Cisco economics against your actual quote.

Splunk post-acquisition strategy

Splunk's commercial model and Cisco's EA do not align cleanly. We separate them at renewal so Splunk pricing is benchmarked against Datadog, Elastic, and Sumo Logic — not absorbed silently into a Cisco bundle.

Cross-vendor leverage

Cisco competes head-on with Microsoft (Teams), Zoom, Palo Alto, CrowdStrike, Arista, and Juniper. We coordinate the parallel conversations to maximise commercial leverage.

Inline · talk to a senior advisor

Cisco renewal coming up?

Cisco research library

Read before you sign.

All papers

Playbook

Cisco EA Playbook

Suite restructuring, true-forward defence, partner pricing benchmarks

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Handbook

Vendor Audit Defence Handbook

Cisco Smart Licensing compliance and remediation tactics

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Report

Software Price Benchmarking Report

What comparable enterprises actually pay across major vendors

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Strategy

Multi-Vendor Negotiation Strategy

Coordinating Cisco with Microsoft, security vendors, and observability stack

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Recent outcomes

Where our work paid for itself.

All cases

Cisco · Healthcare

$1.5M

Cisco EA Restructuring

Security suite right-sized and Webex collapsed against parallel Teams roll-out.

Read case study

Microsoft · Telecom

$8.7M

Microsoft EA Optimization

E5 over-licensing identified and Teams consolidation modelled against Cisco Webex.

Read case study

Multi-vendor · Banking

$22M

Portfolio Renegotiation

Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, IBM, Cisco coordinated across a single negotiation cycle.

Read case study

Questions

Frequently asked, frankly answered.

Do you negotiate Cisco Enterprise Agreements?

Yes. EA 3.0 is Cisco's primary commercial vehicle. We benchmark proposals, restructure suites, and negotiate true-forward terms across networking, collaboration, and security.

What about smart licensing compliance?

Cisco Smart Licensing introduced telemetry-based entitlement tracking that creates new compliance exposure. We audit your CSSM posture and remediate before Cisco does.

How has the Splunk acquisition affected pricing?

Cisco's 2024 Splunk acquisition is being used as an upsell vector inside Cisco EAs. We separate the commercial conversations to prevent forced bundling.

Do you help with Webex and collaboration consolidation?

Yes. Webex versus Microsoft Teams versus Zoom is one of the most common collaboration consolidation decisions we model, with attached commercial leverage in both directions.

Will engaging you affect our Cisco partner status?

No. We work as an independent buyer-side advisor and never contact Cisco or its partners without your written authorisation.

How do you bill on Cisco engagements?

Fixed-fee, scoped by engagement type. EA renewals are fixed-fee per cycle, compliance reviews are scoped by estate size. See /pricing/.

Cisco EA on the horizon?
Unbundle the leverage first.

Former Cisco commercial executives on your side. EA, Smart Licensing, Webex, Splunk, security — every commercial surface area covered.

Cisco bundles. We unbundle the leverage.

Where Cisco buyers overpay.

Former Cisco insiders. Now on your side.

Cisco renewal coming up?

Read before you sign.

Where our work paid for itself.

Frequently asked, frankly answered.

Cisco EA on the horizon?Unbundle the leverage first.

The Compliance Brief

Cisco EA on the horizon?
Unbundle the leverage first.