F500 Bank Saves $3M with Consolidated Enterprise Agreement
About the Customer
Customer Challenges
Our customer relies heavily on Cisco technologies. As their Cisco estate grew and evolved, they accumulated multiple disparate Cisco software and maintenance contracts, which several partners negotiated. Without end-to-end visibility and control or a standard buying model, such as an enterprise agreement, managing these software and maintenance contracts became operationally complex and burdensome, costing them time and money.
Specific challenges included:
- Compliance issues and at-risk renewals due to inconsistent licensing start and end dates
- Missed opportunities for enterprise agreement cost savings due to a la carte purchasing
- Overspending and lost and unused licenses due to poor Smart Account hygiene
- Unpredictable costs due to true-forward events
- Frustrating support experiences due to non-standard hardware maintenance coverage and Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support levels negotiated by their various partners
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CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS
Our customer needed a consolidated and cost-effective buying model with a streamlined asset management solution — all managed by one partner. They needed end-to-end visibility and control over their assets and standardized support options. Specific requirements included:
- Consolidation of their Cisco software and maintenance contracts into a single enterprise agreement with one start date and end date
- Standardized hardware maintenance coverage and TAC support levels
- Visibility into software license consumption and utilization and end-of-X milestones, such as end-of-support and end-of-patches
- Single contact for managing software consumption and ensuring Smart Account hygiene practices
- A pool of on-demand engineering resource hours to support on-site deployment needs
SOLUTION: SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT AS-A-SERVICE
GDT met with line-of-business owners to determine their current and future software and maintenance needs and service level objectives. As part of the engagement, GDT performed a full Cisco lifecycle assessment covering:
- Device configurations
- Policy variation
- Security vulnerability analysis
- Risk mitigation
- Digital insights reporting
- Optimization of core networking environment
The assessment also helped them to understand current licensing gaps and opportunities for discounted buying models.
Solution Highlights
Based on the assessment, GDT and Cisco partnered to design a custom solution that significantly streamlined the customer’s Cisco contract environment. The solution consolidated over ten a la carte software subscriptions and existing Smartnet contracts into a single, co-termed enterprise agreement with one start date and one end date. Eligible maintenance contracts were consolidated into one services enterprise agreement. To support our customer’s onsite deployment needs, GDT included a pool of on-demand engineering resource hours.
Furthermore, the solution included the GDT Asset Management Platform (GDTamp) and our GDT Software Management as-a-Service capabilities. This provides our customer end-to-end visibility into their enterprise agreement consumption, deployment, and true-forward budgeting. It also enables comprehensive enterprise agreement management.
Benefits
Our solution addressed all our customer’s technical and business concerns, delivered over $3 million in savings, and established favorable business terms for their expanding Cisco environment. GDT also incorporated our customer’s global Cisco footprint into a single, unified enterprise agreement. This success was achieved by aligning the scope and structure of their current and future needs with Cisco’s enterprise agreement buying model and including GDT’s extensive portfolio of Software & Support Services offerings.
In short, GDT was able to provide our customer with:
$3 million in cost savings
A streamlined management and end-to-end visibility of their Cisco estate
One set of terms and conditions for both software and services
Five-year price protection across their Cisco portfolio
Improved TAC experience with higher service levels
A single, co-termed enterprise agreement billed through a single Cisco partner
GDT SOFTWARE & SUPPORT SERVICES
Transform your software and maintenance contracts into strategic enablers that accelerate business outcomes through GDT’s comprehensive buying models, resources, platforms, and lifecycle services.
GDT partners with customers to custom-build agreements that directly support your business objectives and fuel value. You’ll get expert resources, platforms, and lifecycle services to identify the best options for your business needs and expedite time-to-value, control costs, mitigate risk, and streamline operations.
Learn more about GDT Software & Support Services.
