Cisco SMARTnet is an Automatic Solution for Network Visibility – Part 2

Automation Enlarges a Small Team’s Performance

Having in excess of 1,000 devices accessing their corporate network, they were challenged by an absence of visibility into device susceptibility and support, a long and tedious contract renewal procedure and lean IT team resources to administer their corporate network inventory. In addition to administering their own network, the IT team was also accountable for network services for many of the organization’s independent franchises. The extent and complication of their corporate network operations needed a system to augment their limited IT personnel – and a system that allowed them automated access to true installed base device lifecycle management facilities, particularly corporate network hardware relating to security. In short, they required a comprehensive corporate network inventory management and support system which would allow their IT staff to run small – but, most critically, act big.  Automating their network operations made this possible. The below mentioned four guidelines outlined their path forward.

1. Single Source Access
A platform that unites assets information into one simple-to-access, secure user interface and set of classes for comprehensive identification of network devices, components and their details.

2. Dynamic Acumen
Having algorithms which find and identify the “truth” of each device’s location and current status, enterprises get quick and precise feedback of where their inventory is currently residing.

3. Information Delivery Automation
Information, like system upgrades, service and support contracts needing renewal and the level of service coverage are shown for viewing, changing, and downloading.

4. Alerts and Escalations Connected Support
Warnings and alerts for particular devices are instantly communicated, which makes it simpler for the IT staff to assess susceptibilities, take remedial action and escalate straightaway when required.

Since implementing automation empowered by Cisco Smart Net Total Care to administer their corporate network assets, the organization in this example have minimized network risks, obtained immediate visibility into the accurate details of their inventory, and empowered their IT staff to enhance their service delivery. Hence we see can safely conclude that Smart Net Total Care is a lifeguard when it comes to administering the development of corporate network hardware.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Cisco SMARTnet is an Automatic Solution for Network Visibility – Part 1

Disaster preparation can assist you in these kind of situations. But practice drills usually don’t compare to the real thing. To dodge always needing to react to network issues, many companies are harnessing automation to get an increased visibility into their corporate network infrastructure to preemptively administer and rout threats before they occur.

Information is Power

Troubleshooting what troubles your corporate network necessitates you to take stock of your installed base of hardware and find where the issue(s) might reside. Sifting through all your cards and chassis is a difficult proposition, particularly when your only resource can be an Excel spreadsheet of hardware inventory information which was created many months back and is likely to be both out of date and half-finished. How can you be sure of the correct location of the hardware?  And when you do identify the problematic device, do you have access to a history of issues with that particular device, important device specifications and awareness of its Cisco SMARTnet service coverage status?

It is a common practice these days that a lot of people are putting manual procedures behind them and automating their infrastructure operations and functionality. It is a part of an accelerating tendency toward automation of all business procedures. Digitizing the corporate network hardware lifecycle management can allow you the self-assurance to make the correct decisions about maintaining business stability at the correct time and in the right manner. Why take a risk of putting your corporate network at risk when there are pre-emptive solutions to assist you sidestep it?

Corporate network conditions are increasingly dynamic. Incorrect data or the absence of accurate analytics can cause severe business penalties. Therefore, it is vital to be able to easily find comprehensive hardware data whenever and wherever you want on your corporate network.  But valuable information is worth more when it is associated with analytical tools that can sort issues and opportunities in real-time – either at the edge of the corporate network or at its core — so that you can take pre-emptive actions if required.  A truly dynamic corporate network requires both dynamic identification and dynamic analytics.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

How a SMARTnet Contract Can Help Minimize Network Downtime

A few of the factors which are driving the dependence of small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) on their corporate networks to have 24/7 access to corporate data and information resources include new product launches and technologies, the ever increasing requirement to have flexibility among staff and finally the need to have round-the-clock accessibility to corporate data and resources. This unfortunately means that any network downtime will be extremely costly for a small or medium sized business. It has been seen that unexpected network outages cost enterprises an average of 3.6% loss of revenue every year. And this does not include the untold costs of injury to your business standing caused by the network outages.

Therefore, it is an essential component of the modern data center and network support staff to reduce network outages and resultant downtime as much as humanly possible and make sure that your network is always available for staff to connect, work together, and interconnect with clienteles and associates along with each other, you might need to consider buying a Cisco support contract. A service contract will not only assist in safeguarding your company’s technology assets, but will also help you to minimize lost revenues, profits and ultimately customers.

Make the most out of your Network Infrastructure Investments

If you’re just starting to build a small or medium size corporate network or accumulating solutions to safeguard your data and improve staff productivity, you need to ensure your network is functioning at the optimum level. A support contract can help make sure that your corporate network functions smoothly and at top performance while also enabling your business and making it more effectual.

A service plan like Cisco Small Business Support Service provides vital support so you can get the most out of all of your technology investments. Small Business Support Service supplies you with quick resolution to common network issues with features like next-business-day hardware replacement and access to Cisco’s technical proficiency via the phone and online. Also, the Cisco support contracts include software upgrades, which make sure of maintaining the functional health of your corporate network.

Supplement your Internal IT Teams with Cisco SMARTnet

In case you depend on your corporate network to run your business round the clock and a network outage affects critical business systems, you have to fix the issue—and you need to fix it yesterday! A support contract like Cisco SMARTnet Service, can supplement your internal company technical staff to fix complex issues quickly and get your business up and running again in the minimum possible time frame and minimum losses.

Cisco’s award winning SMARTnet Service gives you quick access to Cisco’s trained and highly experienced network experts who have the requisite know-how in identifying the most difficult and complex issues. Cisco SMARTnet Service Contracts also give you access to the latest software updates as well as a plethora of flexible hardware replacement choices, like 2-hour, 4-hour, and next business day, contingent on your corporate business model and the requisite requirements. You will also gain access to an online knowledgebase, Cisco specialist communities, and a wide range of tools for troubleshooting support.

It is a fact that modern day business networks are of the utmost importance for connecting your enterprise to its valued clienteles and those clienteles to your company’s range of products and services. A technical fault which ultimately results in network outages and downtimes will definitely cost your business a large amount of precious revenues, profits and in the end the very customers your company has invested so much time, effort and money to build. A Cisco SMARTnet Support plan can assist you in minimizing all unforeseen downtimes which in turn will surely assist your enterprise in saving money and serving your customers in much better manner.

To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Safeguarding Your Business via Cisco SMARTnet Service Contracts

These are perplexing financial times for small and some medium sized businesses. You require the newest technology to expand your business. But you also require complete peace of mind being aware that you’ll obtain the most ROIs from your corporate technology investments.

You perhaps are under the impression that a simple product warranty will give that defense in case anything goes wrong with your network hardware, maybe a switch or a router. Not necessarily!

A product warranty is not the same as or equivalent to technical support. Most warranties only promise against a faulty product and will give you very limited support.

If you would like to better safeguard your enterprise against losses caused by network outages and to enhance your business efficiency and raise staff output, you must consider purchasing a Cisco SMARTnet service contract. A service plan gives you three important benefits as compared to a regular product warranty—advanced hardware replacement, software updates, and Cisco technical support via Cisco’s TAC (Techincal Assistance Center).

Certain service plans, like Cisco Small Business Support Service, provide you with next-business-day hardware replacement. This makes sure that your company stays up and running with a minimum possible amount of corporate network downtime. In contrast, warranties normally necessitate you to first return the defective pieces of hardware to the manufacturer prior to you receiving any replacement products.

With a Cisco service contract, you get ongoing major/minor release upgrades, making sure that your device is always having the latest Cisco software. This assist you to safeguard the functional health of your corporate network.

A service plan also gives you more widespread support. Most warranties don’t give you support and some will only give you very limited support for a very limited period of time. A service plan on the other hand will give you support for an extended period of time and comprises a support level which goes way beyond basic installation, analysis, and troubleshooting. The Cisco Small Business Support Service gives you 3 years of support and access to technical experts highly trained by Cisco on resolving small and medium size business network problems and device-level issues.

An extra advantage to buying a SMARTnet service contract is the human element. Via Small Business Support Service, you get access to a local Cisco reseller who is sponsored by Cisco employed on your behalf as a reliable consultant. This provides you a single point of contact (POC) for execution and problem resolution.

If you believe that a Cisco SMARTnet service contract is not appropriate for your small business budget, please consider this: A squandered client call or buying activity could cost you nearly as much—or even more—than a Cisco SMARTnet service plan. Also keep in mind that every hour of network outages and downtime will surely cost your business much needed additional profits and revenue and hurt your company’s reputation.

A Cisco SMARTnet service contract can safeguard both your company and your technology investment. Now that is what I call complete peace of mind!

To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

How to Get the Most out of Your SMARTnet Plan

A Cisco SMARTnet service plan is much more than a regular product warranty. Your Cisco SMARTnet service contract goes above and beyond a regular product warranty by giving you much needed access to a wide range of skilled Cisco technical assistance resources and online self-help tools to assist you in quickly resolving network issues. Cisco Certified engineers can give you advanced installation and deployment support over the telephone or web chat—or both—to get your corporate network up and running in the minimum possible timeframe. Cisco SMARTnet contracts also give you access to ongoing software updates so that you always possess the newest and most dependable software versions available.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your Cisco SMARTnet service contract:

1. Register your Cisco SMARTnet service contract immediately. Before you are able to begin use of your service contract, you must register it. Make sure to have any registration code numbers or passwords that you have been given before you initialize the registration procedure. Once your SMARTnet service contract has been registered, you will be able to get technical support whenever you require it.

2. Join Cisco’s online support community. Go to the Cisco’s online support communities on a regular basis to keep yourself abreast and on top of the latest industry trends and expert advice. You will often be able to fix basic troubleshooting and installation problems by asking the Cisco experts directly.For example, the Cisco Small Business Support Community encourages collaboration and sharing best practices between Cisco experts, partners, and clients who are in the know regarding small business networking issues. Simply post your query on the forum; most of the support problems are fixed the same day.  Also, you can open a new ticket request—and check the status of current service requests—by using the service request tool online.

3. Reach out to Cisco’s live technical assistance. In case you require live technical assistance from Cisco, highly trained Cisco engineers are ready to help you get up and running in the shortest possible time. They can assist you in resolving networking, troubleshooting, and installation problems. Please make sure that you have your service contract information ready before contacting Cisco.

4. Ask for remote control. In case an issue or installation is taking too much time to resolve, you can request a Cisco support engineer to take over by allowing them remote control of your device. With your consent—and while you are watching—the Cisco engineer usually will quickly remediate the issue by checking the device settings and configuration. You can also request the Cisco engineer to explain to you what he’s doing as he goes along so you can understand for future reference.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Manage Complex Networks with Limited Resources via Cisco SMARTnet

With the advent of IoT we are finding that we have an abundance of network susceptibilities, with too Little Time and Resources required for a successful transition and with so market competitiveness at stake if we fail to innovate and adapt.

A renowned research and development (R&D) firm forecasts that there will be in excess of 28 billion connected devices installed by the year 2020, while another R&D entity predicts that nearly 4.9 billion connected devices will be functioning in 2015, up 30% from the year 2014, and will reach the pinnacle of 25 billion by the year 2020.

One good instance of an industry which is transitioning to meet this opportunity is the retailing industry. You must have observed the revolution in your day to day shopping experience — whether it’s appropriate matching of merchandises to your individual profile and inclinations or in-store product or pricing evaluations using your mobile device.

But transitioning into the revolutionary digital retail environment powered by the Internet of Things will not happen without some major risks. New interconnectivity also raises the alarm of new security vulnerabilities. For the normal network administrator, a main security problem like the Heartbleed virus can rapidly transform itself into a severe case of heartburn for your organization. What is the nature of the susceptibility? Which devices will be affected? How should I react? If you associate these queries with the daily routine demands of directly provisioning end-users, replying to technical queries, fixing network problems, writing scripts, generating reports, screening and monitoring systems and administering version controls, it’s not shocking that a corporate network operations management team can be overcome. And this is before the increasing connectivity trend powered by the Internet of Things. 

Rapidly identifying security threats among millions of interconnected network devices is extremely difficult, if not impossible using the old style technologies. But identifying pertinent security threats has conventionally been a time-wasting, manual procedure further complicated by the fact that even if an alert has been identified, a network administrator then has to identify the particular, affected devices on his company’s corporate network to safeguard them against risks. Now, multiply this issue with the blitzkrieg of IoT devices.

The Simple Answer: Automated Visibility Gives you Deeper, More Accurate Network Awareness for Enhanced Lifecycle Administration

For many companies these days, the answer to the problem of improved network protection is Cisco Smart Net Total Care. The SMARTnet service can spontaneously reach out over a network of tens of millions of Cisco devices and give you thorough information regarding each piece of hardware. This data can then be filtered by prevalent product security alerts to generate a customized Product Alerts Report for each impacted device sorted by hardware, software, field notices, IntelliShield, and PSIRTs. Cisco recently combined SMARTnet abilities with Cisco Smart Net Total Care. The enhanced Smart Net Total Care service gives you even more distinguished services to assist network support operation management teams identify troubled hardware devices and undertake preemptive steps to remedy real or possible issues. In this manner a network administrator can put away the Prilosec he has been taking regularly for his heartburn. Not only has he saved valuable time and more efficiently managed IT assets, more importantly he has assisted in the protection of his corporate network from interference. And the company is now ideally positioned with a process in place to scale their future security responses to the explosion of the IoT era.

The Significance of a “Force Multiplier” 

Another great instance of how deeper network comprehension is assisting IT companies more effectively administer their networks is a Cisco customer who is one of the largest window manufacturers in the United States. They lacked the capability to easily identify end-of-life Cisco hardware and ensure vital support coverage. The organization’s leanly staffed IT team resorted to manually sifting through thousands of known security vulnerabilities to find which related to their hardware. This humongous effort wasted valuable time away from their more tactical network management projects.

Smart Net Total Care enables them to simplify their network administration operations by automating the detection of comprehensive network device information, understanding the information using off the shelf/custom reports viewable in an online web based portal, and then taking pre-emptive steps to dodge issues before they happen.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.