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It seems like just yesterday that your Cisco Nexus 7000 was a brand-new product, but EOL for the Nexus 7000 was announced back in August of 2013, and EOSL was called the following year. More recently, it was announced that the last day to renew your support contracts was mid-November of this year, and the last day that you will receive “applicable service and support” from Cisco will be August 31, 2019.
In short, the 7000s are well on their way to complete OEM retirement.
But those 7000s could still be going strong in your environments. If you don’t have any complaints about performance or production, why fix what isn’t broken?
Choosing to Take the Replacement Route
In short, the Cisco Nexus 7700s are the most straightforward drop-in replacement solution for your data center needs. But these switches are expensive because they are still considered a new product (for the time being). However, we know from history that EOL will likely be called on the 7700s in the next few years.
So, with 7700 EOL dates right around the corner, this line of switches probably won’t be the most sustainable or economical solution.
For the IT leaders able to sink in more of an investment, the Cisco Nexus 9000 line is the next-gen solution, but these are even more expensive than the 7700s, both financially and in regard IT resources.
These switches are highly competitive in the market, but the major downside is that they require a complete and disruptive re-architecture (using spine and leaf) of your networks to make them compatible for production in your data centers. Add that to the fact that not many network engineers are yet familiar with the 9000 line, and you face knowledge gap concerns when looking for IT staff to complete the re-architecture and installation.
Using Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) as an Alternative Support Solution
If you decide against replacement strategies, then your best option is Third-Party Maintenance.
TPM gives you the same level of support service that you’re used to receiving from the OEM, but at drastic price savings. According to Gartner’s most recent Competitive Landscape report on the topic, TPM is an ideal solution “for cost optimization in the data center.”
In fact, at CentricsIT, we regularly save our clients up to 40%-70% compared to the original OEM list prices. Our international network of strategic partners, engineering depots, and hardware storage sites enable us to seamlessly scale to our clients need, no matter where they operate or what hardware they operate on.
Additionally, our involvement in secondary markets gives us the advantage to acquire any new and refurbished hardware that our clients need at the most economical prices, including Cisco Nexus 7000 parts.
Cost Optimization to Prepare for the Future of Your Data Center
EOL doesn’t have to mean “end of the line.” We’ll extend the life of your legacy hardware lines and enable you to continue operations as usual.
If you have 7000s that are working well, then you don’t need to go through the hassle of replacing or spending the CAPEX for new hardware. Use the TPM savings to cost optimize your current situation and use the savings to plan for the re-architecture in your future with the Nexus 9000s.
We’ll be there to support you then, too.
It’s Time for a Maintenance Option Smarter than SMARTnet. Download the datasheet for insight into the secrets behind OEM maintenance and how TPM providers are able to offer the same (or better) support at a fraction of the cost.
