Cisco SMARTnet alternative & renewal
Is your SMARTnet contract expiring or your Cisco hardware reaching Last Day of Support? TechCare keeps Catalyst, Nexus, UCS, ASA & MDS maintained vendor-independently — 30–60 % below SMARTnet, with original spare parts and equal SLA, even past EOSL.
SMARTnet renewal vs. TechCare
| Cisco SMARTnet | TechCare TPM | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | List price; after LDoS often no renewal available | 30–60 % below SMARTnet — up to 70 % past EOSL |
| SLA tiers | 8×5×NBD to 24×7×4 | equal or better tiers (up to 24×7×2) |
| Spare parts | Cisco-new / RMA | OEM-original — own DACH depot + certified refurbishers |
| Past EOSL / LDoS | ends at Last Day of Support | full maintenance, years past LDoS |
| IOS/NX-OS updates | included until LDoS | hardware layer; active software subscription runs separately |
| Multi-vendor | one SMARTnet contract per Cisco line | one contract for Cisco + 27 other vendors |
| Contract lock-in | tied to Cisco lifecycle | flexible, no refresh pressure |
Exact per-system figure via the TCO calculator, all Cisco lines on the Cisco maintenance page.
When SMARTnet, when TPM?
Stay with the SMARTnet renewal when Cisco hardware is brand-new under warranty, you actively use DNA / Smart License features, or a contract must legally stay with Cisco.
TPM wins past warranty and past LDoS, on multi-vendor fleets and under cost pressure — at equal or better SLA. Unsure? The 3-question TPM check gives an honest read in 30 seconds.
Which Cisco lines we maintain instead of SMARTnet
One maintenance contract for the whole Cisco estate, from access switch to data center. Details, models and EOSL dates are on each line page.
Catalyst switches
Nexus & MDS
UCS servers
ASA & Firepower
WLAN
How you switch from SMARTnet to TechCare
No gap at contract end: you send us what you have, we handle the rest. Typical time to active maintenance: about 14 days.
- 1
Send your install base or SMARTnet quote
Serial number list, contract report from the Cisco portal or simply your current renewal quote. Excel or PDF is fine.
- 2
Fixed price within 48 hours
We match every serial number against our EOSL database and send a fixed price per device and SLA tier, including a side-by-side with the SMARTnet renewal.
- 3
Handover on the cut-over date
Coverage starts exactly when your SMARTnet contract ends. Spare parts are stocked for your sites, escalation path and contacts are in place.
- 4
Day-to-day operations
Report incidents by phone, email or portal. Diagnosis by our network engineers, hardware replacement within the agreed SLA, even years past Last Day of Support.