By Owen Grohman, NetGuard Services Product Line Director
It’s not if—it’s when.
Sooner than you expect, your OEM partner will deliver the bad news that a key segment of your network system is approaching End of Life (EoL).
And, frustratingly, it will probably happen when your network is humming along nicely.
Your OEM partner will pat you on the back and tell you not to worry, you can just upgrade to their new hardware.
Not so fast.
There is another more cost-effective option to consider first. You may not have heard of it before, but it can potentially save you big money and even bigger network headaches down the road.
Networking Equipment OEMs Start Product Phase-outs Far Too Soon
The average lifespan of a network device before the OEMs decide to initiate EoL is only about four years. But it’s not uncommon for today’s hardware to have a mean time between failure (MTBF) as long as 20 years or longer. That’s a long time.
This means your Cisco routers and Juniper switches and other networking equipment is designed to last far longer than the OEM is willing to support it.
After the OEM’s Last Software Update, How Do You Protect Your Equipment?
We started Worldwide Supply in 2004 to help companies who couldn’t afford the wasted time or continual expense of dealing with pressure from their OEMs to upgrade–when their current network systems were doing the job.
As a result, NetGuard Maintenance is one of our strongest service lines today.
There is no reason to replace equipment (and thousands of dollars) from a system which is achieving your hardware needs. It’s wasteful to the environment as well as the company’s bottom line.
Here’s an example which explains how we can help:
EoL Product: Cisco Catalyst 3750G, 3560G, 3750-E, and 3560-E Series Switches
- Cisco stopped making these switches in 2013; the last date to order Cisco’s SMARTnet, priced at 2X the cost of Worldwide Supply’s NetGuard, was 1/30/14.
- The deadline to renew an existing SMARTnet is 4/30/17.
- The effective termination date of all SMARTnet agreements for these platforms is 1/31/18.
Most importantly, for end users, the last date Cisco Engineering will release any software updates or remedies is 1/30/16.
After that, if you are a SMARTnet customer, you own some very expensive hardware with no maintenance or repair program in place to troubleshoot potential issues—or prevent a potential system crash.
But if you are subscribed to Worldwide Supply’s NetGuard Maintenance, a comprehensive network solution to maximize performance, extend equipment life and reduce cost without increasing risk, you have no worries about what the future may bring.
Because NetGuard has you covered.
As hardware support experts, we specialize in helping network engineers maintain their existing systems for years–without pressure to upgrade–when, in fact, their current system is meeting their needs.
EoS is a Great Time to Evaluate Your Options and Initiate a Changeover from the OEM (Before EOSL)
Once the OEM announces End of Service (EOSL), you are left without a strong support network and, essentially, you’ve just been left high and dry (unless you pay to upgrade, of course).
After the End of Sale (EoS) announcement (generally a year or so after EoL notification,) you can no longer order products from the OEM. This is an ideal time to move up to a relationship with a network equipment product, maintenance and repair partner like Worldwide Supply who can seamlessly continue to offer:
- EoL products for years to come
- Much less expensive network maintenance services to help avoid costly repairs or catastrophic system outages
- Same- or next-day repairs or replacement parts—regardless of your geographic location
Save 50 – 90% on Network Equipment Maintenance and Tech Support Compared to the OEMs
As a network engineer, one of the biggest challenges you face is cost containment. But you also need to maintain top-notch network hardware, maintenance and repair quality.
You can’t get this from the OEMs after they have declared your product is EoL.
From the top equipment OEMs, including Cisco, Alcatel, Arris, Fujitsu, Ciena, Nortel, Tellabs, Nokia, Ericsson and more than 20 additional manufacturers, we offer expert-level service and technical support around the clock to companies in the U.S., Europe, Mexico and South America.
We have more than 400 worldwide shipping points that make our replacement parts service unrivaled in the system network equipment industry.
What does NetGuard Maintenance provide?
- More than 100 supported current and legacy OEM product lines
- Global state-of-the-art 24×7 expert-staffed technical assistance center
- Customized solutions (Next Business Day, 4 Hour, Onsite Spare, and Field Support)
- Multi-Vendor solutions rolled into one simple, easy contract with flexible payment terms
- Personal portal access to Worldwide Supply’s web-based proprietary software
- Contract management, ticketing system and knowledge-based technical library
Keep in mind, you can also add and manage any support contract from any provider using the NetGuard Portal as a single point of reference for all items under all contracts.
When It’s Time to Cut the OEM Cord
If you’ve never ventured outside the OEM brand support network before, we welcome an opportunity to talk with you about why Worldwide Supply is unique in today’s secondary equipment, maintenance and repair industry.
Get in touch with our representative in your area by emailing sales@worldwidesupply.net or call 888.328.2266 to learn more.