Frequently Asked Questions
“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead"- Aristotle
Q. What is Smart Net?
A. Cisco’s brand of award-winning maintenance and technical support option for all Cisco devices that includes:
- 24-hour access to Cisco TAC (technical assistance center)
- Unrestricted access to extensive cisco.com knowledge base and tools
- Hardware replacement when necessary within a selected delivery time (2-hour, 4-hour, Next Business Day)
- Ongoing operating system software (IOS) updates within the licensed feature set
Q. What is Hybrid Maintenance?
A. A strategic blend of Original Equipment Manufacturer maintenance (OEM) and Third Party Maintenance (TPM).
Q. What is Third Party maintenance?
A. TPM is maintenance on networking equipment and storage that is independent of the OEM. TPM providers typically have no formal affiliation with the OEM, but instead operate in the best interests of the hardware owner, often permitting hardware life cycle extension strategies and dramatic reductions to support costs. Successful third-party partnerships are typically measured by inventory availability and level of experience and skill set of certified technicians.
Q. What is Tredent’s Hybrid Maintenance for Cisco?
A. A safe, fiscally sound approach to network maintenance that preserves the coverage integrity of all Cisco devices on the network by strategically blending coverage options of Cisco Smart Net and Tredent's TDS-NetCare ensuring that all devices have access to available software updates, bug fixes, security vulnerabilities, hardware replacement, and telephone technical support with engineers from either Cisco TAC and/or Tredent.
Q. How long has Tredent been providing Third Party Maintenance solutions?
A. Tredent has been providing Third Party Maintenance (TPM) for over 20+ years.
Q. What type of SLAs does Tredent offer on Cisco equipment?
A. Tredent offers 24x7x4, 8x5xNBD, as well as On-Site sparing.
Q. Does a Hybrid Maintenance solution apply to equipment that has reached End of Life (EOL) by Cisco?
A. Absolutely! This is typically the BEST reason to choose Hybrid Maintenance. The government can extend the life of existing equipment and put off costly Cisco network refreshes.
Q. Can Tredent provide software patches and updates?
A. Software patches and upgrades are the intellectual property of the OEM. We recommend TDS-NetCare coverage when software updates are offered FREE by the OEM, or software updates are no longer available {End of Software Maintenance (EoSW)}
Q. What is Cisco “End of Software Maintenance” (EoSW)?
Q. When TDS-NetCare Covered Cisco devices are entitled to Free Software Updates, what updates are included?
A. Devices entitled to Free Software Updates are entitled to all updates as defined by Cisco, “Update means Cisco Software Maintenance Released, Minor Releases and Major Releases”. That means ALL the updates that Cisco provides, Major, Minor and Maintenance.
Q. When TDS-NetCare supported devices are entitled to Free Software Updates, are Bug Fixes and Security Vulnerabilities free too?
Q. When TDS-NetCare supported Cisco devices are EoSW are Security Vulnerabilities free too?
Q. What kind of customer satisfaction guarantee do you offer?
A. Customer satisfaction is our TOP PRIORITY. We offer a "no questions asked" money back guarantee for the remaining months of the agreement, if for any reason the customer is unhappy with our solution on ALL Tredent supported devices.
Q. Who takes the support calls with a Hybrid Solution?
A. Tredent will handle all the support calls on all the equipment, even devices covered with Cisco Smart Net. If Cisco needs to be contacted, Tredent will connect the call with Cisco TAC in a much timelier fashion. Of course, if a device is covered by Smart Net you can always call Cisco directly.
Q. What kind of savings can a Hybrid Approach offer the Federal Government?
A. Depending on the devices, Agencies can save well over 40% off their current Smart Net costs.
Q. What changes when I sign up with Tredent’s TDS-NetCare?
A. The phone number you call when you need Cisco support for all devices.
Q. What does TDS-NetCare New Customer onboarding involve?
A. Along with providing different modalities (phone, email, text web portal) to open a trouble ticket, we also schedule a 30 min call to understand the nuances of your specific network, devices, and operational procedures.
Q. What are the costs of NOT having Cisco Maintenance?
A. This is like asking what it costs to not have Car Insurance!
It could cost you nothing in the long run, or it could cost you 100 x what
a maintenance contract would have cost. We highly recommend covering your devices with a support contract to mitigate risks of network downtime disasters and unseen costs to the organization.
Q. What do we say to potential customers that are concerned about moving to a Third Party Maintenance Solution?
A. We understand your concerns. Cisco does a great job at support. We say try us out and if you are unhappy with your experience (for any reason) we will refund you the remaining months of your agreement you can always go back to Cisco. There are thousands of customers that have made the move to TPM and have never looked back. Lastly check out our Testimonials, if you need more, we can provide them. With our personalized service, we don’t have customers we have fanatics.
Q. What happens if I am having trouble with one of my devices?
A. Once a ticket is opened, our technical team will respond within 15 min and proactively determine if a replacement device is needed. If so, we will deliver a replacement device from one of our nationwide warehouses. Our guarantee is that we will have all of your network devices in stock.
