IDC White Paper: Cisco Enterprise Agreement and Top Enterprise Software Challenges

Acquiring and managing enterprise software is a major investment and a complex undertaking. With the Cisco Enterprise Agreement (EA), a single, simplified agreement offering broad access to Cisco's software portfolio, we have a clear strategy to make the process simpler, more flexible and more compelling for customers.

Parity isn't our goal. Cisco isn't just following the industry in software agreements, we're leaping ahead. We're doing the hard work, and making ongoing investments in offering new and better ways to purchase and consume enterprise software designed around the way customers say they want to do it. I'm confident the Cisco EA will emerge as the standard not only for how Cisco does business but the industry as well.

Customers, and the industry, are validating our approach. A recent IDC White Paper, sponsored by Cisco, Solving the Top 5 Enterprise IT Infrastructure Software Management Challenges acknowledges that the strategy and policies embodied in the Cisco EA 'can help elevate Cisco's presence in the infrastructure software market and establish Cisco as a key player in the enterprise software space.'

The IDC White Paper goes on to say:

'Cisco has designed its offerings to build in the flexibility, simplicity, and agility required to service today's demanding CIO customers. IDC believes the Cisco EA can be a suitable choice for customers that need an updated EA with flexible terms, allowances for overages, advanced tools and utilities, and other features that can help address specific IT and business strategies in today's complex IT environments.'

Please download the IDC White Paper to learn more, and I look forward to your comments on what we're doing, what's going on in the industry, and what you see as the challenges and rewards ahead for your company and its infrastructure software strategy.

Mark