$679,699 saved. Zero Catalyst Center licensing fees. One hospital network refresh.

Most healthcare IT network executives assume that a 50% VAR discount is the best they can do on their Cisco network refresh. However, a recent Edgeium customer proved otherwise by saving $679,699.50 compared to their pricing from their channel VAR on a 940 unit order of switches, and access points and Catalyst Center Licensing.

That’s not a rounding error. That’s 57% below what the same equipment would have cost purchasing through their standard channel.

The full savings breakdown (all units are new)

Hardware:

Catalyst Center Licensing

The Catalyst Center licensing advantage

A significant portion of the savings achieved on this project, $334,677.10 didn’t come from hardware discounts, but from avoiding unnecessary Catalyst Center licensing costs.

When organizations purchase Cisco hardware form their traditional channels, Catalyst Center licenses are a mandatory line item. There is no option to opt-out regardless of usage. Licenses for this order AIR-DNA-A-5Y, C9200L-DNA-E-24-5Y, and C9300-DNA-E-48-5Y would have added $334,677.10 to the total cost. Buying from Edgeium eliminated this cost entirely.

For healthcare organizations managing multi-year infrastructure investments, avoiding these recurring licensing fees creates a meaningful long-term budget advantage helping free up capital for higher priority initiatives rather than spending money on unused software. 

What $679,699 means for a healthcare network

In an industry where margins are already thin, $679,699 is not a trivial number. It is money that can be used for clinical staff. It’s patient care technology. It’s capital that remains within the healthcare system rather than flowing into the supply chain.

The hardware in this order:  Cisco C9136I-B APs, C9200L and C9300 switches, network modules, power supplies, and SFP transceivers, all brand new in sealed Cisco boxes, is the same enterprise-grade infrastructure healthcare networks rely on every day for clinical connectivity, EHR access, and medical device communication. We test every unit to OEM specifications, delivering performance and reliability at 57% less than traditional channel partners.

Speed and supply chain resilience

Cost savings are only part of the story. Traditional channel procurement for an order of these 940 Cisco devices in April of 2026 will come with an estimated lead time of 4-5 months. Edgeium’s secondary market sourcing compresses that timeline to days or weeks helping to keep infrastructure projects on schedule and without sacrificing equipment quality or reliability.

The bottom line

A 50% VAR discount isn’t the ceiling, it’s the floor. For healthcare networks willing to look beyond the traditional channel, secondary-market procurement through Edgeium delivers certified enterprise hardware at prices channel partners simply cannot beat while also eliminating recurring licensing costs entirely for access layer hardware.

The question every healthcare network executive should be asking when planning a refresh:

What would your organization do with an additional $679,699?

Thank you for reading!