Navigating Cisco Success Tracks: What You Need to Know

Cisco has rolled out yet another layer to their support services—Success Tracks. Let's take a look at how it compares with traditional SMARTnet, how it may help you, and how it impacts your overall budget and support strategy.

We’ve been encountering Success Tracks in nearly every Cisco SMARTnet analysis we’ve done beginning Q2 of 2024.  Success Tracks basically combined standard SMARTnet (NBD, 4-Hour, Onsite, etc) with a software portal known as CX Cloud (Customer Experience Cloud).  The CX portal is a standard ITAM solution, but is it worth the extra cost?  Edgeium is trying to help you move that needle in the other direction by reducing network maintenance costs, so lets dig in!

Cost Breakdown

Below are a few numbers from a recent SMARTnet analysis that we completed.  For 717 access switches, Success Tracks with NBD replacement costs $79,338 more per year than standard NBD SMARTnet.  It's roughly $110 extra per device.

Our alternative to SMARTnet — CovrEDGE is much less!  For a quick estimate of how much you can save with our CovrEDGE, try our Maintenance Savings Calculator.

What is Success Tracks? 

According to Cisco’s service description:

"This Service Description is part of the Services Agreement (as defined in the Services Guide) and describes various Services that Cisco will provide to You. Capitalized terms, unless defined in this document, have the meaning in the Services Guide. "

Let me know if you have any further questions! 😀

Success Tracks offers 3 tiers:  Standard, Enhanced, or Signature

Standard:  Traditional SMARTnet PLUS "Insight and Analytics."  Insight and Analytics is a web application that provides basic ITAM specific to Cisco.

• Support Communities - this really isn't new
• Asset and License View - just as it sounds.
• Security Advisories - not new
• Field Notices - not new
• Case Management - a tool to manage current and TAC engagements.  If you adopted Cisco Prime, DNA Center, or Catalyst Center, you already have it.

Enhanced: Success Tracks Standard PLUS two new "enhanced" support options, as well as three more features in the software portal.

• Solution Support - this is probably best described as "in development."  It's basically a dedicated point of contact that coordinates with different OEMs to help solve cross-OEM issues.
• Automated RMA - automatic detection of hardware failures to open TAC cases.
• Adoption View - "Adoption" is kind of a weird word to use here, but it's an overview of licensing and feature-sets being used, including licenses purchased, activated, and utilized, as well as any software-enabled features.  
• Rapid Problem Resolution - automated collection of data and diagnostics if a TAC case is opened.  This could actually be very helpful depending on what data its able to provide.  Currently, think a "sho tec" is automatically attached to the case, but maybe one day its able to provide specific details about the environment or changes prior to the failure or issue.
• Priority Bugs - Basically, an automated list of bugs that exist in the revisions running on your network.
• e-learning - online resources for learning

Signature:  Success Tracks Enhanced PLUS the following:

• Case Management KPIs - Monitor and track KPIs you want to follow for TAC cases such as response time, ticket duration, location or device specific variances, etc.
• Optimal Software Versions - a list of Safe Harbour software available for your network.
• Automated Fault Management - Literally the same thing as Automated RMA (Automated Fault Management monitors your technology environment for faults by examining logs and can also open a service request with Cisco when a fault is detected.)
• Regulatory Compliance Checks - This is part of their Business Services portfolio:
  • Software Compliance and Remediation
  • Configuration Compliance and Remediation
  • Regulatory Compliance & Remediation
    This AI looks for compliance flags by validating that software versions are up to date, vulnerabilities are identified and remediated, and configurations are compliant to both regulatory requirements as well as defined gold standards.  
  • Security Compliance Assessment is AI that looks at policy, processes, and technical requirements where assessment cannot be automated.
  • Network and Application Penetration Testing - used to meet the PCI-DSS requirements to complete these tasks.
  • Enterprise Security Advisor - a dedicated point of contact to help you with compliance.
• Risk Mitigation Checks - This is an AI feature that taps into a database of more than 2 million Cisco devices and measures your estate against those 2M to provide a global risk score and global risk rank.  This will be an interesting development.  In one hand, we're trying to find the most risk-free environment, and in the other a study guide for hackers.  What it checks for right now is very surface-level, and in addition to providing a database for hackers to target, a database of your entire network, and its unique exposure, is in the cloud as well.   
  But it only grabs a part ID and the software version it's running, and measures how many crashes that particular combo has failed in some way.
• Remote Practice Labs - access to remote environments for certification preparation.
• Certification Preparation - all the resources you need to successfully pass certification exams.