Cisco Ethernet Switches Reviews

Flexibility

We standardized on an common command line interface

When Cisco products integrate with a third party module it not easy to renew support on the third party modules software. On hardware replacement the serial numbers don't get added to the support contract and feature codes have to be reinstalled.

10 Years

No

No

No

Customer Service: Very GoodTechnical Support: Very Good

Yes, because of cost. Then the replacements were not reliable enough.

Complex setup. Mostly because of Data,VoIP and Video QOS.

Both. The vendor was very good.

The cost on the entire infrastructure was 1.2 mil. The OPEX is 95k

Yes, tried HP, Dell, 3Com

The network system will need the capacity for future expansion. To go beyond Enterprise Integration, by creating a new infrastructure. Business decisions made today, now become key strategic advantages and capabilities of tomorrow.

We use Cisco Ethernet Switches to connect our infrastructure and application communication.

Cisco Ethernet Switches have good performance.

The price of the solution has room for improvement.

I have been using the solution for a couple of years.

I give the stability a ten out of ten.

I give the scalability a nine out of ten.

We currently have around 5,000 people using the solution. The amount of people is determined by the license we have. To scale up we need to increase our license.

The technical support is helpful.

The initial setup is not complex. The deployment time depends on the level of setup but on average between two to four days.

When the solution is stable and we don't receive any complaints we see a return on investment using the solution.

Cisco offers annual and three-year license options.

I give the solution a ten out of ten.

Having a Cisco Ethernet Switch is beneficial when selecting a network environment. It is advantageous to compare all the necessary components from different manufacturers, but ultimately, Cisco covers all the areas that will be necessary for the future.

On-premises

 Cisco Ethernet Switches are used for directing network traffic.

One of the most valuable aspects of Cisco Ethernet Switches is many engineers can work on the equipment. You can find qualified engineers that can configure Cisco equipment more than any other networking equipment.

The ease of use and features sets are very good in Cisco Ethernet Switches.

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for approximately 20 years.

The stability of Cisco Ethernet Switches is very good.

The support from Cisco is great. We have trained engineers working and when we need to speak to the technical support of Cisco, it is only because we see there are some errors in the software that we cannot solve ourselves. 

I would rate the support from Cisco Ethernet Switches a four out of five.

The implementation of Cisco Ethernet Switches is a straightforward process.  We're a partner for Cisco via the machine-building program, we integrate ourselves together with those solutions.

I would rate the implementation process of Cisco Ethernet Switches a four out of five.

They have changed over the years and now you need to purchase a three-year obligatory license and then after three years, you are free to use it or not. The model is a bit difficult for customers. This is why we have been shifting away from Cisco equipment.

The price of hardware replacements can be expensive.

I would rate the price of Cisco Ethernet Switches a two out of five.

When we compare Cisco Ethernet Switches to other solutions it comes down to what you need to purchase besides the hardware. Cisco Ethernet Switches' main issue is not with the hardware, but with the software and support that might not be needed.

My advice to others looking to purchases Cisco Ethernet Switches is you pay perhaps a little bit more on the equipment, but there are available engineers to help with the programming, set up, and implementation of the switches. This makes it worthwhile to choose Cisco. If you perhaps have cheap equipment, but if you don't have the people that know how to configure it, do troubleshooting, or analysis, you cannot move forward. 

The equipment might be more expensive, but when you take total ownership of the configuration, maintenance, and analysis, then it's a large benefit. Sometimes customers see only the first cost of the switches and don't look any further. This is a weak point of Cisco.

I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

The use cases that we have delivered to our customers include for hotel enterprises, government organizations, even military locations. This includes access switches and also distribution switches - perhaps for some organizations in call and data centers, as well.

The features that I have found most valuable are the core reliability and the switching group. All the features are very generic switching features with high reliability. That is the main key point I can highlight.

Feature-wise, almost all the features are there, but an improvement would be to change their market intention. Almost all the Cisco switches are now coming with a license called DNA. D for Delta, N for number and A for apple. That feature is required, he must purchase it and it is a mandatory thing that has been introduced. This is not matching with the Asian market, because let's say you are purchasing a vehicle and you don't want to have a reverse camera, right? But if the manufacturer is forced, fully telling you that you definitely should buy it, this is not fair in that way. DNA licenses, in most cases, are not required, but it should be told to the customers and added to the quotation, because we cannot remove it. This is not matching or suitable for the Asian market. It is not a requirement of the customer and it is forcefully added by the vendor. It's just a license, which you have to purchase for one year or three years, and it will never be used in some cases. In some cases, some specific customers may require that there should be the option to add it. But if it is not required by the customer, it should be optional.

In terms of what I would like to see in the next release, it would be good if they could introduce a switch which can work on cloud and on a local deployment. Maybe the same switch will work. Because some switches are only working alone with local deployments, and some switches are working with cloud based environments. So if the same switch could work on both cloud and from its node, that will be great.

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for probably six to seven years.

I'm an integrator. We are using the latest version. I'm doing the designing and selling. I'm selling the latest version of these switches.

Cisco Ethernet Switches have the best stability.

Scalability in the sense varies with switching. Some switches are fixed, which we cannot expand with the design, but some switches are those you can expand. It's basically the design. So scalability is good.

They have great, great technical support from 100 miles to 200 miles.

Initial setup is straightforward to complete. It is very user friendly for the engineer to configure the deploy.

Implementation time depends, but in general, if it is a basic pre-plan implementation, it'll take only a few hours to configure and complete the installation. Maybe one or two hours, also we can complete it if it is a pre-plan, simple deployment. If it is a complex kind of networking fast structure, it'll depend on the solution and the configuration.

It also depends on the solution. If it is one switch, just one one engineer can deploy it. If it is two switches, also one engineer can, but if it is a complex network, it depends on how many switches and how complex it is. Basically, for switch one you can put only one engineer and that also can be done using a technician level person and by remote logging or you can manage it with over the phone instruction.

Cisco is the leader of networking and I would recommend it for anyone.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Cisco Ethernet Switches a 10.

On-premises

Product counterfeiting is a big problem in the Kenyan market. Many people trust Cisco because you won't find a fake Cisco product, at least not in this use case.

You have to be Cisco-certified to work on Cisco products, so we can't get into Cisco to do even basic configurations. I may be speaking from ignorance, but in my experience, Cisco products lack a GUI. You can barely get around the basic system, so the interface is something I would improve. The overview and configuration are good for security purposes, but it's bad if you want your products to be the product of choice of the average user. Cisco should do work on making its switches less cryptic.

We've been using Cisco Ethernet Switches since 2000. We recommend Linksys for customers who can't afford Cisco, but Cisco has always been our dominant product. 

The greatest advantage of Cisco switches is their reliability. For example, we bought some 500 series switches back in 2002 or 2003, and they ran 24/7. I never had an issue for seven years. 

I think Cisco Ethernet Switches are quite scalable, with lots of options. It's not an issue at all for anyone to expand. 

You can get professional support in this market. We have quite a lot of guys working with Cisco in Kenya, so it's not too hard to get a Cisco specialist to configure your network for you. It's not hard to get a Cisco-certified professional in the market. They might not be cheap, but they're there. 

Setting up a Cisco switch isn't hard. You take it out of the box, switch it on, mount it, and connect it. Then it's up and running. It's more complicated to do port configurations, customization, or anything fancy. 

Cisco is quite expensive. In our market, a lot of customers are forced to go with something else because they cannot afford a brand-new Cisco even though they know a Cisco switch will be more reliable. They'll for a Linksys switches because that is what they can afford. It's mainly an issue for medium-sized businesses. Pricing is negotiable and if you are a large enterprise, you're less worried about the price.

I rate Cisco Ethernet switches eight out of 10. I would give them a higher rating, but they need to be more sensible on their pricing. They may want to maintain that high price because their products are higher quality. At the same time, other vendors are coming in and filling this space at the bottom of the pyramid. They might end up being a niche market product for people who know or prefer Cisco. I don't think this was their original strategy. I'm sure their original plan was to corner the market on switches for anyone who needs one. The advice I would give to potential Cisco customers is to make sure you know exactly what you want, so you get value for the money. Think about the scalability of your business and your requirements. 

On-premises

Generally, we use the product just to switch traffic.

They just work. Their reliability has been great for our organization.

We just need them to run. There's not any feature that we sought out and we bought them. We bought them due to the fact that we needed switching capabilities and Cisco is pretty reliable.

The solution can scale.

Technical support is helpful and responsive.

They can make the licensing model a little easier. I know they've made some recent changes, it's a little confusing. It's more complicated than it once was.

I've been using Cisco switches for 20 years. It's been a very long time.

The solution is quite stable. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

They're doing the job fine. We have upgraded them when we needed to. We can scale as necessary.

I can't speak to how many users are currently on our switches.

Tech support has always been good. They are helpful and responsive. I'm quite satisfied with their level of service.

We also use Aruba switches and Dell PowerConnect.

The implementation process has a moderate level of difficulty. It's not straightforward or complex; it's somewhere in the middle. Sometimes they change the iOS around, and that lends itself to a bit of complexity. You have to work on updating items.

There were a couple of versions early on where we buy a different model switch and the operating system was different, with different commands and stuff.

We didn't really have a specific implementation strategy.

Initially, some of the switches took about an hour to implement.

I take care of the maintenance aspects of the product. You don't need a lot of people to do it.

Occasionally, we've gotten outside help when we've needed it, however, most of the time I take care of that myself.

When we have gotten outside help, the experience has always been positive.

I haven't specifically witnessed any ROI while using this solution.

The licensing model is difficult to understand.

We get the SMARTnet and one of the switches has that Cisco ONE licensing. It's probably running about $12,000 a year right now. There aren't any add-on costs on top of that that I am aware of.

We're just customers and end-users.

We've had several versions over the years, mostly Catalyst switches.

It's just a really solid product. I'd give the product a rating of eight out of ten as they are really good switches.

On-premises

How we use Cisco Ethernet Switches depends on the customer's requirements. We just connected Alliance switches with trans 2/4 switches in our office, and we have deployed it as a static configuration. We are not planning any other protocol for the permission and the configuration we aren't using. But for our customers, we go with the VMA architecture, networking, and Cloud Meraki and Experian from Cisco.

I think the VMA architecture is valuable. 

I don't have any issues on the technical aspects, but on the business side of things, I see that almost all the Catalyst and high-grade switches are now required to have a VMA license. Sometimes businesses may not require those licenses because they are just using them as the third street. 

It's a business challenge which we're facing in the Asian countries. Customers don't require a VMA environment at the moment, but it's essential to purchase a VMA license for some of the switches. It's a challenge that we're facing during sales or presales because when it comes to the competition like Cisco SSL and the others, they don't have that kind of a restriction.

If I would like to purchase a new switch, it can be a higher-end switch like a Chassis switch or a basic L2 or L3 switch—any switch where we can purchase a support bundle and install and use it. But with the VMA  license, we need to activate the license, or the Ethernet switch will not perform. It won't work.

If Cisco Ethernet Switches can work both on-prem and in the cloud, it would be an advantage. Other vendors are already offering this option. It would be a great added advantage to use the same switch in standalone mode, as a local MM or VMA, and for cloud control.

I have been working with Cisco Ethernet Switches for about 12 years. 

In my experience, Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable.

In my experience, Cisco Ethernet Switches are scalable.

Cisco Ethernet Switches come with good technical support. But sometimes we get engineers who aren't as knowledgeable, but we can speak to them and fix a problem within a couple of hours.

The initial setup of Cisco Ethernet Switches is very straightforward in my experience.
It's quite easy. But I think it depends on the knowledge and experience of the engineer.

We don't conduct any annual maintenance, but it's probably best to do it annually.

I would recommend Cisco Ethernet Switches to others.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Ethernet Switches a ten.

Hybrid Cloud

Versatility and streamlined IOS

Availability of expertise on the market (resources)

Streamlined IOS helped to develop templates for Ethernet Switches without worrying of compatibility of commands in regards to hardware platforms.

Modularity of Industrial switches (IE3000) provides flexibility in solutions yet based on one platform.

Vast array of Industrial models (IE2000, IE3000, IE4000, IE5000).

Acceptance of open source trends (there is slight move already - just keep going)

10 years overall for all switching/routing products. Industrial switches for last 5 years.

No

No

Well, need more pro-active option to add PoE modules to Industrial switches.

Customer Service:

We deal with a Cisco partner - 4.5 out of 5.

Technical Support:

We deal with a Cisco partner - 4.0 out of 5. Sometimes we find the solution before we get an answer from the Cisco partner.

Everything is driven by business requirements, which in turn different from one project to another. Major points are: availability of support/expertise beyond internal resources, territorial coverage, performance and support of multiple options from enterprise to industrial environment

Straightforward.

90 % in house. Vendor team has sufficient skills.

Cisco should look into more flexible licensing for hardware/IOS. It is hard to beat some vendors' lifetime warranty even they offer less in functionality compare to Cisco.

There are multiple vendors but they are very specialized and do not support versatile solutions. For example, we had to move from Schneider switches as they were just a marketing move by vendor and did not provided better performance or compatibility with SCADA products.

Start from your business requirements (what would you like to have) and budget (what can you afford).