Smart services are nothing new to Cisco. An early set of smart capabilities can be seen in the innovations behind the SMARTnet technical support offering, which leverages Cisco’s award winning Technical Assistance Center (TAC). The TAC solution has serviced 80% of problems through online resources, and the automation in Cisco’s supply chain for quick, on-time delivery of replacement parts through a global network of hardware depots.
“How do I know which Cisco alerts apply to my network?” “Are my Cisco products covered by the right contracts?” “It’s difficult to keep track of what’s at risk in my network.” These are just a few concerns customers have expressed about onboarding and technical support and service. The good news is many of these concerns can now be addressed through smarter services like SNTC provided by Cisco.
Comstor understands the value of offering a proactive, seamless technical support capability, which is why customers will now have full access to the SMARTnet Total Care Portal (SNTC). As a VAR, you can leverage a more proactive, solution-centric level of technical support for customers that will improve efficiencies and enhance the end user experience. SNTC allows partners to tap into the full value of Cisco’s Smart Service Capabilities, a proactive, pre-emptive service model that provides:
- Onboarding assistance where a remote resource engages with you to set up collection tools and portal access, and enable smart capabilities.
- Product inventory collection and IB reconciliation, including data collection assistance, data cleanup and reconciliation, and IB reporting.
- Technical support for portal and collections through the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to help speed up problem resolution.
Smart Service Capabilities, such as installed base management and proactive alerts, as well as Network Security capabilities, such as disaster recovery and PSIRT notifications, are all easily accessible through a one-stop Smart Care portal.
The SNTC portal works via a virtual collector that gathers Cisco serial numbers off the network, runs them through the Cisco databases, and reports on info such as Support Contract data, IOS versions being run, EOS data, and much more.
Based on the data the collector provides, a customer can see end of support data, IOS compatibility and even PSIRT alerts along with contract data. This information can help a partner construct a lifecycle plan with the customer, provide consultative services for long-term planning and become a true advisor and partner — not just a reseller.
As a result, service providers get actionable insights and better predictability to improve quality of service, efficiency, agility, and a reduction in costs.
Interested in learning more about SNTC? Contact Bruce Roe, Comstor IBDM Inside Business Development Manager at bruce.roe@comstor.com
