Cisco Meraki Rescinding 10 Year Licencing/Support Arrangements after Purchase

[Colonel_Error]

Hello

 

I've just had notification from our account manager that Cisco Meraki will not be honouring the 10 year support agreement supplied with hardware purchased for a school in the past year.  I was wondering how widespread and problematic this is and if there are other options, aside from changing supplier, for upcoming projects for our other schools?

 

 

We were supplied a 10 year support licence with our equipment ("Enterprise License and Support, 10 Year") and this was factored into our comparisons at the time. Shortly after purchase, Meraki have declared the equipment is 'EOS' and according to their policy this means warranty, technical support and firmware/security updates will cease within 5 years. Their policy states if this happens mid agreement they will assist in finding another solution or reimburse pro-rata. However, our account manager has told us that the 10 year licences supplied to schools are in fact structured as '5 years paid-for and 5 years free' (despite the quotes not bearing this) meaning there is nothing to refund in the latter 5 years. 
I'm questioning the legality of this, but that aside; it seems a disingenuous way to trade and as they have effectively halved our planned lifecycle after the deal, we are finding it impossible to trust them with our other networks, dashing our hopes of a single vendor estate (at least for a few years).

 

I'd be interested in others' thoughts?  I understand Meraki are going through a rebrand of their products back to Cisco which may be accelerating model EOS changes, so I think likely other customers will be affected by this - it would be worth checking your equipment, you can do so here:

Meraki End-of-Life (EOL) Products and Dates - Cisco Meraki Documentation

[Steve21]

When you say account manager is that a third party reseller? As that sounds more like they're trying to pull a fast one for selling you old kit! As far as I've seen there haven't been any recent Meraki EOS notices they're all older ones from last year, for example the normal MS350s etc that schools got lots of were announced Aug 24 but EOS'd Aug 25 and EOL Aug 30 so you'd end up with 6 years coverage (Would be worth checking what the actual announcement date was as again if they were sold knowingly EOS etc)

You're right that most the Meraki 10 year licenses are "charged" as 5-years equivalent, but that shouldn't affect any pro-rata refunds. 50% of 10 years lost is still 50% of the original cost to license 10 years etc

Steve

[Colonel_Error]

It’s indeed the Ms350’s , so we’re only getting 50-60% of our expected lifespan from them at point of sale . It’s not pennies but it’s mainly the distrust the shortchanging has brought and their view of the ‘10 year licence ‘ that’s brought the dilemma about how we can proceed with them as a vendor for our other sites.

 

I’ll double check the dates (thanks) as we dealt with Meraki directly (as well as resellers) and weren’t made aware of the impending EOL announcement .

 

Thanks

[PotNoodleTech]

Sounds pretty underhanded to me.

 

I guess you won't be buying cisco/meraki next time!

 

Bring back the good old days of the Procurve lifetime no quibble warranty.

[Max_Power]

We're going through some muddy waters like this at the moment, and trying to understand it all. 

We have a licence for 10 years and they expire in 2030, but the end of life date is this summer for some kit, and next summer for the rest. Selling a product with a 10 year licence and then the equipment only being valid for 5 -6 years is quite underhand. It is simply not feasible at this point in time to replace an entire wireless infrastructure. 

 

No "official" word from Meraki if the AP's will continue to work, but without warranty or firmware updates. Even if they do, it puts us in a position where we have equipment that wont receive any kind of updates. 

 

Evaluating other products now, and posing questions to them which could avoid this type of thing in future. 

[RedwayNetworks_Michael]

Colonel_Error yes sadly this is one of the downsides to Cisco and the license platform, usually they support i believe 5 years after end of sale. 

Out of interest when did you purchase the MS350s, if it was recent and they was aware they was going EOL they should have informed you and likely offered the newer ones.

Cisco Meraki is great kit but then these things happen and kind of ruins the whole good vibe for the products. 

 

 

[DrCheese]

Stuff like this is why I don't indulge Meraki when it comes to quotes for replacements. They make great kit & the cloud platform is great - But if I wanted my network held to ransom I would install ransomware myself....

 

 

[Extinction]

A really useful thread.  Only recently been made aware of this as an in issue across my Academies.  Raising through a large reseller who was unaware, to Meraki/Cisco direct.  ASA may also be interested in looking at the promotion communications that Meraki have used.  Lastly, if I get the chance I will also feedback into the DFE as many, many, Connect the Classroom funded schemes will be impacted- all sold as 10 year solutions. 

 

Was a big Meraki fanboy, where the premium cost for a premium product was justifable for 10 years peace of mind warranty/updates etc, however absolutely not justifiable over 5-6 years against tight education budgets where other tier 1 providers offer better 6 year refresh cycle value.