Cisco Networking Maintenance & Support

Providing an OEM neutral perspective and expert guidance, while always keeping the clients' best interests in mind is a fundamental principle of the ABM business model. This client-first philosophy is evident throughout the IT asset lifecycle services we provide, but is nowhere more apparent than in the ABM Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support service, one of the world's most respected independent Cisco support offerings. Our Cisco® networking and hardware support service is designed to provide businesses with mission-critical support and responsiveness, maintenance management that minimizes operational complexity and substantial cost savings, all without sacrificing access to Cisco software updates or adding any risk to network environments. Knowing the huge amount of time and energy required by businesses to manage their IT, we made it a priority to ensure Maintenance & Support service did not introduce any additional management burden by adding a maintenance management component to our service offering.

Service benefits:

  • CCIE and CCNP certified TAC Team providing Cisco hardware troubleshooting and networking configuration support 24x7
  • Service Level Agreements that mirror support provided by Cisco
  • Relaxed RMA policy enables immediate shipment of replacement parts
  • Expert guidance throughout IT asset lifecycles
  • Free access to singlePoint® for IT asset management, incident tracking and reporting

Service value:

  • ABM Cisco support averages 50% less than Cisco support
  • Increased control of capital equipment expenses and a greater ROI from Cisco asset lifecycle extensions well beyond the "End of Support" or "End of Software Maintenance" date
  • Tailored SLAs that allow optimization of response and repair requirements for each IT asset

Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support highlights:

  • Global service availability (English language TAC support only)
  • US-based ABM TAC Team providing configuration support and troubleshooting 24x7
  • On-site support provided by 600+ member Field Engineering Team
  • 90+ ABM-owned and operated service centers worldwide
  • Comprehensive service assurance process
  • Tailored, asset-level SLAs
  • Maintenance management for devices that remain under Cisco support
  • Numerous methods for initiating a service request
  • Documented escalation procedures
  • Carefully designed parts sparing system for each Cisco platform
  • On-site and strategic stocking locations for parts
  • Secure data erasure options available
  • Fix-IT-First® policy
  • Committed to best practice, yet open to any service customization
  • Monthly billing options for planned refreshes
  • Well-known by Gartner, long list of Cisco support references

Protecting businesses with a Cisco support infrastructure unlike any other independent maintainer.


Most Cisco users are unaware that there is a truly viable and cost effective independent Cisco support option. Even more, Cisco clients are very pleased when they learn ABM has designed a support infrastructure very similar to the Cisco support model with which they have become familiar. Key elements of this differentiation are:

  • US-based ABM Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Team comprised of highly skilled and experienced:
    • CCIEs
    • CCNPs
  • 24x7 TAC operation providing:
    • In-depth network troubleshooting
    • Advanced configuration support for all current and legacy Cisco routing, switching and security product lines
  • Multiple hardware replacement options including:
    • In-house replacement by the client
    • ABM Field Engineer replacement and support
  • Multiple hardware stocking options including:
    • On-site stocking
    • Stocked at one of ABM' 90+ strategically located global service facilities

With exceptional technical expertise and a solid support infrastructure, no other independent Cisco support provider can match the protection provided by the ABM Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support service.

Expert guidance that will shed light on the facts and save your business money.


While the expertise of our TAC Team, Field Engineering Team and support operations are equal to Cisco's, the financial benefit a business can incur is what really makes the ABM Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support service stand apart from the OEM. As an example, we were able to save a "top 3" money center bank more than $14 million dollars across a single platform while continuing to meet their required 2-hour SLA. And the truly beautiful part of this service is, we make it quick and simple for a business to find out where, why and how much it can save.

A key component of our Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support service is a proprietary tool we developed called ABM ClearViewSM for Cisco. Our ClearView tool analyzes the same equipment lists a business would use to renew a Cisco support contract to quickly pinpoint every asset that will benefit from ABM support. This free analysis provides businesses with an in-depth understanding of:

  • Cisco devices that require OEM support and why it is required
  • Cisco devices that are perfectly suited for ABM Cisco support services and why. This explanation generally includes:
    • Cisco hardware having free IOS updates such as Cisco Edge switches with IP based images including:
      • 2900, 3560, 3570 & 4500 series switches
    • Cisco hardware that has passed its "End of Software Maintenance" date such as:
      • Cisco Catalyst 6509–E switch with a Sup–720 supervisor module
    • Cisco hardware that has passed its "End of Support" date
    • Cisco hardware that is a mature, stable product set
    • And other factors.

This information can greatly increase a business's insight as to how Cisco support programs work and allow them to gain greater control over their capital equipment expenses. In most cases, this analysis reveals 40 to 60 percent of a business's Cisco hardware can be effectively supported by ABM without sacrificing access to software updates or service levels. It's a simple, user-friendly process designed to help simplify the burdens associated with budget analysis and transition justification.

Keeping the clients best interests in mind by ensuring operational simplicity.


Knowing the huge amount of time and energy required by businesses to manage their IT, we made it a priority to ensure that our Cisco Networking Maintenance and Support service did not introduce any additional management burden by adding a maintenance management component to our service offering. This maintenance management program eliminates any additional operational complexity by making ABM the single point of contact for all Cisco hardware support, even if the hardware is under a Cisco support contract.

Under this program, we make it simple by:

  • Maintaining all details of the hardware supported by Cisco
  • Maintaining all details of the hardware supported by ABM
  • Preloading all Cisco asset information into singlePoint for easy asset management
  • Preloading all Cisco support contract information into singlePoint for easy contract management
  • Opening TAC cases on the client's behalf with Cisco
  • Monitoring Cisco TAC cases to ensure rapid call escalations should the need arise