Pricing On Series 500 A Switch For Cisco VARs

Cisco recently launched a new set of Catalyst Express 500 Series switches aimed at SMBs and significantly lower in price than switches VARs are used to seeing. It includes many new features such as PoE, which will provide a value-add to solution providers.

The company hopes the new lower price points will jump-start partners to sell entire Cisco solutions rather than piecing together skeleton medleys composed of different networking products.

CRN Test Center engineers recently evaluated the Catalyst Express 500-24LC, priced at $1,295, which Cisco is building from the ground up as part of an entirely new set of purpose-built products. This means Cisco is not taking an enterprise-level product, stripping it down, changing the sheet metal around the product, lowering the price, and then trying to pawn it off as a new value-added solution.

Cisco&s Catalyst Express 500-24LC switch incorporates 20 10/100 ports, four 10/100 PoE ports and two 10/100/1000BT or SFP ports, with all 24 PoE ports capable of supplying up to 15.4 watts of power over Category 5 cable, for a total of 370 watts of inline power.

It also includes the Smartports Advisor feature, which detects connected devices and can automatically configure any device permitted on the network. It&s all based on CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) best practices, which allows for proper deployment from day one and helps partners provide more of an insurance policy.

Smartport comes in nine different roles—access point, router, switch, print server, etc.—all of which have associated quality-of-service features by default. For example, SMB customers want wireless but are afraid to enable it. The new switch offers a simple way to install a wireless AP. By simply plugging the AP into the switch, power will be supplied via PoE, and once the Smartports Advisor notices the new AP, it will bring up all the security settings such as SSID and VLAN settings. They support Cisco series access points 350, 1100, 1200 and 1300.

The switch comes with three levels of network security protection, which provides progressive levels of security through a slider bar, similar to what a user would find in IE. Another unique feature in the new switch box is the device is capable of a network lockdown using known MAC addresses, which takes a proactive approach to handling rogue APs.

Cisco has marketed the new 500 Series of switches under three basic principles: smart, simple and secure. The products are ready for innovative technologies such as IP telephony and wireless LAN interoperability. They have integrated intelligence to detect problematic network issues before they arise.

Embedded in each box is its new application, Cisco Network Assistant 3.0, which eliminates the complexity that typically accompanies network deployment. In the past, CCIEs were necessary in setting up Cisco switches, but now with the simplified 500 Series switches, deployments are much easier (although not so simple that any layperson can do it without a strong understanding of how network switches work). The new simple design, as Cisco likes to put it, will allow resellers to focus more on selling and less on racking and stacking. This will allow CCIEs to concentrate more on the higher-end, big-money deployments.

The Catalyst Express 500-24LC is clearly aimed at smaller businesses with 20 to 250 users. The hope is that the new design will solve some key concerns for SMB customers, such as cutting both capital and operational expenses.

Although it already has a well-established channel program, Cisco is rededicating itself to the channel with new initiatives in partner programs, service and support. The three-tiered program is based on specializations and the number of Cisco certified individuals the partner employs.

Cisco did not disclose margins and revenue.