From 36 Contracts to One: How a Leading Veterinary Health Network Achieved $456K in Savings
Simplification | Visibility | Savings
(a five-year Cisco Enterprise Agreement)
At a Glance
Organization: A leading veterinary health network delivering advanced, consultative care across a highly distributed, multi-site environment.
Challenge: 36 separate Cisco contracts and renewal dates across multiple legacy partners, limited visibility into licensing and usage, and a Cisco ISE licensing structure that no longer matched the organization’s needs.
Solution: A five-year Cisco Enterprise Agreement consolidating all 36 contracts — shaped through parallel three- and five-year modeling, multiple Cisco ISE and Meraki licensing scenarios, and Cisco Capital EA Pay at 0% financing.
Results: $456K in projected savings (18% over five years), 36 contracts consolidated into one, five years of pricing protection, and predictable annual payments at 0% financing.
Executive Summary
A leading veterinary health network was managing a highly fragmented Cisco licensing environment that had grown harder to administer as the organization expanded. Thirty-six separate contracts, multiple legacy partners, staggered renewal dates, and limited visibility into asset ownership created ongoing operational and financial risk, compounded by a previously deployed Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solution whose licensing type and quantities no longer aligned with the organization’s desired capabilities. Previous implementation challenges had also strained the relationship with Cisco, limiting collaboration at a time when the organization needed strategic guidance. Burwood helped re-establish productive engagement between the client and Cisco, creating the foundation for a broader licensing and technology roadmap discussion that ultimately supported the Enterprise Agreement strategy.
Burwood Group approached the engagement as more than a renewal. Over a focused four-month process, Burwood developed parallel three-year and five-year Enterprise Agreement scenarios, modeled multiple Cisco ISE and Meraki licensing options, and worked directly with Cisco to secure additional financial flexibility. The resulting five-year Cisco Enterprise Agreement consolidated 36 contracts into one, delivered an estimated $456,000 in savings versus business-as-usual purchasing, reduced projected costs by 18% over the term, locked in current pricing for five years, and provided annualized payments through Cisco Capital at 0% financing.
The Challenge: A Fragmented Environment Created Risk on Every Front
Purchases had been made over time through multiple partners and under different contract structures, leaving the organization with 36 agreements carrying separate renewal dates, terms, support levels, and ownership records. That fragmentation created risk on several fronts:
Missed renewals and coverage gaps — dozens of staggered dates raised the risk of lapses in support or software access, emergency repurchases at less favorable pricing, and loss of negotiated discounts.
Limited visibility across the installed base — no single, reliable view of what was owned, where it was purchased, how it was used, or when it would expire.
Over- and under-consumption — paying for unused licenses while risking unexpected costs when consumption exceeded entitlements.
Inconsistent support and escalation — multiple partners meant uneven service levels and unclear ownership when issues arose.
Vendor relationship challenges: Previous implementation issues surrounding Cisco ISE had created friction between the organization and Cisco, reducing confidence in vendor guidance and limiting access to strategic planning resources that could support future technology and licensing decisions.
Administrative burden — staggered cycles forced IT, procurement, and finance to manage renewal activity all year, competing with higher-value work.
The Solution: A Four-Month, Consultative Enterprise Agreement Process
Rather than presenting a single take-it-or-leave-it renewal, Burwood ran the engagement as a focused four-month process built around client education and financial and technical scenario modeling:
Parallel Scenarios: three - and five-year scenarios gave the client a side-by-side view of total cost, annual payments, price protection, and expected savings. The five-year structure delivered an 18% advantage, roughly $456,000, versus projected business-as-usual purchasing, while locking in current pricing for the full term.
Multiple Cisco ISE and Meraki Options: including Meraki mixed-use and Meraki Advantage licensing — let the client compare capabilities and cost before committing to a final structure.
Installed-base Discovery: using Smart Track AI and Cisco Digital Consent established a complete, accurate picture of existing assets, ownership, renewal dates, and consumption — reducing manual inventory work.
Cisco Capital and EA Pay: Burwood worked directly with Cisco to secure incremental ramp credits and aligned the agreement to the EA Pay model, letting the client annualize payments, avoid a large upfront outlay, and finance at 0%.
Cisco Relationship Alignment and ISE Strategy: Burwood facilitated technical and business discussions between the client and Cisco to address longstanding concerns related to the Cisco ISE deployment and licensing model. By helping both parties align on future-state requirements and a path forward, Burwood rebuilt trust, re-established executive engagement, and enabled productive collaboration on the broader Enterprise Agreement strategy.
Why the Client Selected Burwood
The agreement is supported by Burwood’s white-glove lifecycle-management service. Through quarterly reviews, Burwood helps the organization evaluate consumption and adoption, identify value-shift and included-use savings, track changes in the installed base, and prepare for the annual True Forward process. Burwood treats the EA as a continuously optimized operating model rather than a one-time transaction. As the agreement was finalized recently and the first quarterly review has not yet occurred, post-implementation outcomes are described as designed and expected benefits pending that review.
The Results
$456,000 in projected savings versus business-as-usual purchasing.
18% reduction in total projected costs over five years.
36 contracts consolidated into one Enterprise Agreement, replacing staggered renewal dates with a single co-term.
Five years of price protection, reducing exposure to annual vendor increases.
Predictable annual payments at 0% financing through Cisco Capital and EA Pay.
Built-in flexibility through Cisco True Forward and value-shift capabilities to support new locations, users, and devices as needs evolve.
Ongoing Lifecycle Management
The agreement is supported by Burwood’s white-glove lifecycle-management service. Through quarterly reviews, Burwood helps the organization evaluate consumption and adoption, identify value-shift and included-use savings, track changes in the installed base, and prepare for the annual True Forward process. They treated the EA as a continuously optimized operating model rather than a one-time transaction. As the agreement was finalized recently and the first quarterly review has not yet occurred, post-implementation outcomes are described as designed and expected benefits pending that review.
Conclusion
By consolidating 36 Cisco contracts into a single five-year Enterprise Agreement, Burwood helped a leading veterinary health network replace a fragmented purchasing model with a simpler, more predictable, and more strategic approach. They — secured an estimated $456,000 in savings, an 18% cost reduction, five years of locked pricing, and a flexible payment model at 0% financing. The result was more than a successful renewal, it was a transition from fragmented transactions to a long-term technology and financial strategy.
Industry:
Veterinary Health & Healthcare Services
Burwood Capabilities Leveraged:
Enterprise Agreement
Burwood Group, Inc. is an IT consulting and integration firm. For over 25 years we’ve enabled our clients to design, use, and manage technology to transform their business and improve outcomes. Our technical depth resides in voice, network, wireless, data center, storage, and security infrastructure technologies. Today, we merge this foundational knowledge with renewed expertise in cloud, DevOps, automation, collaboration, and more. Whether you are developing strategy, deploying technology, or creating an operational model, Burwood is a dedicated partner.
