In reply to Dan Conde.

Dan,

Thank you for your comment/question. I agree that both options are valid & choice depends on the size of the deployment, type of deployment and the outcome the end customers want to achieve. For our customers who are rolling out hundreds and sometimes thousands of these switches, it can take several years to complete a rollout across the campus globally – hence a long lifecycle is an expectation. Additionally, if our customers standardize on a modular platform like the 4500E, they can expect to simply swap out a supervisor to meet their business requirement – for example our 4500E customers who want integrated wireless functionality just need to swap out older supervisors (Sup7E, Sup6E) with Sup8E and get the functionality without a forklift upgrade. Lastly, to aid customers who choose to follow the second model you mention, we have introduced the Cisco ONE software support agreement where customers can transfer their software licenses to replacement devices.

Regards,
Hasan