If you have sold switches to customers who manage them in Sophos Central but who do not own a Support and Services subscription, you may need to adjust their support cover within the next three months to maintain their current functionality.
Date of integration: April 22, 2023 + 3-month grace period
Customer/Partner communication: April 20, 2023 (via email)
When we originally launched Sophos Switch, the Support and Services subscription was available for purchase, but the support activation was not yet integrated into Sophos Central. We are now beginning the process to fully integrate and enforce Support and Services, allowing the seamless management of switch support subscriptions alongside other Sophos products.
Remember: Sophos Central management for all products (one vendor, one view) is one of the strongest selling points for our switches as part of the network stack, and our overall product ecosystem.
If your customer previously purchased a Support and Services subscription, it will be automatically applied to their Sophos Central account when this update is deployed. If this is not possible, they should receive an email with a key for them to apply manually.
If a customer has a valid Support and Services subscription but was not migrated, and does do not receive a key, they should reach out to customer care. See this Knowledgebase article (EN only) for further information: https://support.sophos.com/support/s/article/KB-000045084
What do Support and Services include?
In addition to providing a completely unified management experience for all products, a Support and Services subscription for each Sophos Switch entitles a customer to:
- Sophos Central management (incl. scheduled firmware updates)
- Advanced RMA support
- Phone support 24×7
- Firmware updates
It also allows the customer to activate remote access for our support team for full troubleshooting and debugging in case of any issues. Support is limited for switches that are not registered in Sophos Central.
To ensure a smooth transition, there will be a 3-month grace period beginning on April 22, 2023. During this time, customers who manage their switches in Sophos Central will receive the benefit of Support and Services and will be alerted if they are currently under-subscribed. This grace period will allow you to adjust the support cover for your customer, if required.
What happens after the 3-month grace period?
If a customer has switch models registered in Sophos Central which are not covered by a Support and Services subscription:
- the switches remain visible but in a suspended state
- Configuration changes will not be possible
- Scheduled backups will not occur
- Firmware upgrades will not be available
Please check your switch deals and ensure that you include Support and Services if the customer plans to manage them in Sophos Central. We would highly recommend that you encourage this unified management approach.
Any customer who only manages their switches via one of the local management options (e.g., local UI, CLI) can continue to do so and will see no change to their management experience, however, they will be missing out on one of the key benefits of these products as part of the Sophos products and services ecosystem.
