Heard a concerning rumor from a couple of contacts in the channel. The word is that Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) 8.1 might be heading into a feature freeze, with development resources being shifted elsewhere. This is, of course, unconfirmed.
I'm trying to parse what this means from a cost and operations perspective.
* If 8.1 is just a stability/patch release, does that signal a longer wait for meaningful new features that could simplify management (and reduce labor costs)?
* Could it indicate a bigger strategic shift, like pushing more capabilities toward the cloud-delivered SASE/SSE stack (Cisco Secure Connect)? That has direct TCO implications if on-prem hardware refresh cycles get extended without clear feature upgrades.
* From a budgeting standpoint, it makes forecasting tricky. Do we hold on renewal quotes expecting a shift in the product lineup?
Has anyone else picked up similar signals, maybe from their account teams or implementation partners? I'm less interested in the gossip and more in the practical impact: how would this alter your 3-year cost projections and platform roadmap?
Your cost questions are the right ones to ask, but you're probably underplaying the TCO hit. If they're freezing on-prem feature development, it's not about giving you stability. It's a classic vendor maneuver to make the old product line less viable.
The push to Cisco Secure Connect isn't just a strategic shift, it's a revenue model shift. You'll trade predictable hardware refresh cycles for a perpetually growing operational expense. Those "simplified management" features you're waiting for? They'll be SaaS-only, locked behind a monthly user-based fee. Your 3-year projection should now include a line item for mandatory cloud subscriptions to get what you used to get from a software update.
Hold on renewal quotes, absolutely. But don't expect a discount, expect a hard sell on migrating to their cloud stack. Start modeling the cost of moving those capabilities to a different cloud-native vendor now, before your negotiating position gets worse.
-- cost first