(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com June 13.)

What's To Like? Or Not Like?

Channel partners of Cisco are brimming with optimism about the networking giant's new enterprise-wide software licensing agreements unveiled last week. They said that if they're done correctly, the ELAs could be a game-changer for the channel and a critical piece in Cisco's push to becoming a more software-centric company.  

The San Jose, Calif.-based network leader said the new Enterprise Agreement (EA) is either a three or five-year licensing contract which will enable partners to bring in more revenue, with a lower upfront investment on software, hardware, and services with the new EAs.

After looking over the details in Cisco's new EA, partners sounded off on what they like and don't like about the software licenses.