Guide price: Price range: £79,063.67 through £125,497.89 Ex. VAT
The Cisco Catalyst C8500-20X6C is a high-performance enterprise edge routing and SD-WAN aggregation platform in the Catalyst 8500 Series. It offers 20 × 1/10 GbE SFP+ ports and 6 × 40/100 GbE QSFP28 ports for flexible WAN and data-center connectivity in a 3 RU chassis. Built on Cisco IOS XE with hardware-accelerated services, the C8500-20X6C delivers scalable IPv4 forwarding and encrypted traffic performance for demanding enterprise and metro edge networks. The platform supports modern routing protocols, secure VPN services, and SD-WAN features while providing large route and session scales for resilient edge architectures.
Ideal Deployment / Environment:
The C8500-20X6C is suited to enterprise and service provider edge aggregation roles requiring high performance and encrypted traffic handling. Its combination of multi-speed interfaces and elevated forwarding and IPsec throughput makes it suitable for secure SD-WAN termination, WAN edge gateway, and data-center interconnect applications. The platform supports large routing tables, extensive session scale, and resilient uplinks, making it a strong candidate where flexibility, performance, and security are critical.
Cisco offers a wide portfolio of subscription-based services that enhance visibility, security, and operational resilience across enterprise and data center networks.
With the right combination of platforms and licenses, you can simplify management, protect critical infrastructure, and unlock advanced analytics. Explore Cisco service options below.
What is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?
Cisco ISE is the central policy engine for user and device access across your entire network – routers, switches, VPN gateways, and wireless. It enables you to enforce identity-aware policies wherever users connect.
ISE Licenses | Features | Advantages |
Essentials | User and device authentication (RADIUS, TACACS+), profiling, guest access | Centralised control over who can route traffic through your network |
Advantage | Posture checks, device health assessment, dynamic VLAN or access policies | Increase security at the edge—e.g. if device is non-compliant, limited to guest VPN or remediation |
Premier | Integration with threat intel, dynamic adaptive policies, integration with enforcement systems | Automatically tighten routing or access policies in response to threats |
Why work with a Cisco partner?
Licensing can be complex. Our team helps to align ISE with your router hardware and enforce zero-trust across your WAN and campus edges.
What is Cisco ThousandEyes for Routing & WAN Visibility?
Cisco ThousandEyes is a subscription-based observability and performance analytics platform. It gives you end-to-end visibility – from application performance to routing paths and BGP health – across your WAN, Internet, and hybrid infrastructure, including routers.
ThousandEyes License Tiers | Features | Advantages |
Essentials | Agent-based internal monitoring, path visualization, health dashboards | Basic insight into routing paths, latency, and infrastructure health |
Advantage | Anomaly detection, capacity forecasting, path analytics | Spot routing issues early and understand performance trends |
Premier | Audit reporting, compliance validation, multi-cloud correlation | Maintain service SLAs, compliance, and deeper diagnostics at scale |
Why work with a Cisco partner?
Tailoring ThousandEyes’ deployment, test profiles, and analytics to your WAN topology is critical. Out team can provide expert guidance to maximise coverage and interpret insights across your enterprise routing fabric.
What is Cisco SMARTnet for Routers?
Cisco SMARTnet is a support and maintenance subscription for Cisco router hardware (such as ISR, ASR, and Catalyst edge routers). It ensures your routing infrastructure is always supported, patched, and backed by hardware-replacement SLAs.
| SMARTnet Service Levels | Features | Advantages |
| NBD | Hardware replacement shipped next business day | Cost-efficient support for branch or non-critical routers |
| 4-Hour Onsite | 24/7 support with 4-hour onsite replacement | Minimise downtime for critical routing and WAN links |
| 2-Hour Onsite | 24/7 support with 2-hour replacement (where available) | Protect aggregation/core routers where downtime is very costly |
Why work with a Cisco partner?
SMARTnet must be purchased via authorised partners like Steel City Consulting. We’ll ensure you get the right service level for your router fleet, fast hardware replacements, and strategic lifecycle planning.
Talk to a certified Cisco expert. We’ll help you choose the right combination of hardware, licenses, and services.
Through Cisco’s Capital Finance and Flexible Payment Solutions, we help enterprises and data centres fund new initiatives in ways that fit both IT and business priorities.
Speak with our team today to explore how Cisco financing can help to launch your next IT project sooner.
Cisco Refresh gives you access to certified remanufactured equipment that performs like new and has the same warranty, but at a lower cost and environmental impact.
Cisco Refresh must be purchased via authorised partners like Steel City Consulting. Ask us to check Cisco Refresh stock availability and provide a cost comparison for your next upgrade or expansion project today.
As a certified partner, we provide access to Cisco promotions that reduce upfront spend and accelerate upgrades.
When you work with us, we can bundle and stack multiple offers, navigate application processes, and secure pricing that often isn’t accessible without a Cisco partner. Visit our promotions hub for current Cisco offers and to discuss your eligibility
Expert guidance for the right fit
We don’t just sell IT hardware. Every network solution we recommend is assessed against your organisation’s specific security concerns, performance requirements, and infrastructure plans. This consultative approach ensures that our guidance is aligned with your needs, so that you can invest in new IT hardware with complete confidence.
Exclusive discounts and strategic advantages
When your business works with Steel City Consulting, you will gain access to partner-only promotions, bundled solutions, and live demos. Combined with our technical expertise and ongoing support, this ensures your hardware is secure, cost-optimised, and future-ready.
Enterprise-grade IT network services
Backed by extensive technical knowledge, our network of certified specialists deliver end-to-end support to keep your IT infrastructure performing at its best. Our enterprise network solutions include…
| Our service | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Networking Design & Installation |
+ Custom architecture aligned to your business goals + Scalable networks built for growth + Expert installation with minimal disruption to operations + 30-day support window post-installation |
| Network Management & Support |
+ Real-time performance and traffic monitoring + Network design tools for scaling and upgrades + Security alerting and incident response + Backup and failover strategy implementation |
| WiFi Site Surveys |
+ Heatmapping and signal analysis + Access point optimisation + Detailed reports and tailored recommendations + Security enhancements and interference mitigation |
| Business Fibre & FTTP Installation |
+ Up to 1Gbps dedicated bandwidth + Private and uncontended connections + Seamless installation and expert aftercare + 24/7 support and monitoring |
Not sure which model is right for your environment? Our specialists can help you select the right platform for your infrastructure requirements.
