Trying to Get the Network Upgrade Cost Down...

Question

At my work, we are trying to choose between Dell and Cisco for our network upgrade.  Dell has got Cisco beat on the price and a lot of the specs too.
Our current setup:
Core:
     Cisco 4510
     1Gbps copper to servers
     1Gbps fiber to 4 network closets (including our server room)
Networking Closets:
     2-4 switches per networking closet (3560s, 3550s, 1x 2960, 1x 4507)
Our needs:
Core:
     10Gbps fiber to networking closets
     10Gbps copper to servers
Networking Closets:
     PoE ports for all users' phones (computers will connect through phone)
     Redundant links to the Networking closets
What we were planning (our quote included all of the FET and SFP modules):
Core:
     7004
     N7K-SUP2 (Qty. 2)
     N7K-F248XP-25E (Qty. 2)
     N2K-C2232T8F-E (Qty. 3)
Networking Closets:
     2960 (Qty. 3 per networking closet (including server room))
     Stacking modules for the 2960s
Our plan is over budget by a decent amount.  Nothing huge, but we won't be able to get the budget extended that high.  We were told that Cisco would come down from their initial price a little to help fit our budget, but they didn't budge a cent.  We had a conference call with a Cisco rep. yesterday and he just talked bad about Dell 90% of the time.  They didn't help us and they didn't offer us a better solution.  They just said that we can't afford them.  Dell has been much more helpful.
I have never worked with a Dell network, and I'm not particuarly thrilled about the idea of it, but Dell is nearly half of the price (including warranties and and a training class).  I want to go with Cisco, but they aren't helping us at all.
Does anyone out there have an idea on making the project cheaper?
Thanks!

Answer 1

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I image the big ticket item is the Nexus 7K core.  What about a 6500 or 4500 core?  In fact, if your 4510 is an E chassis, you might reuse it.
I see you also mention using 2960s in the server room.  If so, instead you might reconsider reusing the 4507 you also mention.
Also if the 4507 is an E chassis, and the 4510 is not, depending on your 10g port needs, the 4507 might be used as your 10g core.
Of course, a Nexus 7K offers tremendous bandwidth and performance, and a huge number of 10g ports, plus some other features unique to the series, but what do you really require?  Reason I ask, you have one of Cisco's top notch data center devices, but then you're using 2960S stacks?