That is a pretty ridiculous answer that I have heard before. The Cat500 supports SNMP and if Network Assistant can configure it then LMS should be able to also. This is a big problem for a large enterprise like ours that uses the Cat500 at small branch offices. Cisco needs to reconsider this since not being able to support all Cisco devices is kind of a big limitation for LMS given its cost. What Cisco is trying to say is that the big expensive network management solution will not manage their own devices but the free software tool will? Its bad enough that LMS won't support any third party devices but not even supporting a Cisco product is inexcusable.

There has been at least one enhancement business case drawn up to have LMS support the Catalyst Express 500. I suggest you talk to your account team, and have them add their weight to this as well. If enough customers want the support, it will happen.

Do you know if they are managed in CWLMS 3.0? (I suspect they are not.) If not, is it best to exclude them altogather?

There is no plan to include LMS support for the CE500 switches. Yes, you can exclude them from LMS.