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Robert Metcalfe popularized the idea of the “network effect,” where the value of a network grows exponentially in proportion to the number of users and things on that network. Many people these days wonder if this principle applies to the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend—where the complexity of all the devices, software, and standards that must be accommodated may cause some IT leaders to question whether the promised value is worth the headache.

Certainly there’s potential for tremendous value: the most recent report from Cisco Consulting Services on the Financial Impact of BYOD reveals that with the right approach to implementation, companies across the globe could be generating an average annual value of $1,650 per mobile user. In the United States, than number grows to $3,150.

So, how can you know whether or not you are realizing the full potential of BYOD in your company? And more important, how can you progress from wherever you currently are along the value journey to where you want to be?

One place to start is the interactive BYOD Assessment Tool that Cisco Consulting Services developed as a companion to its latest BYOD research and analysis. Through a quick and easy six-step process, the tool highlights key findings and helps you identify which level of BYOD implementation your company might have. The Assessment Tool provides a quick estimate of the value you are currently deriving from BYOD in your company, and offers some general recommendations of next steps to take.

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The interactive Cisco BYOD Assessment Tool estimates the value of a current BYOD implementation.

Of course, the interactive BYOD Assessment Tool is designed to provide just a general sense of your company’s progress along the BYOD “value journey.” A BYOD engagement with the Cisco Consulting Services Research and Economics team can take you deeper.

An engagement will produce a detailed assessment of your company’s current usage and capabilities, and the benefits your company is gaining from BYOD today. Our team will also take a close look at the increase in value you can expect by taking a strategic approach to implementation, which we call Comprehensive BYOD. You’ll have a better understanding of how employees across your workforce are using BYOD, and what you can do to help them be more productive and innovative using their own devices for work.

Like the “network effect,” BYOD requires a critical mass of users before you can appreciate its benefits. But to enjoy its full value, you need to be sure that you are enabling the right users, with the right capabilities, under the right governance model. Click here to request a customized BYOD assessment.

Find out more about Cisco Consulting Services’ BYOD financial analysis by clicking on the links below:

Explore BYOD: http://cs.co/byod-economics
Start Your BYOD Assessment: http://cs.co/BYOD-Assessment_Tool
Request a Custom BYOD Assessment: http://cs.co/BYOD-contactme



Authors

Joseph M. Bradley

Global Vice President

Digital & IoT Advanced Services

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As a Small business owner, you know how to run your business efficiently.  So what do you do when you need support for your current Cisco small business network?  If you are like me, you will search the internet for a solution.  Hopefully your search will lead you to the Cisco Small Business Support Community where you will find helpful support documents, videos, and active conversations regarding all Cisco Small Business Products. 

Look at what you will find within the Small Business Support Community:

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A) Check to see if you have the latest firmware by clicking on the product family.  You can download the latest firmware from there too.

B) Search the community by typing in your question to see if there is another discussion or document already available that may have an answer. 

C) Use our Guide Me Tool to search our knowledge base or troubleshoot your equipment.

D) This area has all of our popular links such as contact information for our Small Business Support Center locations where you can speak directly with an Small Business Support Engineer.

E) Log in to post your question.  To post a question, all you need to do is to register for a Cisco ID or if you have a Cisco ID just login

F) Go directly to the product area to see all the conversations and documents related to that product.

G) Stay up to date with the latest firmware release by following @CiscoSBsupport on Twitter or to see what is new in the Small Business Support Community, follow the Small Business Community Blog.

The Cisco Small Business Community is available 24X7 and encourages participation from everyone.  We update the community frequently and strive to make the community the first place to go for your Cisco Small Business Product support needs. 

Please bookmark or add to your favorites, this URL: www.cisco.com/go/smallbizsupport

If you have any ideas on how we can improve, please leave a comment.



Authors

Cindy Toy

Small Business Support Community Manager

eSupport

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Rudolph Maly, Head of Cisco Connected Industries for EMEAR, talks about the 2013 Hannover Messe event in Germany and says “Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution!”

Here is the second installment from the recent Cisco presence at Hannover Messe presence. The first installment can be viewed here: Cisco Messages on Hannover Messe Part 1, Guy Denis talks about the Cisco Booth.

As I mentioned in a recent blog about Power over Ethernet, IP devices are becoming ubiquitous, and the Internet of Things is upon us, and the predictions are for billions of devices connected over the Internet of Everything. So, in this case, what does this mean in terms of connectivity and what Cisco is talking about at the fair?

More and more traditional industries are connected to the worldwide internet. This is all helping to improve efficiencies, increase productivity, and help drive product development and facilitate new business models.

At Cisco, and particularly at the Cisco Connected Industries Group, Rudolph talks about how Cisco is building products and architectures that reach into production plants and machinery in order to enable robust, reliable and secure connections to the internet and to business systems, both inside the organization and externally to suppliers and customers. Continue reading “Messages on Hannover Messe Part 2 – Rudolph Maly and 4th Industrial Revolution”



Authors

Peter Granger

Senior Sales Transformation Manager

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Version 6 of the Internet protocol (IPv6) is a key enabler of the Internet of Everything (IoE). People, data, and things all need IP addresses to connect to the Internet. But we’ve already run out of IP addresses under IPv4, which dictates almost all (98.5 percent) of Internet traffic today. Even with all of the attention IPv6 has received, confusion and misinformation abound.

I’m extremely pleased to have Mark Townsley, Cisco Fellow and recognized industry expert on IP, explore IPv6 over a series of three blogs.

In these posts, Mark will demystify IPv6, discuss how to best make the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, and take a look “under the hood” of IP so that companies and industries can get the most value from IoE. Continue reading “Demystifying IPv6”



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Cisco Prime Infrastructure is a network management tool that helps accelerate the rollout of new services. It also provides highly secure access and management of mobile devices, making bring- your-own-device (BYOD) access a reality for corporate IT. Tightly coupling client awareness with application performance visibility and network control, Cisco Prime Infrastructure helps ensure an uncompromised end-user experience. Deep integration with the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) further extends this visibility across security and policy-related problems. It presents a complete view of client access issues with a clear path to solving them.

Whether you are well-versed with Prime Infrastructure and want a sneak peek at Prime Infrastructure 2.0 (yes, 2.0) OR you’re new to Cisco’s network management suite and just want to feel out the options, join us at our webinar June 5th (Click to Register) to learn about how Unified Access streamlines converged user access management. We have lined up an early preview of the latest Cisco Prime Infrastructure that we’ll showcase in action with a live demonstration.  Continue reading “Get Converged User Access Management”



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This is the second in a two-part blog series that examines the opportunities that cloud-based services offer to law enforcement agencies—along with the challenges of this fundamental shift in the way information resources are managed.

Information systems are at the core of all police organizations. Policing is an information business—arrests are made on the basis of information received and shared; intelligence is generated from analyzing data; and operational effectiveness depends on knowing where resources are.

Police organizations have been dependent on computers for 50 years, and police IT departments have been set up to procure and manage them. The development of the cloud has the potential to drive change. But, if we look away from innovative areas such as crowdsourced crime reporting and social media, adoption is slow. Why is this the case?

Cloud-like services are not new in policing. Since the 1970s, U.K. forces have benefited from the availability of information services provided by third parties in the form of the Police National Computer and, later, the DNA database and the national fingerprint system. These services have been provided by public-sector organizations—sometimes in collaboration with private-sector providers—and could be seen as a private-cloud service.

At issue now, though, is not just the provision of external information services. Cloud computing also raises the possibility of forces accessing critical internal systems via the cloud. This could include ERP, intelligence systems, command and control, and case management.

Continue reading “Cloud for Local Government Global Blog Series, Cloud and Law Enforcement (Part Two): The Time Has Come for Police-Force …”



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The online rebel jam is a joint effort of Rebels at Work, and Corporate Rebels United  and being sponsored by Cisco IBSG, who is contributing both speakers and the WebEx collaboration and communication platform that enables this global virtual event.

It’s easy to be an innovator and entrepreneur in start-up, but not so inside large organizations — companies, government agencies or healthcare systems. The competencies and mindset you need to create change and succeed are different for rebels inside the organization.

The good news is that in today’s hyper-connected world we have the possibility to join forces – across distances and time zones – and create a critical mass of change agents capable of accelerating innovation and transformation globally.

That’s why we’re holding a free, online 24-hour Rebel Jam with fascinating speakers, inspiring entertainment and provocative discussions every hour, with hosts from Europe, North America and Asia. Our aim: empower the rebel to be able to create positive change, understanding the considerable risks and challenges that will arise.

Corporate Rebels

On May 30-31, 2013, Rebels at Work and Corporate Rebels United will hold a 24 hour on-line Rebel Jam via WebEx. All you’ll need is to be able to connect to the Internet and clear your calendar. Continue reading “Disruptive Times Call for Positive, Innovation Change Agents”



Authors

Philip Farah

Director

Financial Services Practice of the IBSG

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Visualize this: nearly half the Earth’s population – 3.6 billion people – connected to the Internet for communication, commerce, education, information, and entertainment.  Think that’s too futuristic? Think again. By 2017, less than five years from today, that will be our reality.

This prediction is one of several key findings from the newly released Cisco Visual Networking Index, 2012-2017, a highly regarded annual forecast of global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic now in its seventh year.

Let’s explore further the Internet of 2017, as projected by the updated VNI Forecast.

By 2017, IP traffic volumes and regional growth will continue to impress: Continue reading “The 2017 Internet: A Look at the Future, Courtesy of the Cisco VNI Forecast”



Authors

Thomas Barnett, Jr.

Director, SP Thought Leadership

Worldwide Service Provider Marketing Group

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There’s no doubt that BYOD—“bring your own device”—is a huge and growing phenomenon throughout the world. Recent research by the Cisco® Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) looked at BYOD and its economic impact in six countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, India, and Brazil. In these countries alone, the number of BYOD devices is expected to more than double by 2016, to 405 million.

Clearly, introducing all those personal smartphones, tablets, and laptops into the workplace is causing complexity and uncertainty for many businesses. There is a strong appetite for BYOD, but our research shows that implementation has been largely reactive, resulting in a patchwork of ad-hoc capabilities and policies. Without a comprehensive approach, most companies are not realizing the potential value of BYOD—especially small or midsize businesses that do not have the IT resources or sophistication to manage all that complexity.

Enter the service provider (SP). BYOD opens the door to a number of SP opportunities: Continue reading “BYOD Spells Opportunity for Service Providers”



Authors

Chris Osika

Senior Director, Global Lead

Service Provider Practice Internet Business Solutions Group