Year: 2013

May 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
Avatar

The Collaboration Evolution – A Strategy for Transforming Education

For today’s digital generation, collaborative learning is no longer a novelty – it’s an expectation.  Students are consuming information in new and different formats – video, Internet, virtual classrooms.  These are all tools that are changing the face of education.  To make this transformation a reality, students, faculty and administrators need to reliably connect with the people and resources they need whether they’re using their desktop or mobile device, at home or in the classroom.

As more schools offer a comprehensive and collaborative learning experience, they are seeing vast benefits. To transform the delivery of education Katy Independent School District deployed Cisco Unified Workspace, adding mobile capabilities and immersive video. The decision to invest in these collaborative solutions resulted in improved test scores, increased student, teacher engagement and ease of IT administration.

For schools looking to take the plunge like Katy ISD, what’s the best approach to take?

As I discussed in this recent blog post about collaboration strategies for government organizations, the best approach is looking at the problem with the big picture in mind.

With Cisco Unified Workspace, schools can build a scalable and secure network that will serve as a strong foundation for the future. Watch the video below to see how Cisco’s solution is designed with utility to unify voice, video, data and secure access on any device and at any location.

https://youtu.be/opRmCb7Z4eg

Equipped with Cisco’s smart collaboration strategy schools can combine voice, video and mobility to create a classroom that allows faculty and students to collaborate efficiently and securely.



Authors

Avatar

Scott Aukema

No Longer at Cisco

Leave a Comment
Avatar

Jabber for Virtual Environments

TechWiseTV Spotlight on Jabber for Virtual Environments

Spotlight Jabber 1.png

This spotlight takes a look at some of the continual advances being made for Jabber. In particular, we highlight technology where Jabber can run freely (and efficiently) in a virtual desktop environment These desktops, designed to be very thin on the equipment side, still need to be as feature rich as their thicker brethren.

Nothing should be sacrified at the altar of virtualization

Embedded communications that embrace more than just voice are a great start. But as you can see, add in the creature comforts we expect such as normal sized handsets, keypads or caller ID notification….this all helps us forget that amazing technology going on the backside…lets us focus on the communication.

Spotlight Jabber 2.png

Behind the Storylines

Our spotlight series continues to morph a bit and try to find its sea legs. We are still going to change a few of story-telling methods in this series going forward…but a couple of fun things we did here that I hope are appreciated. The show is embedded at the bottom of this post so you can watch it..but first, a few notes on what we did here.

Spotlight Jabber 3.png

  • We started to make fun of ‘scenarios.’ One of the hardest things about cost-effective corporate video is finding unique visuals. Even the little we did in this episode took an extra day…and that is nothing when it comes to most productions. What we did a little different here, was to create the ‘office scenario’ to help get our point across..but instead of using actors and falling prey to the easy cheese that usually develops here..we tried just doing it ourselves and then ‘breaking the 4th wall’ every so often to explain a point to the audience. Our hope is that we remain educational and a little bit fun. We should never be taken too seriously…but you won’t mistake us for actors anytime soon.

Spotlight Jabber 4.png

  • We used a real whiteboard. Most video pro’s (including our own Producer Steve Ewertz) hate whiteboards. I agree with them from a TV perspective. They are really hard to light without getting hot spots/glares, everyone looks washed out in front of them…and the contrast when people write is just not that great. But as a Cisco guy, I love whiteboards. I love how much better every engineer can communicate when they have a pen in their hand. So Steve agreed to let us do this one with Jimmy Ray explaining the ‘tech behind the tech’ and I think with the two cameras and two lights we used…this scene came out great. Plus, I think it feels natural.

Spotlight on Jabber for Virtual Environments

https://youtu.be/gav0Z8D2Lw4

Robb
*

Twitter: @TechWiseTV, @robbboyd, @jimmyray_purser

TechWiseTV on YouTube

Keep up behind the scenes on our facebook fan page

Spotlight Jabber 5.png



Authors

Avatar

Robb Boyd

Producer, Writer, Host

Leave a Comment
Avatar

Cisco UCS – Changing the Economics of the Datacenter

Cisco UCS has fantastic technology that technical decision makers are demanding. But what about business decision makers? It doesn’t matter how great the technology is, the question for BDMs is how will UCS save me money?

I set out to answer that question, connecting UCS technology innovations to TCO improvement, for the Unifying Your Data Center Roadshow (running through late June) and wanted to share the presentation with a larger audience so it has been posted to SlideShare.

The savings are grouped into two overall buckets: Unified Fabric (servers, networking, cabling, power & cooling) and Unified Management (provisioning, ongoing administration, and systems management software). Each sub-section discuss Cisco’s differentiation at a high level and shows how they impact the value of a UCS solution. The savings categories are validated by customer case studies, some of which you may remember from my first series of blog posts, Yes, Cisco Servers are that good. Lastly there are two real world TCO/ROI examples including Loughborough University who are cutting their costs ~50% over five years.

Would you like to learn more about how Cisco UCS can help you? There are more than 250 published datacenter case studies on Cisco.com. Additionally, there is a TCO/ROI tool that will allow you to compare your existing environment to a new UCS Solution. For a more in-depth TCO/ROI analysis, contact your Cisco partner



Authors

Avatar

Bill Shields

Senior Marketing Manager

Product and Solutions Marketing Team

2 Comments
Avatar

Securing the Internet of Everything: An Introduction

Towards developing a Secure Architecture for the Internet of Everything, I plan to kick off a series of blogs around this pivotal topic.

In discussing security and the Internet of Everything, the first question that comes to mind is, “Which segment of “everything” is one referring to?”. A reasonable approach has been to understand the common attributes that crosses vertical segments such as Intelligent Transportation, Smart Utilities, Industrial Automation and so on. The Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) are general abstractions for the network infrastructure that links physical and virtual objects. In Cisco, we now refer to these abstractions as the Internet of Everything, IoE. The IoE describes a world where billions of objects have sensors to detect, measure and assess their status; all connected over public or private networks using standard and proprietary protocols.

Until a point in time around 2008/2009, there were more human beings in the world than devices connected to the Internet. That is no longer the case.  Continue reading “Securing the Internet of Everything: An Introduction”



Authors

Avatar

Monique Morrow

CTO-Evangelist

New Frontiers Development and Engineering

1 Comment
Avatar

Live: 802.11ac with No Strings Attached

Coming off a busy week at Interop Las Vegas, we have recorded another info-packed podcast with the popular wireless networking podcast group “No Strings Attached Show”. The topic for this podcast covers the gigabit wireless technology, 802.11ac which if you attended Interop, you know this is a very hot topic (“I’ll take enormous understatements for $600, Alex”).

However, it is not just a discussion on what is included in the standard. Blake Krone and Sam Clements from No Strings Attached interview our Mark Denny and Brian Hart as they discuss a number of topics related to 802.11ac technology including the following:

–          The 802.11ac Wave 1 Radio Module for the 3600 Access Point, the availability and best practices for upgrading the 3600 AP with the 802.11ac Module

–          Segments of the enterprise market where 802.11ac technology is generating the most interest Continue reading “Live: 802.11ac with No Strings Attached”



Authors

Avatar

Bill Rubino

Product Marketing Manager

Enterprise Networking and Cloud Marketing

Leave a Comment
Avatar

MegaTrends: Cisco TrustSec from User Access to the Data Centre

In my previous Blogs I have talked about Megatrends including BYOD, the Next-Generation Workspace, Video and the Internet of Things. One unfortunate reality all of these trends have in common is that they are going to put additional stress on your current Network and Security Infrastructure and Operational Process.

TrustSec uniquely offers the welcome opportunity to improve and extend Security Policy Control and the same time make it easier to Operate and Maintain. This post concludes the mini-series on TrustSec. Previous Blogs have looked at TrustSec in the DC and applied to VDI.  Here I have asked Dave Berry Cisco TSA to take a step back and look at the bigger picture from Network Access to the DC. Continue reading “MegaTrends: Cisco TrustSec from User Access to the Data Centre”



Authors

Avatar

Eric Marin

CTO

Borderless Network Architecture, EMEAR

May 15, 2013 1 Comment
Avatar

Exploring Social Media with Caution

Today, we have never been so connected and accessible.  Information has never been that easy to get.  And we’ve never been spoiled with so many updates.

I used to remember sending snail mails (from Manila) to my grandma who was living in the U.S. back then.  That took a lot of time.  I remember my friends sharing with me that they stayed up late by writing excitedly in their diary.  And I remember spending time in the library to research on the works of Picasso or to learn more about the Renaissance Age.  How time has changed.

Continue reading “Exploring Social Media with Caution”



Authors

Avatar

Ritchie Ramos

Field Marketing

1 Comment
Avatar

MGM Resorts International goes all in—and it pays off

When it comes down to it, MGM Resorts International’s focus revolves around its guests. And today, an important facet of hospitality includes an accessible, reliable network. But it doesn’t serve only the resort’s visitors; the network has also become a vital part of the business.

Being one of many major resorts on the renowned Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts was anxious to connect with guests – and have guests connect to them. So MGM partnered with Cisco to implement an IT infrastructure that would give guests what they were asking for while also enhancing business-focused technology capabilities. Continue reading “MGM Resorts International goes all in—and it pays off”



Authors

Avatar

Jaishree Subramania

No Longer with Cisco

Leave a Comment
Avatar

Cisco Grants Strategy Team can help you Secure Grant Funding

Cisco Grants Support Desk at ATA 2013If you visited the Cisco booth at last week’s ATA 2013 conference, you might have had the opportunity to speak onsite with a member of the Cisco Grants Strategy Team.  But if you didn’t, we want you to know that the Cisco Grants Strategy Team is still available to help.

We find that many organizations struggle to identify funding sources for telehealth projects.  The Cisco Grants Strategy Team can help by researching Federal, State and Foundation grant opportunities that align with your organization’s needs. 

The mission of the Cisco Grants team is to:

  • Deliver grant education/training and funding research services
  • Offer feedback on applicant eligibility and project competitiveness
  • Provide targeted grant application and writing support
  • Consult on post-funding project implementations

Cisco also offers a series of webcasts to help you learn more about specific grant opportunities.  Upcoming webcasts include:

Funding Public Health and Prevention Efforts
May 21, 2013
Register Now

Join Grants Office and special guests from Cisco as we discuss:

  • Positioning projects for specific grant programs, such as Prevention and Public Health Fund Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Program and the Public Prevention Health Fund: Community Transformation Grants
  • Integrating technology and equipment into projects and proposals, including chronic disease management tracking software and other mHealth solutions
  • Examples of previously funded projects
  • Tips for successful community-wide collaboration amongst local governments (public health departments), providers, patients and policy-makers.

Funding School Based Health Centers
July 23, 2013
Register Now

Join Grants Office and special guests from Cisco as we discuss:

  • The latest information on the future of federal funding for SBHCs and their capital improvement projects
  • Specific strategies and tips for positioning a winning application to HRSA through SBHCC or any future programming
  • Writing technology and equipment, such as telehealth capabilities into SBHCC proposals
  • Leveraging national, regional and local foundations for SBHC projects

To learn more about Healthcare Technology solutions and available grant funding, please contact your Cisco Account Manager or Regional Grants Manager at grantquestions@cisco.com.



Authors

Avatar

Mike Haymaker

Healthcare Industry Marketing

No Longer with Cisco