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It’s been revealed: Best-in-class wired and wireless networks are now married into One Network. 

The last component of our Unified Access platform, one network joins one policy and one management to create a strong, intelligent platform to help IT and the business meet the challenges of a connected world. Tech megatrends such as BYOD and the Internet of Everything aren’t so scary when you have unified policy to mitigate risks, unified management to handle network administration, and unified network to support all those devices pouring into the workplace.

Join our favorite geeks Robb Boyd and Jimmy Rae Purser as they take us on a comprehensive overview of what Unified Access offers by dissecting the unified solution into one policy, one management, one network.



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This six-part series will focus on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States.  While a topic that causes some anxiety for higher education leaders, there is no choice but to change.  The question is how colleges and universities across the country will go about that change and the role that technology can play in facilitation and accelerating transformation.  This series will focus on:

  1. AM73672The Need for Change
  2. Challenges in Changing the System
  3. Systematic Change and Navigating Culture
  4. Modernizing Teaching and Learning
  5. Scaling Best Practices
  6. Recommendations

Part 1 – The Need for Change
Across the nation, colleges and universities are being challenged to transform their systems of higher learning.  While each institution is different, all share common problems: They must contend with outdated teaching methods, crushing budget pressures, and the need to deliver a relevant education that adequately and effectively prepares the workforce of the future.  As a result, educators are being faced with the need to make significant revisions to less-than-optimal systems, in an environment that is dictating that change needs to be made. Institutions that adapt to these imperatives will thrive, while those that are incapable of change will meet their demise.

Continue reading “A Six-Part Series: Transforming Higher Education in the US”



Authors

Renee Patton

Former Global Director of Education and Healthcare

Global Industry Solutions Group

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Guest Blogger: Yair Dolev (@CiscoCloudY) brings extensive experience in enterprise application development and management of advanced data center virtualization technology products to Cisco’s Cloud and Systems Management Technology Group. Prior to Cisco, Yair was Director of Product Management at data center automation authority Tidal Software, and managed the groundbreaking Azul Virtual Machine products at Azul Systems, which enabled data centers to run large Java workloads on highly scalable, optimized hardware. 

In my last blog entry, I told you about some of the most fundamental new concepts in Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud (IAC) v3.1 and how they help address top-of-mind issues for our customers. This time I’d like to address a matter no less significant.

At the core of every cloud initiative there always lurks a concern about the sustained viability of such a comprehensive transformation – and this applies to adoption of a new cloud operating model as well as to the deployment of the new technology required. It boils down to two things: trust and cost. Can I trust that this solution will still fit me in the future, and how much will I really have to pay for this fit?

One of the things I really like about Cisco IAC is that it’s built around a core software platform that allows for an amazing level of flexibility and extensibility. Our software can be configured and adapted to closely fit what your IT organization wants to offer to meet your unique business needs. The user portal can be made to look different and behave differently for a variety of users, and it can enforce your organization’s policies and controls. The orchestration engine is adaptable to model a wide range of customer processes, and it’s extensible to communicate with other IT operations management software, OSS/BSS tools or infrastructure systems. Our solution can be extended beyond infrastructure services, to encompass a broad range of IT and business services at the platform and application layer (more on this later). The best news is: you can protect the investment you made so that the changes persist through future product updates. Let’s review some of these key capabilities:

Continue reading “A Cloud Management Solution You Can Believe In, Or Better Yet, Bank On”



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IT managers are looking for proof that new solutions deliver significant benefits and superior value before they commit to a migration. A TCO/ROI calculator is a great tool to help make those infrastructure planning decisions. The new Cisco UCS RISC/UNIX Migration TCO and ROI Calculator provides a quick, simple tool for IT managers to understand the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and potential Return On Investment (ROI) of migrating an existing RISC server infrastructure to the Cisco Unified Computing System.

Simply input your company, server, software, systems administration profiles and the desired Cisco UCS solution to receive an ROI analysis. The ROI analysis presents the business case results for the proposed Cisco UCS solution compared to the current RISC/UNIX server environment over a specified analysis period. Key financial metrics including the Investment, Total and Annual Benefits, Return on Investment (ROI), Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the Payback Period are produced. A Microsoft Word or PowerPoint document can also be created to share the results with team members and management.

Continue reading “Calculate Savings Instantly with our RISC/UNIX to Cisco UCS Calculator”



Authors

Tim Stack

Product Marketing Manager

Data Center and Virtualization

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My colleague, Joe Karpenko, and I will be presenting the Network Threat Defense, Countermeasures, and Controls Security Masters Dojo training course at the CanSecWest 2013 Applied Security Conference.

Attendees will perform two roles. First, as a Security Practitioner who will secure and harden devices within an organization’s network infrastructure, and second, as a Security Incident Response Investigator who must correctly detect, classify, and prevent threats targeting a network by configuring and deploying advanced network threat defenses and countermeasures. Continue reading “Cisco Security Masters Dojo Course at CanSecWest 2013”



Authors

Randy Ivener

Incident Manager, Applied Intelligence Team

Security Intelligence Operations

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We place great value in our partner relationships. And since our inception of the Cisco Value Incentive Program (VIP), we’ve invested billions of dollars to help partners like you increase your return on your Cisco investment and boost your profitability.

VIP 21 is available to all of our Cisco specialized, certified, and Authorized Technology Partners (ATP) who promote the adoption of Cisco architectures (Borderless Networks, Collaboration, Data Center, Cloud and Managed Services, and Express) within the current six month program period.

Take a look at the new ways our 21st VIP offering allows you to reap even greater rewards around key industry trends. Be sure to also check out our handy VIP 21 infographic at the end of this post to get a snapshot of the program, key updates, and enrollment information.   Continue reading “Enroll Now in VIP 21 to Claim Your Share of Cisco’s Multi-Billion Dollar VIP Partner Investment”



Authors

Robb Berger

Director

Worldwide Partner Incentives

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Today, Cisco is excited to introduce the latest Connected Sports and Entertainment innovation, StadiumVision Mobile. This ground-breaking solution leverages a high-density Connected Stadium Wi-Fi network to deliver live video to the latest mobile devices at live sports and entertainment events, with minimal delay.

Recent research highlights how vital this capability is for leagues, teams and venues to “compete with the couch” – an astounding 57% of fans prefer to watch at home versus live in person. Watching at home is less expensive (68% of fans said this was a factor), delivers great flexibility (34% said it allows them to multitask), and allows for crystal-clear HD video (22% said it was good enough or even better than live). Arguably the couch is winning over the live experience, and that is why our customers around the world have told Cisco that the next big technology hurdle they wanted solved was “video everywhere” in their venues.

All of these statistics were derived from a recent global fan survey that Cisco’s Sports & Entertainment Solutions Group conducted along with Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) to identify how fans currently consume sports, what they value and why they pay to attend live events when the home experience is so good.

What we found from the survey Continue reading “Cisco Sports & Entertainment – It’s All About The Experience; Getting Fans Off The Couch, And To Live Sports &am …”



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So, since we made the initial set of announcements around Cisco ONE last summer, beyond a burst of M&A activity, things have been pretty quiet.  What we have been doing is spending time with customers and developers doing field trials on the various aspects of Cisco ONE (the onePK platform API the agent and controller technology, and our network overlay solutions).  The reaction has been pretty positive across customers, ISVs and service providers that have been looking at and using the technology:

onePK is unique in its ability to combine the benefits of SDN with the full feature set of Cisco’s network system software platforms, allowing creative software companies—such as ourselves- to innovate at the application layer — ISV

Collaborating with Cisco to integrate the capabilities the Cisco ONE Controller and the widely deployed [redacted] technologies is a perfect example of how …we continue to bring sate-of-the-art capabilities to the campus…advance the maturity of SDN technologies. — Major University

Cisco’s Open Network Environment holds a lot of promise for us.  It allows us to build upon our existing Cisco investments to create and deliver the innovative new solutions our customers are looking for from a market leader – Leading Service Provider

So, not to tease you too much, join us for a webcast next Tuesday and you can learn about what’s in store for Cisco ONE: what’s new with platform support, what’s changed on the controller front, new overlay network solutions…plus some other cool data center goings on.  See you there.

 

 



Authors

Omar Sultan

Senior Manager

Cloud Platform Solutions

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Cisco Internet of Things Partner Pavilion

Cisco Live logo #1Cisco Live is taking place right now in London, UK Jan 28 – Feb 1, 2013. Located in front of the Internet of Things area on the Borderless Networks section of the Cisco Campus, the Cisco Internet of Things Partner Pavilion brings together a number of Cisco’s flagship industrial partners and demonstrates key technologies and their application in creating real-world solutions.

Partners in this Pavilion are part of an extensive and growing ecosystem highlighting the value they and Cisco can bring to industrial industries such as Oil and Gas, Mining, Manufacturing, Transportation and Automotive.

Here’s a run down of key Industrial Partners at the IoT Partner Pavilion:

Emerson, Booth #IoT3

Emerson’s Smart Wireless products and solutions extend PlantWeb predictive intelligence into areas that were previously out of physical or economic reach, opening the door for new possibilities in process improvement. Remote locations, physical obstructions, and the high cost of engineering and integrating new technologies are no longer the barriers they were.

Honeywell Process Solutions, Booth #IoT4

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is the global leader in process automation and control solutions and has been a pioneer in these areas for more than 35 years. HPS serves the oil & gas, refining, pulp & paper, power generation, chemicals and petrochemicals, life sciences and metals, minerals and mining industries.

Panduit, Booth #IoT2

PANDUIT is a world-class developer and provider of leading-edge solutions that help customers optimise the physical infrastructure through simplification, agility and operational efficiency. PANDUIT’s Unified Physical Infrastructure (UPI) based solutions give enterprises the capabilities to connect, manage and automate communications, computing, power, control and security systems for a smarter, unified business foundation. Strong relationships with technology leaders complemented with its global staff and unmatched service and support, make PANDUIT a valuable and trusted partner. Come to our stand to see our cabinets developed with Cisco as well as our HSDT (High Speed Data Transport) solutions.

Redline Communications, Booth #IoT5

Redline Communications is a manufacturer of specialized backhaul radios that offer a point-multipoint, Layer-2 IP backbone which connects a Cisco Core network to edge devices in the field. Manufactured for industrial M2M applications and offering reliable performance of over 100 Mbps up to 20 miles in extreme environmental conditions.

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, Booth #IoT1

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs over 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.

If you’re visiting Cisco live UK 2013, please visit these Partners!



Authors

Peter Granger

Senior Sales Transformation Manager