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Paul Puess head shot for ROK IoTWF post for Cisco IoE blogEd Note: As we head off to the IoT World forum, we have the honor of a Guest Post By Paula Puess.  Paula Puess has over 25 years of experience in both the IT and Manufacturing industries.  She is currently the Global Market Development Manager, Visualization & Information software for Rockwell Automation.

 

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Connected Enterprise image for ROK IoTWF post for Cisco IoE blogIt’s understandable if IT professionals reading this blog accused industrial manufacturing as being a technology laggard. Some hear “manufacturing” and immediately think “labor intensive,” “isolated operations,” and “dangerous and dirty.”

Not exactly a cutting-edge image.

So, what perspective does Rockwell Automation – the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information – offer IT experts from around the globe during the inaugural Internet of Things World Forum? Continue reading “Industrial Manufacturing. What is it doing at the IoT World Forum?”



Authors

Lauren Friedman

Marketing Manager

Enterprise Networks

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On October 22, 2013, Cisco TRAC Threat Researcher Martin Lee wrote about Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that leverage the Domain Name System (DNS) application protocol. As Martin stated, the wide availability of DNS open resolvers combined with attackers’ ability to falsify the source of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets creates a persistent threat to network operators everywhere.

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Continue reading “A Smorgasbord of Denial of Service”



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Jaeson Schultz

Technical Leader

Cisco Talos Security Intelligence & Research

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next technology transition where devices will allow us to sense and control the physical world by making objects smarter and connecting them through an intelligent network.   IoT is about connecting the unconnected.  Here are three recent stories sharing insights of how IoT technologies are transforming public safety and making communities safer.

IoT Technologies used in Disaster Response

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Cisco NERV – Click to learn more!

Matt Runyan, Network Consulting Engineer from Cisco’s Tactical Operations team recently presented a session called Internet of Things (IoT) technologies used in Disaster Response. The session provided an overview of lessons learned from SuperStorm Sandy, as well as dozens of other national and global public safety emergencies where Cisco’s Network Emergency Response Vehicle (NERV), a mobile incident command vehicle, has been deployed.

NERV is a vehicle built with Cisco Internet of Things (IoT) enabled technologies such as Cisco IP Collaboration and Incident Response System (IPICS) technologies, Unified Communications, Cisco AnyConnect security for mobile devices,  and enhanced safety and security platform Cisco’s Hyper-scalable Video Surveillance Manager 7, and related LTE, radio, wireless, networking switching and routing technologies.

Continue reading “Public Safety Blog Series-Connecting the Unconnected in Public Safety Response”



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Partner-Weekly-Rewind-v2Every Friday, we’ll highlight the most important Cisco partner news and stories of the week, as well as point you to important, Cisco-related partner content you may have missed along the way. Here’s what you might have missed this week:

Off the Top

In her most recent blog, Sherri Liebo talked about transforming marketing from a cost center within Cisco, to a revenue generating center. By explaining the term “revenue marketing” she opens up the conversation with you on tying marketing into a measurable ROI for your bottom line.

Sherri is striving to help partners understand the changes at Cisco, and use the resources and training we have available to continue making our partnership succeed.

Be sure to join the conversation with Sherri. Continue reading “Cisco Partner Weekly Rewind – October 25, 2013”



Authors

David Durham

Content Strategist

Channels

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As a product manager, I am happy and excited to tell you that Cisco Mobility Services Engine (MSE) now supports REST based APIs. Why am I happy and excited you ask? MSE’s REST based APIs allow web app developers to rapidly develop location aware apps with ease.  Let me walk you through this new feature at a high level, and my colleague will take you through a closer look feature blog next week.

Mobility Services Engine and API support

For readers who are not familiar with the Cisco Mobility Service Engine and the APIs, here’s the gist:

–          Cisco Mobility Services Engine (MSE) works in conjunction with Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) and Cisco Aironet Access Points (APs) and computes real time location for all Wi-Fi end-points using RSSI based triangulation algorithms.

–          MSE stores real time and historical location of Wi-Fi clients in its database making it a gold mine of data for indoor location. (Remember that GPS technology is not effective for indoor location)

–          This rich store of indoor location data is now available to app developers to query through a REST based API over a secure HTTPS connection.

What can I do with MSE REST APIs?

MSE REST APIs allow web developers to query MSE location database using the HTTP(S) GET method. HTTP response payload can be received in XML or JSON format. Here is a list of resources that are accessible over the REST API. Continue reading “Cisco Mobility Services APIs go RESTful”



Authors

Rajiv Iyer

Senior Product Manager

Enterprise Networking Group

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Distributed generation is getting increasing attention for impact on the electric utility industry.  DG has been the subject of a number of high profile articles in Business Week, the Wall St. Journal and several online business and industry news sites.  The Business Week article was particularly provocative, leading with the title, “Why the U.S. Power Grid’s Days Are Numbered“.

Residential DG, primarily solar, remains relatively sparse in the U.S. compared to Europe, especially Germany.  Commercial/Industrial DG is getting greater penetration with large initiatives such as Walmart installing solar on the top of every store, and low-priced natural gas leading industrial customers to generate their own power.  Although circumstances differ, the September 17, 2013, WSJ article, “In Post-Tsunami Japan, Homeowners Pull Away From Grid”, describes how Japanese homeowners could foreshadow even more disruption.  While residential fuel cells are not presently economical, higher volume production and deployment in Japan could certainly change that.  Low cost fuel cells could enable every customer with natural gas service to make the economic analysis about when or whether it’s worth turning to self generation. Continue reading “The Impact of Distributed Generation”



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Rick Geiger

Executive Director

Utilities and Smart Grid

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We talk about extending the Internet and IT to everyone on the planet. But some 783 million people – 11 percent of the global population – don’t even have clean drinking water. About 20 percent have no access to electricity. More people worldwide have mobile phones than toilets. Hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

In that context, connectivity sounds a little frivolous, maybe irrelevant. But is it?

Early this month I visited a remote village at the edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Sekenani hais some 200 people living in a traditional circle of mud huts. At night 1,000 head of cattle are herded into the commons. There is no electricity and no running water. The people live much the way their ancestors did.

Traditional Masai home in Sekenani, Masai Mara. The village has no electricity or running water, but the nearby community IT center is giving people new options and opportunities. (One villager even mastered Spanish online at the center.)
Traditional Masai home in Sekenani, Masai Mara. The village has no electricity or running water, but the nearby community IT center is giving people new options and opportunities. (One villager even mastered Spanish online at the center.)

Except for the mobile phones tucked into their shukas (the traditional Masai robes); email, Web-surfing, and the Cisco Networking Academy at the local community IT center; and soon-to-be Cisco Health Presence at the local clinic.

Continue reading “#ExecInsights: Metcalfe’s Law Meets the Masai”



Authors

Howard Charney

Senior Vice President, Office of the Chairman and CEO

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For the past few years, industry pundits have been predicting the death of the personal computer. I look at it a bit differently—the personal computer is not dying, but is becoming even more personal. It is now something you’re going to wear—in your clothing, jewelry, shoes, glasses, watches, and even on your skin.

The burgeoning field of wearable technology is hitting the mainstream, illustrated by a new ad campaign from Samsung that employs Dick Tracy, Captain Kirk, and a lineup of other comic and science fiction characters to introduce the new Galaxy Gear smartwatch. In a recent blog, my colleague Joseph Bradley described the wide range of “wearables” that are now available—and sure to be a hot topic at the Internet of Things World Forum in Barcelona next week.

I recently wrote about how wearable technology is helping drive the Internet of Everything (IoE)—and changing the way we live—by connecting people in new and different ways. Today, I’d like to go a little deeper, and explore some of the ways that today’s wearable technology might evolve.

One of the principles of this evolution is that technology is getting smaller, faster, cheaper, and more powerful every day. In fact, in terms of physical size, computing technology is becoming 100 times smaller each decade. The computing power of the ENIAC computer that filled a whole room back in 1956 now fits inside the tiny chip of a “musical greeting card” that you can buy for $4 at your local store. The smartphone in your pocket is many times more powerful than the PCs of just a decade ago. And now, all the capabilities of your smartphone are being condensed into smartwatches, which can make phone calls, connect to the Internet, take pictures, and do just about anything else your phone or tablet can do.

But even this miniaturization of technology is dwarfed by the power that is available when you connect to the cloud. One really exciting example is SIGMO—a language translator that you can clip to your shirt, or wear on your wrist. It costs about $50, and when connected to the cloud can provide real-time voice translation of 25 languages. Sigmo blew past its fund-raising goal of $15,000 on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo.com to almost a quarter-million dollars, illustrating the demand for these types of gadgets.

Figure 1.  Sigmo voice translator provides real-time cloud-based translation services for 25 languages, and learns as you use it.

voice translator

Continue reading “The Future of Wearable Technology: Smaller, Cheaper, Faster, and Truly Personal Computing”



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It’s an exhilarating time to be in marketing. Here at Cisco, we’re on the precipice of transforming marketing from what has often been seen as a cost center into a revenue generating center. And, we’re taking our partners with us on this journey.

By now, you’ve probably heard the term “revenue marketing.” It’s a somewhat new phrase, but its implications will change the face of marketing forever. In a nutshell, revenue marketing means that marketing strategies and campaigns align with sales and business objectives to generate a measurable ROI to the bottom line. Now that is pulling up a seat to the table.

There are some fascinating trends today contributing to this seachange. The business to business (B2B) buying behavior has changed, and roughly 70 percent of the B2B buying process happens before sales even makes contact with the customer. That digital buying journey data can be integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) for amazing insight and the ability to connect with our customers throughout their purchasing journey. Continue reading “Marketing: A Revenue Generator”



Authors

Sherri Liebo

Vice President

Global Partner Marketing