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Cisco CEO John Chambers Recognized Among 100 CEO Leaders in STEM

June 18, 2013 at 8:00 am PST

“Given the rapid speed of change in today’s global marketplace, a country must invest in its greatest asset—its people—and train them to excel in science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM].” Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers

A skilled workforce is the backbone of a successful and competitive economy. Unfortunately, here in the United States, we are falling behind on educating people in the STEM fields that are vital to the technology careers that our society depends on.

At Cisco, we are working to change that through our educational investments, particularly our Networking Academy program.

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Five Ways to Get Extraordinary Results from Collaboration

This is my fifth blog in a multi-part series.  In my first blog, I introduced insights from Cisco’s Collaboration Work Practice Study and how people value collaboration in the work environment.  In my second blog, I discussed the importance of building trust-based relationships and networks to make collaboration work for you.  In my third blog, I share how you can turn human interactions into business results.  In my fourth blog, I discussed patterns of collaborative behaviors and how to leverage them to better support collaborators. In today’s blog, I discuss how you can get extraordinary results.

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Collaboration, at its core, is people interacting with people.  When building collaboration solutions, therefore, it’s essential to put people at the center.  As we learned in our study of employees in the Cisco Collaboration Work Practice Study, a blend of process, culture, workplace and technology solutions fosters the natural human interactions, rich dialogue and diverse perspectives at the heart of collaboration.

At Cisco, employees say that the outcomes achieved as a result of collaboration are “simply better.” So now is the time to not only reflect, but also to take action, as today’s technology era brings new dimensions to how we work together. We collaborate across time zones, cultures, personalities and behaviors. We collaborate using a multitude of devices, from smartphones and laptops to tablets and more. When organizations empower employees to engage and interact at a personal, human level, across this diverse landscape, they can achieve extraordinary results—such as Read More »

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Enterprise Networks Week in Review Two

Hi All!  This is the second of what I’m hoping will be a weekly recap for Enterprise Networks.I say “hoping” because we’re just testing it out for now to see if people like it and if it adds value.

In this video I give a short summary of what happened this last week, then I have a fun interview with one of our premier ASIC designers here at Cisco, Guntram Wolski.  When we were coming up with the concept for this weekly recap I wanted to find some of the smart, fun, technical people who have been involved with the creation of some of our coolest technologies.  I really lucked out with Guntram -- as you’ll see, we had quite a fun* interview. Finally, we have an announcement on what we’ll be covering next week.  After the jump, I’ve got all the links to things mentioned during the recap.  Let me know what you think of this video and if there are other people you’d like me to interview.

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Wireless Ubiquity: Connecting the Unconnected

Howard Baldwin - Photograph

By Howard Baldwin, Contributing Columnist

Every so often in covering the broadband and wireless industry, you run across a statistic that stops you cold. Here’s one: the Leichtman Research Group recently revealed that 1 percent of U.S. households canceled their home Internet service last year in favor of relying on wireless access provided via mobile networks or public Wi-Fi networks.

One percent. That is not a big number. Of course, it’s only a snapshot. The more intriguing question: What will next year’s number be? While the result in and of itself could be a statistical error, what’s more interesting is what it reveals: that it’s becoming easier than ever before to become untethered.

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More mobile devices than people by the end of 2013 – is your business prepared?

By the end of 2013, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and by 2017 there will be nearly 1.4 mobile devices per person. As the consumption of mobile devices increases, so does the need for businesses to change the way they work to reap the benefits. Investment in IT is vital if businesses are to take full advantage of new ways of working – with the best tools and solutions to achieve high levels of workforce connectivity.

The increase in mobile devices creates a great opportunity for businesses. A workforce using mobile devices allows for flexible working practices and more freedom to work whenever, wherever, making the workforce better connected. 82% of visitors to the Cisco Jabber Hub say improved productivity is a direct result of a better connected workforce. Better connections mean quicker decisions are made, improving employee response rates and decision making speed.

Businesses need to address the IT challenges of created by mobility and invest in the most suitable solutions for their business. Unified Communication solutions like Cisco Jabber integrate voice, video, instant messaging, presence, voice messaging and conferencing capabilities. It allows staff to choose the most suitable tools for their needs. This means the workforce can be productive from anywhere, on any device. Read More »

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