Topics such as Software Defined Networking and programmable networks are of great interest to many network operators these days. With that in mind we’re pleased to kick off a new series of Webcasts to help our customer learn more about Cisco’s Open Network Environment strategy.

Please join us on April 9, 2013 at 9:00 am Pacific Time / 12:00 pm Eastern Time for an educational webcast featuring Ayman Sayed, Cisco Senior Vice President of the Network Operating Systems Technology Group. As part of the Cisco Open Network Environment (ONE) educational series, this session will focus on the Cisco One Platform Kit (onePK). Speakers will talk through how this easy-to-use toolkit provides users access to the valuable data and services inside the network for development, automation and rapid service creation with Cisco’s onePK SDK.

During the hour, Cisco technology experts will join with industry leaders to discuss their experience with Cisco’s onePK. Industry experts include:

• Kamil Knotek, Chief of Research and Development, Pramacom Prague spol. s r.o.
• Brendon Whateley, Principal Solutions Architect, Starview Inc.

Subject matter experts will also be on hand to answer your questions live. Read More »

Tags: Cisco ONE, onePK, Open Network Environment, Service Provider, software defined network, webinar

The recent weeks of teleworking controversy has been interesting to follow for anyone passionate about collaboration technologies. There is no doubt that teleworking offers significant work/life balance benefits, as exemplified by Cisco´s own Angie Mistretta in her recent blog post. On the other hand, it is equally evident that companies that do not invest in the right tools or training for effective remote collaboration aren’t realizing the true potential and benefits of teleworking.

Being part of a leadership team with people scattered from the Russian border, through Oslo, Boston, Texas and California has made it very clear to me that a lot of innovation, time and money would have been lost if we did not have the proper collaboration tools. Simply said, bringing all the right people into the same office is generally not an option in a global operation.

In my team, the primary tool for collaboration is the Cisco TelePresence EX series personal systems; we all have endpoints on our desks at the office and at home. This is essential to us because, be it late night or early morning, the number of overlapping hours when we are in our respective offices are just too few. Personal telepresence ensures in-person communications within the team whenever we need to meet, and it also allows us to attend other meetings over telepresence at any hour ensuring we’re able to capture all of the details and have maximum impact.

Read More »

Tags: Cisco, EX Series, personal, telecommute, TelePresence, telework, video

The continued evolution of Cisco’s partner-facing teams is critical to Cisco’s partner strategy and our partners around the world. In that regard, I’m very pleased to announce Sherri Liebo as Cisco’s new Vice President, Global Partner Marketing — effective April 1, 2013.

In her new role, Sherri will take on ultimate responsibility for Cisco’s global partner marketing programs and initiatives, from our highly regarded Marketing Velocity conference (scheduled for next month in Cannes, France) to all of the offerings and co-marketing resources you see on Cisco Partner Marketing Central.

Read More »

Tags: Bruce Klein, channels marketing, Cisco, cisco global partner marketing, Marketing Velocity, partner, Sherri Liebo

I collaborate, you collaborate, we all collaborate. An organizational chart may show hierarchy, but it doesn’t represent how people actually interact within – and beyond– an organization. Our roles don’t affect whether we collaborate, but do influence our needs, priorities, and the devices we use.

There’s a clear advantage to technology that empowers people to engage and creates a consistent user experience so that the interaction essentially the same – anywhere, on any device. Just as our roles differ, so do our collaboration priorities and device needs. But we don’t work only with others in our own role. We need to collaborate with people across the spectrum within an organization.

I use three or more devices to collaborate in a single workday. Frankly, you shouldn’t care. Before you and I talk, we shouldn’t need to take a mutual device inventory to figure out how to connect. If I don’t have to focus on what I’m doing to interact with you, I can focus on the conversation and the whole reason we’re connecting.

We’ve outlined five user personas to illustrate how collaboration technology can best serve the needs of people in different roles. Click through on a persona to get more information and to see the use cases that support their needs. Read More »

Tags: collaboration, collaboration personas, collaboration use cases, contact center, deskless workers, information workers, mobile devices, mobile workers, mobility, user personas

Are you excited about March Madness? Turn on a TV and it will be hard to avoid the games, the news, the commentaries, and the jokes about it. If you eavesdrop in any restaurant, bar, or office conversation, I can assure you that you will hear something about it. Even U.S. President Barack Obama filled out a March Madness bracket. Productivity in many offices drops significantly as employees search and watch videos to see how their bracket picks are progressing. At Cisco, we have an open policy and employees can watch and search the scores of their favorite teams. Watch this video posted by CNN where Kip Compton, Cisco’s Video Collaboration Group CTO, talks about March Madness.

During the last couple of years, the industry saw a spike in web malware during the March Madness season. SQL injection attacks, iframe injections, JavaScript, and Java malware were some of the most prevalent. A few months ago, I provided details about some of today’s cyber-criminal tools— exploit kits—and some of the weapons of choice like Blackhole, RedKit, Styx, CrimeBoss, and Cool.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Legitimate business sites may have vulnerabilities that allow a hostile site to deliver malware.
• In most drive-by downloads, the victim is willing to dismissively click pop-ups and warnings as they navigate to the desired content. In this case, users may just click on pop-ups or ads to watch videos about their favorite team.
• Most drive-by downloads can be prevented by keeping software up to date. Read More »

Tags: Cisco Security, cisco sio, crimeware, dns, exploit kit, java vulnerability, malware, march madness, XSS