Cisco announced today new survey findings that show many IT managers are not only saying yes to BYOD and mobility but are embracing it. Cisco also highlighted ‘Smart Solutions’ for the enterprise and opportunities for service providers that can drive amazing and secure mobile experiences at work, home and virtually anywhere. Check out today’s news along with today’s webcast here.

Cisco today announced our intent to acquire privately held Truviso, Inc.  Based in Foster City, Calif., Truviso provides scalable, real-time network data analysis and reporting software. Together, Cisco and Truviso will provide instant access and visibility into network use and services to help increase operational efficiencies and drive new revenue streams for customers.   

The proliferation of end-user devices and growth in network-connected applications is exponentially increasing the amount of data on the network. Both service provider and enterprise customers are looking for ways to better understand this data and act upon it in real-time to improve operations, customer experiences, and service offering differentiation. Truviso’s continuous query technology, with its analyze-first, store-later capability, addresses this requirement by allowing companies to get detailed information and visibility of network use and services in real-time.

To view the full release, please click here.

Are you interested in how enterprises and service providers are making and saving money via cloud? Last week, Cisco hosted a live webcast featuring IT executives from CSC, Sprint, and Educational Testing Service (ETS) who discussed the economic benefits of cloud computing for their businesses and their customers.

This session provided real-world perspectives into the cloud adoption of major enterprises and service providers, as cloud computing continues to transform businesses through improved agility, better economics, enhanced security and a dynamic, assured experience.  The executives discussed the economic benefits derived from cloud business models and shared examples of how cloud computing is changing their industries.

Take a moment to hear how these businesses are revolutionizing their models through cloud adoption.

Tags: cloud_computing, private cloud, Public Cloud, security

With the cloud a small but growing component of the IT landscape, the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) examines the question of what will result from the battle between web-grade infrastructure and enterprise-grade infrastructure.

IBSG has published a new paper on Service Provider Thought Leadership section of its website.  It is titled “IaaS: Critical Battlefield in the Cloud Value Chain”.

Read More »

Today, Cisco announced the Industrial Ethernet (IE) 2000 switch series which will help customers build intelligent networks for industrial automation by delivering highly secure, scalable connectivity from plant floor to enterprise network.

Cisco’s IE2000 switch series provides:
- consistent network services between industrial networks and enterprise business applications
- integrated security
- better manageability
- highly secure remote access and monitoring of automated systems
- intelligent energy management with visibility into machine performance to help customers better manage costs.

The IE2000 industrial switch also interoperates across corporate and manufacturing floor networks in a cost-effective manner to deliver video and corporate applications to manufacturing plant floor.

The IE2000 switch series is key product from our Connected Industries business unit.  According to Maciej Kranz, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Connected Industries business unit, “Major sectors of the economy are undergoing a transformation driven by new requirements around production and factory automation, traffic management, data analytics and machine-to-machine communication.  Cisco’s Connected Industries business unit was created to help customers realize the benefits of the transition to Ethernet and IP across the operational technology segments including manufacturing plants, transportation infrastructure and vehicles.”

Many of you have highlighted machine-to-machine (M2M) communications as a key consideration for organizations over the next few years.  Cisco’s own Visual Networking Index (VNI) showed that, by 2016, there will be nearly 2 billion machine-to-machine wireless connections.  This includes everything from in-car GPS systems to asset tracking systems in manufacturing and other sectors.

The result is a need to more tightly connect and integrate devices, machines and vehicles with traditional enterprise networks.  This “Industrialization of the Internet,” as Cisco calls it, will accelerate the networking industry beyond the IT and service provider (SP) networks in industries such as manufacturing and transportation.

Any industry analysts interested in more information on Cisco’s innovations for industrial automation, please contact me for details of our upcoming session with Maciej Kranz and the Connected Industries team.  This will include a more detailed overview of this announcement, more background on the Connected Industries business unit and the opportunity for Q&A.

Tags: automation, Borderless Networks, Connected Industries, Ethernet to the factory, IE2000, industrial ethernet, Industrial Networks, Intelligent Networking, M2M, Machine to Machine, Manufacturing, switching, visual networking index, vni

In 2011, the amount Americans spent on healthcare equaled nearly 18 percent of the nation’s annual Gross Domestic Product.  This huge amount – more than $2.5 trillion – greatly concerns governments, insurers and medical professionals.  And the pressures on the healthcare system will only grow, as the overall U.S. population ages.

The healthcare debate has spawned many suggestions.  One focus is making the healthcare system more efficient.  Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), in a series of projects with key U.S. service providers, explored how they can help enable more efficient delivery of health solutions. 

Details are in an IBSG-produced document titled “Service Providers: A Tourniquet for the Hemorrhaging Healthcare System”.   The paper can be found on the Service Provider Thought Leadership section of the Cisco IBSG website.  At this site, you will find many interesting, provocative papers on various subjects relating to the service provider segment.  

Read More »

Tags: Cisco, healthcare, IBSG, operator, service_provider, SP

The growth of mobility is unprecedented.   Nearly 80 percent of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone, and new devices are helping enable many more applications and services.

At the same time, cloud has become the new way of delivering—and charging for—IT services and functionality.  Technology services and apps are increasingly being delivered and paid for on demand from remote data centers, accessible through the cloud of interconnected networks that constitute the Internet.

So many applications and services can now be accessed through simple browsers and delivered through the cloud.   Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) wanted to know what happens when the hot technology trends—“mobility” and “cloud”— collide.   So IBSG surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. mobile users to understand their current and future needs, and learn how they prefer to pay for mobile cloud services.   The findings help operators understand the size of the opportunity, develop strategies for success, and differentiate their offerings.

For details about this paper and other interesting, provocative papers, go to the Service Provider Thought Leadership page of the IBSG web site.

Check it out . . .

Tags: Cisco, cloud, IBSG, mobile_cloud, mobility, service_provider

Cisco today announced its intent to acquire privately held ClearAccess, a Vancouver, Wash. based company that provides TR-069-based software to service providers for the provisioning and management of residential and mobile devices. This acquisition includes ClearAccess’ software business and talent. The hardware portion of ClearAccess’ business, Smart RG Gateways, will continue forward as SmartRG, Inc. Cisco and ClearAccess’ combined network management and software capabilities will enable service providers to better deliver, manage and monetize their services, while helping to improve operational efficiencies and customer experiences.

For more information, please click here.

Tags: network management, Service Provider, video

The amount of mobile data generated globally is growing very rapidly and shows no sign of abating. This growth is largely driven by smartphones, tablets and connected devices, as well as mobile applications and content.   The Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) has been tracking this for quite some time – the latest update predicts that mobile data traffic will double globally in 2012 and increase by another 78 percent by 2014. 

In addition, there is a corresponding worldwide growth in the popularity of Wi-Fi. The number of Wi-Fi hotspots is expected to reach 2.7 million by 2014, with usage growing 200 percent. This growth is inspired by new enabling devices, recent technology improvements, public and private availability, and tiered mobile data plans from service providers. 

With this in mind, Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) has consulted with leading service providers from around the world to develop and evaluate 16 Wi-Fi business models that can provide a reasonable return on investment. Opportunities for monetization fall into four broad categories: (1) business effectiveness, (2) end-user services, (3) inter-carrier wholesale, and (4) value-added services.

For details about this and other interesting, provocative papers, go to the Service Provider Thought Leadership page of the IBSG web site.

Check it out . . .

Tags: Cisco, hotspots, IBSG, mobile_data, service_provider, vni, wifi

Cisco continues to pass on 100G . . . To be clear, that means “pass” with flying colors. 

To wit:

• Cisco recently announced that SURFnet has completed a technology test of Cisco’s 100G DWDM solution between the National Supercomputing Center, SARA, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, using the Cisco ONS 15454 M6 MSTP. The Cisco system uses DWDM to unite multiple optical carrier signals on a single optical fiber, leading to several benefits, including increased fiber capacity.

SURFnet enables collaboration between researchers, teachers, and students in the Netherlands using information and computing technology and together with partners offers high speed communication services between leading innovation centers and universities in Europe and throughout the world.

• Lumos Networks, a fiber-based service provider in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., has successfully completed a technology test of Cisco’s 100 Gigabit (100G) coherent DWDM solution across its service area. This performance validation confirms that Lumos Networks can meet growing customer demand for high-capacity bandwidth on its existing 10G fiber plant simply by deploying 100G line cards in its current Cisco ONS 15454 platforms.

On March 15, Cisco announced our intent to acquire NDS Group Ltd., a leading provider of video software and content security solutions that enable service providers and media companies to securely deliver and monetize new video entertainment experiences.

The acquisition of NDS will complement and accelerate the delivery of Videoscape, Cisco’s comprehensive platform that enables service providers and media companies to deliver next-generation entertainment experiences. Acquiring NDS will broaden Cisco’s opportunities in the service provider market, expanding its reach into emerging markets, such as China and India, where NDS has an established customer footprint.

If you didn’t get a chance to tune in live to the Cisco & NDS virtual press conference, the replay is available on demand.  To view the press conference, please click here.

Musings and mutterings from the just-completed Mobile World Congress 2012 . . .

• Darned if this still isn’t the only place in the universe where there are waiting lines leading into the men’s rooms but not the ladies’ rooms . . . Obviously, the planners did not heed my carefully crafted suggestion for improvement made in the wake of the 2011 event.
• Barcelona did get the weather right this year, though – Each day was darned sunny and fairly warm . . . a decided contrast to the last two Februarys.
• The show was held two weeks later this year than in previous years, so no one had an excuse for being away on Valentine’s Day.  “Sorry, honey, but I ‘have’ to go to Barcelona this week . . .” didn’t work this time.
• All that aside, MWC continues to enhance its position as the largest, most important service provider-focused show of the year. 
• The projected attendance was 65,000, about 12% more than in 2011.  It will be a few days before the official figure is posted, but, judging from the traffic inside and outside the Fira de Barcelona all four days, the estimate seems reasonable.
• The most prominent theme this year was SP Wi-Fi/small cells . . . which just happened to align perfectly with Cisco’s key messaging and announcement.  Not to mention numerous customer-focused mentions this week and last.   Cisco focused “not only on what we make, but what we make possible.”
• Other consistent themes included monetization, optimization, reducing capex and opex, and cloud applications. 
• ARPU continues to stagnate . . . a real problem for operators.
• Another theme often heard is that service providers are more and more looking for advice from vendors.   There was a time when that was not true.  “They’re looking at the situation and saying, ‘We need some help figuring out what to do with all this stuff,” one analyst remarked.     Another added, “It’s VERY important for a vendor to be considered a trusted advisor.”  Hmmm – Does Cisco’s consulting arm – the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) – ring a bell?
• Mobile World Congress has evolved – as it must – in its approximately 15 years of existence.   Real old-timers remember when it was small and very clubby.    Particularly in the last few years, it has changed and broadened as the concept of mobility has become more ubiquitous.  “Three years ago, it was more of a pure infrastructure show with the Huaweis, Ericssons of the world holding forth,” said one.  “Last year, companies like Samsung and Google got much of the attention.  This year, it’s WiFi and small cells.”
• “Four years ago here, a Hotspot was an oddity,” one analyst said.  “Now, it’s the norm.” 
• In a Cisco analyst/media event about small cells, Telstra CTO Dr. Hugh Bradlaw said, “It’s the network, stupid.  That’s what makes the cloud possible.”
• Machine-to-machine continues to grow in importance.   One analyst firm characterized it this way: “M2M = M3 . . . Make More Money”.
• Overheard while standing in line at the men’s room: “Operators are chasing the consumer too much and not realizing that a lot of SMBs and mid-market companies are dying for solutions that are right in their [the operators’] sweet spot.”

Tags: Cisco, Hotspot, mobile, Mobile_World_Congress, mobility, monetization, mwc, optimization, small_cells, SP, wifi

Mobile World Congress, the huge service provider-focused event in Barcelona, wrapped up today.  Cisco has continued to make headlines with even more news about operator uptake on Cisco Mobile Internet solutions.

To wit:

• Cisco has been selected by Telefónica to support the company’s newest mobile video pilot in Spain. The trial is designed to deliver mobile video services across both Wi-Fi and 3G networks and was demonstrated at Telefónica’s stand at MWC.  The Telefónica España pilot is built upon the Cisco ASR 5000 architecture, part of the Cisco Mobile Videoscape solution.
• At Mobile World Congress, Cisco introduced the industry’s first carrier-grade, end-to-end Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver Next-Generation Hotspots (NGH).  Cisco also announced it is working with leading global service providers such as AT&T, BT, PCCW mobile, Portugal Telecom, Shaw Communications, Smart and True, to deliver innovative mobile services with a new generation of intelligent “small cell” solutions utilizing licensed and unlicensed radio technology.
• PCCW mobile in Hong Kong has successfully completed a commercial trial of the Next-Gen Hotspot, becoming the first operator in the world to have achieved this milestone. The NGH rides on IEEE 802.11u and 802.1x specifications in conjunction with Cisco’s Service Provider Wi-Fi solution.
• Bell Mobility continues to build out its 4G LTE mobile services with the ASR 5000. Bell Mobility now delivers 4G LTE services to its most populous markets in western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The ASR 5000 is the foundation of the packet core for Bell Mobility’s LTE network.
• Cisco announced that du, a leading integrated telecommunications service provider in the United Arab Emirates, is deploying a nationwide mobile broadband network enabled by a Cisco mobile Internet solution based on the ASR 5000 to deliver highly secure, high-speed 4G long-term evolution (LTE) mobile data services. 

Tags: 4G, ASR_5000, Cisco, Hotspot, LTE, mobile, Mobile_Internet, mobile_operator, NGH, service_provider, SP_WiFi

Cisco today announced its intent to acquire privately held Lightwire, Inc. Headquartered in Allentown, Penn., with offices in Santa Clara, Calif., Lightwire develops advanced optical interconnect technology for high-speed networking applications.  The acquisition will allow Cisco to deliver cost-effective, high-speed networks with the next generation of optical connectivity, allowing service provider and data center customers to meet the growing demands of video, data, voice, mobility and cloud services.

To view the full press release, please click here.

Mobile World Congress, the huge service provider-focused event, takes place next week in Barcelona, and Cisco has gotten a running start this week with much news about operator deployments:

• Magyar Telekom, Hungary’s largest telecommunications company, is using Cisco Mobile Internet solutions to deploy 4G/LTE multimedia services. Magyar Telekom, part of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom Group, selected the Cisco ASR 5000 Series mobile multimedia core platform, ASR 9000 Series routers and ME 3800X Series Carrier Ethernet Switch Routers to help transform its network for delivery of advanced mobile services like video, social networking and high-speed Web browsing.
• LG U+, a service provider in Korea, will trial two Cisco mobile Internet offerings to deliver voice, video and messaging services to its rapidly growing number of 4G/LTE customers. The Cisco V2oLTE solution, based on the ASR 5000, will help LG U+ meet the performance challenge of carrying voice traffic over LTE.  
• Softbank, in Japan, recently became the first mobile operator in the world to deploy the Cisco ASR 903 unified Ethernet access router, and Softbank is now seeing the benefits of its high performance and small footprint.   Cisco recently spoke with two Softbank executives about this.
• Another operator, Vodafone Hungary, is thinking about how not only to manage, but monetize, mobile traffic.    Hear two of Vodafone Hungary’s strategic and technical leaders discussing how Vodafone Hungary is planning to leverage the intelligence in the ASR 5000 to design new services, deliver differentiated services and develop new business models.

Tags: 4G, ASR_5000, ASR_9000, ASR_903, Cisco, LTE, Mobile_Internet, mobility, operator, service_provider, VoLTE