Cisco Blog > The Platform
Co-Author: Sanjit Biswas, VP and GM, Cisco’s Cloud Networking Group
Since our acquisition of Meraki in late 2012, you have heard us talking about the midmarket and new opportunities for channel partners and customers. I’m pleased to say that today, at the Cisco Partner Summit in Boston, we have some exciting updates for you. Specifically, we’ll focus on our Made for Midmarket portfolio which includes a range of new product offerings, services and solutions designed for midsize customers.
As part of Cisco’s newly formed Cloud Networking Group, we are unveiling our complete cloud managed networking portfolio specifically focused for midmarket deployments, consisting of security appliances, switches and wireless LANs.
Get Your Heads in the Cloud – Services and Revenue Opportunities
New for partners today we are introducing the Cisco Meraki Managed Services Dashboard – bringing together a number of features for Managed Service Providers (MSP) to offer cloud-managed networking as a service to their customers. This MSP dashboard features specific tools, analytics and monitoring capabilities and is built to allow our service providers to manage end-customer networks easily from a central location while still maintaining separation and security of each customer network.
Key Highlights of the Managed Services Dashboard
- MSP Portal – Service providers can easily monitor the health of end-customer networks from a centralized location.
- Manage your Brand: MSPs can customize the logo on the dashboard to promote their own brand with end-customers. Cisco will work directly with the MSP to customize the content.
- Support Ticketing: Easy for MSPs to create, monitor and respond to support cases with Cisco staff.
- Remote Live Tools: A complete set of tools that make remote monitoring of the network significantly easier – a perfect fit for Helpdesk or Network Operations Center (NOC) staff.
- Partner Benefits: Using the new MSP dashboard, partners can increase profits through managed services, enable existing MSPs to profitably grow their midmarket offering and allow traditional VARs to quickly introduce managed service offerings.
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Tags: catalyst, cloud, meraki, midmarket, partner benefits, partner summit, services, support
The massive population shift towards urban areas has continued to evolve the challenges that community leaders and city planners need to address. With limited resources, obstacles that range from traffic congestion and pollution to infrastructure constraints and overcrowding are increasingly amplified – all of which requires a paradigm shift in how we approach and manage these types of situations. Driven by Cisco’s vision for the Internet of Everything (IoE), our Smart+Connected Communities program supports the integration of intelligent networking technologies to connect cities and help leaders address these challenges. However, we fully understand that this is not a one-shot solution. The transformation of cities not only requires relevant technologies and a change in the way we think, but also how we collaborate with city stakeholders and ecosystem partners.
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In a multi-point TelePresence press briefing on Friday 31st May Cisco Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Managing Director, Ken Boal, and VP for Global Technology Policy, Dr. Robert Pepper, teamed up to deliver the Australian and New Zealand specific findings of the annual Cisco Visual Networking Index.
The latest forecast paints a picture of a world which is consuming the Internet at an astronomical rate with the Cisco VNI predicting that in 2017 there will be more than 19 billion devices connected to the internet! Dr. Pepper and Ken Boal were quick to point out to the attending media from ANZ that these 19 billion devices will increasingly be made up of devices that many people never thought would be Internet-enabled. As we move into the era of the Internet of Everything, more and more items will be connected to the Internet. Livestock, wearable tech and household appliances were just some of the examples given.
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The Australian Government’s announcement last week of the National Strategy for Cloud Computing is a welcome development and one that really moves the needle on the government’s procurement policies for cloud computing.
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, used the opportunity to set out the government’s vision for using the cloud to boost innovation and productivity across Australia’s digital economy.
Cisco has been working closely with the various stakeholders to help shape the strategy and feels passionately about the significant benefits offered by cloud computing. Our vice president of global technology policy, Dr. Pepper, has been particularly vocal on the topic; not least at Cisco Live in Melbourne earlier this year when he strongly advocated for advanced cloud computing services to be made available over a high-speed broadband network.
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Robert Metcalfe popularized the idea of the “network effect,” where the value of a network grows exponentially in proportion to the number of users and things on that network. Many people these days wonder if this principle applies to the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend—where the complexity of all the devices, software, and standards that must be accommodated may cause some IT leaders to question whether the promised value is worth the headache.
Certainly there’s potential for tremendous value: the most recent report from Cisco Consulting Services on the Financial Impact of BYOD reveals that with the right approach to implementation, companies across the globe could be generating an average annual value of $1,650 per mobile user. In the United States, than number grows to $3,150.
So, how can you know whether or not you are realizing the full potential of BYOD in your company? And more important, how can you progress from wherever you currently are along the value journey to where you want to be?
One place to start is the interactive BYOD Assessment Tool that Cisco Consulting Services developed as a companion to its latest BYOD research and analysis. Through a quick and easy six-step process, the tool highlights key findings and helps you identify which level of BYOD implementation your company might have. The Assessment Tool provides a quick estimate of the value you are currently deriving from BYOD in your company, and offers some general recommendations of next steps to take.
The interactive Cisco BYOD Assessment Tool estimates the value of a current BYOD implementation.
Of course, the interactive BYOD Assessment Tool is designed to provide just a general sense of your company’s progress along the BYOD “value journey.” A BYOD engagement with the Cisco Consulting Services Research and Economics team can take you deeper.
An engagement will produce a detailed assessment of your company’s current usage and capabilities, and the benefits your company is gaining from BYOD today. Our team will also take a close look at the increase in value you can expect by taking a strategic approach to implementation, which we call Comprehensive BYOD. You’ll have a better understanding of how employees across your workforce are using BYOD, and what you can do to help them be more productive and innovative using their own devices for work.
Like the “network effect,” BYOD requires a critical mass of users before you can appreciate its benefits. But to enjoy its full value, you need to be sure that you are enabling the right users, with the right capabilities, under the right governance model. Click here to request a customized BYOD assessment.
Find out more about Cisco Consulting Services’ BYOD financial analysis by clicking on the links below:
Explore BYOD: http://cs.co/byod-economics
Start Your BYOD Assessment: http://cs.co/BYOD-Assessment_Tool
Request a Custom BYOD Assessment: http://cs.co/BYOD-contactme
Tags: assessment tool, bring your own device, byod, Cisco, financial analysis, IBSG, Internet Business Solutions Group, value of BYOD
