We are proud of our customers and their success in the marketplace. They are changing the way business is done by providing scalable, enterprise-grade, secure, and affordable cloud solutions. By tying together the Unified Data Center with the Cloud Intelligent Network and applying Applications and Services on top as end-to-end solutions, these cloud providers are delivering differentiated services with high-level SLAs necessary for end-users’ strategic applications. That’s what US Signal is doing for their customers.

But for some more background, last week at Structure, the conversations swirled around how to handle Big Data, the future of software-defined networking, data center compute technology, database and programming types, and open versus proprietary. Two of our CloudVerse customers, Terremark and SunGard both had strong booth presence and Terremark also had a packed presentation delivered by Jim Anthony, VP, Tier II Solution Architecture Team. Compared to last year, there was a stronger agreement that cloud providers are fully capable of providing public or virtual private cloud services with trust, scalability, and affordability, instead of companies taking on cloud internally by themselves. There are many needs for cloud services out there and that means there are opportunities to provide a differentiated service.

As such, with data usage increasing exponentially, it’s clear how important the network is for connecting the many clouds out there. Let me explain how US Signal is leveraging their expertise with an end-to-end delivery network to success in cloud. Read More »

Tags: 100GB, cloud, Cloud Intelligent Network, cloud provider, customer, customer stories, data center, DWDM, IaaS, infrastructure as a service, nexus, UCS, unified computing system, us signal

In the not-too-distant past the boardroom was a place where executives met to plan the future of the company, analyze the competition, discuss satisfaction and retention, and generally come together to brainstorm how to accelerate success. On occasion guests were invited to the boardroom – for example,  top customers who required an executive briefing or an employee celebrating 25 years at a company.

Executives would spend hours, if not days, traveling to the boardroom to meet his or her peers face-to-face.  The boardroom would be filled with executives sitting down to hammer out the company’s top initiatives.

Today’s boardroom is empty.

Or at least not quite as full as it was a few years ago. Read More »

Tags: Advocate, axa, Cisco, Cisco Services, collaboration, jill shaul, TelePresence

Over recent years the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) has continued to grow with the Alberta economy.  What was once purely a motor association is now a 2,200 employee organization which runs a large Insurance Company, Bank, Travel operation and RoadSide Assistance operation.  As our business continues to grow, change and evolve we have looked for technology solutions to help us deliver enhanced member tools and better experiences.

We strive to provide the best member experiences in every interaction.  With almost 1 million active members across Alberta, we use technology to bridge the gap and provide services over this large geographic location.

We have standardized on the Cisco Nexus platform for our network operations across 18 centres, which includes wireless and switching technologies in many of our buildings. Perhaps most importantly, the Nexus platform is helping our IT team think beyond the racks – focusing on how we can better serve our members and employees instead of just ‘keeping on the lights.’

Read More »

Tags: Alberta Motor Association, customer voice, Nexus 5000, techology solutions

The role of the CIO is changing so fast these days that you can hardly catch your breath. No longer can the chief information officer focus on maintaining the traditional IT infrastructure. Now it’s about the proliferation of devices and how they can help to build your business.  Read More »

Tags: Andre Kindness, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), Carrie Krinock, CIO, customer experience, Executive ViewPoints, forrester, MD

Throughout its 106-year history, the University of Florida’s (UF) intercollegiate sports teams, commonly referred to as “Florida Gators,” have won 27 national team championships and Gator athletes have won 241 individual national championships.

According to an article in the Gainesville Times, UF is now extending its good fortune to a small group of Oakwood Elementary School students located 375 miles away from the university’s campus. Through video conferencing, the lucky group of students gets to spend around 30 minutes each week with its athlete mentors, including Gray Horn (track and field), Jeff Demps (track and field/football) and Tahnai Annis (soccer).  Read More »

Tags: edchat, edtech, education reform, TelePresence, video conference, videoconferencing