Co-written by Bryan Mobley, Director, IBSG Service Provider
The business world’s rise to the cloud has been dramatic and increasingly rapid. From an initial attitude of vague interest mixed with trepidation, organizations have begun to embrace the transition in a big way. Some are already realizing the expansive benefits in costs, efficiency, and innovation that come with this game-changing technology.
To keep with the pulse of cloud migration, Cisco initiated a series of roundtable discussions two years ago. The philosophy of each meeting was to bring together 10 to 20 decision makers from a variety of enterprises, midsized businesses, and government agencies. So far, we’ve held 15 of these discussions across North America. In addition to providing a unique opportunity to share our thought leadership, these sessions provide an ideal forum for hearing our customers’ thoughts on cloud: the benefits, the inhibitors, and even a few war stories. In the end, however, it is the advantages of cloud that spark the most contagious conversations.
Here are some of the key trends that have emerged from two years of discussions:
CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the third blog in a four-part series (Read Part I)(Read Part II) exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.
Back in 2006, Gartner Research predicted that no company would be able to build or sustain a competitive advantage over the next few years unless it capitalized on the combined power of individualized workers and social dynamics. The “Future Worker of 2015,” Gartner said, would collaborate more, work alone less in order to be successful. Read More »
Over the last several months, Cisco has been espousing the virtues of people-centric collaboration and today we’re thrilled to announce that Virgin Media is deploying Cisco Quad, Cisco WebEx and Cisco Unified Communications as part of its Flexible Working Initiative. By putting people and not text, email or the document at the center of collaboration, Virgin is able to foster a more flexible work environment that allows people to work effectively from a variety of office locations including the home. Thousands of Virgin Media’s employees will now be able to collaborate and work remotely with web-driven conferencing, voice, video calls and shared documents from the device of their choice – be it PC, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, using a social business platform to drive a new way of work.
Cisco Quad, Cisco’s social business platform, will act as a virtual knowledge bank accessible via any browser that helps create virtual business communities where filtered and relevant information “finds you” allowing users to find resources and prioritize work in a manner befitting the generation we live in. WebEx high-definition video helps engage workers and allows them to meet “face-to-face” no matter where they are.
Collaboration technology lets Virgin Media’s employees enjoy greater work/life balance while also giving them the ability to access information anywhere to make decisions more quickly.
The beach. An airport. The car. What do these places have in common? They’re all places you can hold a meeting.
As workforces become increasingly mobile, WebEx is the tool that more and more customers (and partners) use to ensure that productivity doesn’t decrease just because you’re not at the office.
And now, with a new beta version of Cisco WebEx Meetings and a free trial for partners, the possibilities are endless. By integrating all of the collaboration tools and tasks you need for your meetings, you can now host your team meetings from your car, attend a sales forecast presentation from the airport, or share slides from the beach. Having the flexibility to work with your colleagues, even when you can’t be at work, allows you to maintain productivity and collaborate more effectively.
Watch this video to see how Cisco WebEx Meetings can help you collaborate more effectively.
A convenient tool like this must come with a hefty price tag, right? Wrong! For a limited time only, Cisco WebEx Meetings beta is being offered to partners free of charge until the product becomes generally available.
Keep reading to find out how you can get Cisco WebEx Meetings beta for free and check out the great ways you can share ideas and materials before, during, and after your meeting. Read More »
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Last week I wrote about 8 new year’s resolutions Cisco is making to partners. And if you’ve ever set a resolution and successfully achieved it, you know that having a trusted friend there to help track your progress or call when you need support is key to keeping those resolutions.
Consider Cisco your trusted friend to help make and keep those resolutions with two programs to ensure you achieve success in 2012: Steps to Success and Partner Practice Builder. Both are free resources that are available to all Cisco Registered partners. Oh, did I say they’re free?
These two programs help you optimize, support, plan, and develop strategies for success and profitability in 2012. Here’s how these tools work: Read More »
The beach. An airport. The car. What do these places have in common? They’re all places you can hold a meeting.
