By Peter Gaspar, Consulting Systems Engineer, Service Provider Mobility, Emerging Theater

It’s not new news that when it comes to network access, Wi-Fi technology is a cost-effective complement to macro radio access. Industry blogs continuously feature analysis about the economic advantages of using Wi-Fi as a small cell technology. No surprise, then, that many mobile operators have completed or are working seriously on plans to integrate this technology into their mobile ecosystems.

But when it comes to details, things start to get confusing. Terms like policy and charging, lawful intercept, mobility and SIM authentication start to pop up. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has incorporated Wi-Fi (non-3GPP IP Access) as part of the LTE architecture, created the terminology and studied the Read More »

Tags: architecture, data offload, mobile, Service Provider, wi-fi, wifi

Two out of three deaths among children under age five could be prevented with effective primary healthcare globally. It is a generally recognized fact that regular medical care is essential for early diagnosis and treatment of illness and chronic diseases. And poor health causes developmental delays, affecting learning ability and a child’s ability to reach full intellectual potential. Sick children exact a toll on families, resulting in lost income and an overall compromised quality of life.

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Tags: children, Cisco, corporate social responsibility, CSR, healthcare, impact multiplied, pediatrician, telehealth

Networked technologies have made work and learning increasingly mobile and highly flexible. So much so that employees are now choosing work-location flexibility over a higher salary and employers are providing workers with the tools to facilitate this. Cisco IBSG calls this “Smart Work.” Of course, the ability to make flexible working a viable option depends on a number of factors, including availability of good broadband connectivity, employer trust, the nature of the work in which an employee is engaged, and suitable social software and video technologies that enable the employee to remain in a connected (albeit virtual) work environment.

Employees, too, have to develop a new form of self-discipline that involves maintaining a good work-life balance; rather than working longer hours, this entails spending much of their extra time with family, in the community, or furthering their own personal and professional development. Read More »

Tags: Big Data, Cisco, cloud services, device proliferation, future of work, IBSG, infrastructure, network, S+CC, security, smart applications, Smart+Connected Communities, urban services, urban sustainability, work-life

This week Cisco and NetApp will be at Citrix Synergy - So I asked  Abhinav Joshi, Sr Product Manager, Desktop Virtualization , NetApp to tell us more about NetApp participation, and what the collaboration between the 3 companies means for the customers. 

I am honored to be a guest blogger on Cisco’s leading data center and cloud blog site. My name is Abhinav Joshi, and I am the Product Manager for Desktop Virtualization Solutions at NetApp with key focus on Citrix. I work very closely with Cisco and Citrix to jointly define, develop, and roll out innovative and cost effective desktop virtualization solutions and integrations e.g. the popular Citrix XenDesktop on FlexPod solution. Some of you may remember me from my previous life as a Cisco blogger on this site J

FlexPod, a data center platform jointly developed by Cisco and NetApp and delivered by 100s of channel partners has been accelerating private cloud adoption worldwide. In an year and a half since it was launched, FlexPod has grown to more than 850 customers and 500 partners worldwide.WOW!!!

I want to highlight that Desktop Virtualization on Citrix XenDesktop across various FlexCast delivery models has been one of the key customer initiatives driving the growth of FlexPod. Adoption of FlexPod at University of Tennessee and John Holland Group are some great examples of Why Citrix XenDesktop rocks on FlexPod. I wish I could list out all the deployments without getting into any trouble. J

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Tags: Cirix Synergy, Cisco, citrix, desktop virtualization, netapp

We’ve held our annual Cisco Open Source event this week, on May 1st in San Jose. I’m very impressed to see the large turnout and the ultra positive feedback after the keynote and 5 tracks on Linux, SDN, Big Data, Emerging Technologies and Community Development. Wonderful to see Irving Wladawsky-Berger from IBM, Jim Zemlin from the Linux Foundation, Simon Crosby from Bromium and the great discussions that ensued. Next time we’ll have to open this event up to more than just one afternoon, there is just so much open collaboration that is taking place. My thanks to our track leads, Michael Hein who helped me put together the Linux track, Jan Medved and Dave Ward on SDN, Mark Voelker and Ed Warnicke on Big Data, Fabio Maino and Flavio Bonomi on Emerging Technologies, and Peter Saint-Andre for the Community Management and Tools — these guys have already left their mark on timeless and enduring open standards, but it’s amazing to see how good they are in open source!  We’ll have to post the key takeaways in these next blog entries, for now to all those of you who came, contributed and enjoyed this event, we salute you! Open at Cisco is a vibrant and growing community.

Tags: Big Data, Cisco, Linux, open source, SDN