Cisco IT’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program allows employees to be most productive on whatever device they choose.  Whether it’s an iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac or PC they can connect to the Cisco internal network easily, but that’s not what this blog is about, if you’re interested in that initiative click here and here. This blog is about how adding a social layer, specifically Cisco WebEx Social, resulted in an improved user experience and reduced caseload and therefore avoided cost.  Personally, I’d like to say the easy onboarding of devices has caused me less wrinkles, but I’ve yet to find a quantitative way to prove that hypothesis true, so let’s stick to the facts:

• In November 2010, Cisco IT had 4,566 cases per 33,354 devices or about 0.14 Cases/Device
• In October 2011, Cisco IT had 3,921 cases per 48,530 devices or about 0.08 Cases/Device
• Cisco IT has had a 52% increase in devices and 16% more users

Read More »

Tags: aaron chiles, Android, blog, byod, case, caseload, cisco on cisco, Cisco WebEx Social, coc-collaboration, collaboration, community, Help, information technology, iPad, iphone, IT, mac, mobility, onboarding, PC, support, WebEx Social, wxs

I’m one of the lucky ones. Many of my peers work in companies that aren’t as forward looking about IT as Cisco is. Where they struggle to keep up with the demands of today’s employees, I’m fortunate to work in an environment that offers workspace flexibility and access to telepresence, web conferencing, and a social platform based largely on the employee’s choice of device.

That’s not to say that we’ve got it all figured out at Cisco. As I onboard new college graduates, I, too, find myself struggling to meet their expectations. I think we’ve entered a phase in which all business and IT leaders will lag slightly behind the workplace expectations of the new generation.

To better understand this fundamental shift, we recently commissioned Forrester Research to look specifically at mobility, virtualization, and other enterprise-level technology initiatives.  Read More »

Tags: Bring your Own Device (BYOD), Cisco WebEx Social, collaboration, Forrester Research, mobility, next-generation workplace, TelePresence, virtualization, web conferencing

In the first part of this series I introduced the people in our new “at-a-glance” graphic (see end of this blog where I’ve embedded it) and looked at their diverse roles and the challenges that posed to IT. In this wrap-up blog, I focus on Bijad, the VP of IT, his understanding of the challenges and his response.

Bijad is the man in the middle of the evolution to a post-PC world. As the range of available collaboration technologies has continued to broaden, the focus for IT has begun to swing from delivering individual best-in-class applications to an interest in an integrated collaboration experience that delivers consistent functionality across multiple devices. However, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. From the C-level suites, he is accountable for enabling this cost-effectively while providing a combination of scale, security, and accessibility through a variety of devices and operating systems. From his customers like Doug, Lee, Sarah, and Ben who you met in my previous blog, he’s hearing increasing demands for a rich, personalized, consistent user experience that lets each of them work and collaborate their way — where, when and how they want — without limits. They want tools to help them stay more connected with their peers and other organizations.

Bijad knows that this will require more flexibility and simplicity to preserve a consistent experience and that an open, interoperable architecture is key to success. Even more important, he knows that people, not technology, are the prime source of his company’s competitive differentiation. So he’s listening carefully, and thinking in terms of roles rather than devices.

To support Doug, the VP of sales, and people in similar highly-mobile, outward-oriented roles, Bijad is looking to Read More »

Tags: Bring your Own Device (BYOD), Cisco Customer Collaboration, Cisco Jabber, Cisco TelePresence, Cisco Unified Communications., Cisco WebEx Social, collaboration, Post-PC Era

Is your company “anti-social” because there is too much noise? Are you having challenges getting a grip on your various social networking tools? Keep reading to discover how Persistent Systems did it.

Imagine running a global software development firm, with over 6000 employees, nine development centers, spread across three continents, in various time zones. When your business is finding virtual experts for various client projects at the speed of light, instant collaboration becomes essential for success. Persistent Systems based in Pune, India, is one such award-winning software company that has championed their collaboration challenges, with strong tangible results and exceptional employee productivity statistics.

However, their story is not simply about discovering how enterprise social software is much more effective than email, phone, and other traditional forms of communication. They are beyond that point in their journey. Read More »

Tags: Cisco Quad, Cisco WebEx, Cisco WebEx Social, collaboration, employee productivity, web conferencing

Do you ever feel frustrated when you just cannot access the right information right when you need it? Or when you spend several hours chasing multiple sources, verifying if something is accurate or not when you have urgent issues to resolve? Well, now imagine this scenario in a business environment where your personal performance or the performance of your team is affected with these exact same challenges every day.  And then imagine situations where you may miss the boat on closing a very important deal, resolving an urgent, technical customer issue, or misinterpreting data for an important report, because of all these communication barriers.

When we access information in a static, asynchronous environment, we have several dependencies, factors, variables, and therefore a higher chance of error. Our inability to verify data instantaneously, and having no version control in place, can make collaboration in a business environment quite challenging. Imagine an employee trying to verify if the document that was emailed to him or her on a specific date is indeed the latest and greatest version. Then imagine the string of email communications to various colleagues in order to confirm if the version he or she has, is indeed accurate. Let’s keep this story going; Read More »

Tags: avodaq, Cisco Jabber, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Cisco WebEx Social, collaboration, customer case study