Cloud services. You may or may not think about them, but they are no longer a talk of the future. Some of you probably listen to Rhapsody and Rdio, which are cloud-based streaming music services. Others perhaps use a cloud-based compression service Onavo to shrink your smartphone data and your monthly bill. Storage (Dropbox), email, social media, banking, location-based services (GPS), just to name some, all at your fingertips. For small and mid-size businesses, there’s a wide range of cloud services including productivity, finance, and accounting. For many companies and organizations, cloud adoption is on top of their priority list.

Before we continue to ride the cloud at lightning speed, shall we pause a moment to reflect on the risks? After all, there are many things that can threaten our data and services. To learn more about the current threat landscape, watch a rich and compelling on-demand webcast by Patrick Gray, principal security strategist at Cisco. Here are some specific concerns and action to take.

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Tags: cloud, Cloud Computing, cloud security, cyber-security-month-2011, security

Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Organizations are increasingly adopting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies.  Businesses and governments are changing how they work.  In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, “Employees Alone Together, ”  the author features organizations that are growing because of their alternative work arrangements.  Technology is allowing these organizations to innovate in ways previously never envisioned.  They are creating communities of interest virtually, celebrating success and planning for tomorrow -- without requiring employees to work longer hours.

Do you want greater work flexibility for your organization?  Learn how technology, when aligned with policies and procedures -- can increase productivity and accelerate your mission task or goal.

Tags: cloud, collaboration, Flexible Working, government, grid lock, telework, workforce mobility

This post is the fourth in a series we’re featuring from Amazon Consulting. Amazon Consulting is a partnering services firm dedicated to helping companies elevate the impact of partnering. The author of this post is Cary Tengler, Director, Client Services.

As Bob Dylan once famously sang, “The times, they are a’changin’.” Recent changes in technology—specifically with cloud computing—have moved technology service providers into an increasingly prominent role in the IT services delivery market.

Many vendors recognized early on the broader value of technology service providers, or TSPs, and created programs to support their role in the partner ecosystem. For instance, “Cisco Powered Network” branding and joint selling efforts have long been a part of Cisco’s service provider strategy.  And it appears the rest of the IT vendor community is coming to the same conclusion.

A recent Amazon Consulting survey of 64 global IT vendors found that 70% view service providers as “very strategic” in their go-to-market plans and only 12% of the vendors viewed them as “customers and not partners.” This increased industry focus on TSPs as part of the emerging “cloud channel” makes it imperative that Cisco’s VARs take a closer look at their own cloud services and partnering strategies. Read More »

Tags: amazon consulting, cloud, Cloud Computing, partners, service providers, solution provider

Some people with probably think that I drank the Kool aid- Well our CEO and Chairman did a fantastic job this morning as a key note speaker at Oracle OpenWorld! Not as controversial as other CEOs , but certainly a speech which makes employees very proud to work for Cisco.

John McAbel who has been involved in the preparation of this speech warned me couple of days ago

“We are very excited to have John Chambers at Oracle OpenWorld this year.  It’s the first year he is a key note speaker in four years at the conference  I think it’s a reflection of the growth of the UCS within the Oracle ecosystem  We have now hundreds of customers who are running UCS today , many of these customers are running large Oracle mission critical workload, such as EMC, Qualcom, University of Colarado, and others . So I think that John being here is a reflection of this growth, but also of the overall commitment of the partnership between the two companies Openworld in fact runs on Cisco networking gear and we  run a lot of Cisco on  Oracle eBusiness  Suite  and  Oracle data base . So there is a nice synergy between the two companies

I think you’ll find this  key notes unlike other key notes at Oracle OpenWorld , where we are going to have demonstration on stage of Cisco UCS running Oracle codes, we are also going to show how we can take that technology to help improve how customers will process words and some of the processes you will find them entertaining !”

- He was right !I saw this morning a constant flow of appreciative tweets on John’s speech Here are some of them starting with  Marc Benioff  from SalesForce.com  “John Chambers is delivering one of the best keynotes in our industry. Watching him is humbling. He is as good as they get.”( @benioff)

“Have to say, Cisco CEO John Chambers is an excellent speaker, nice mix of biz, tech and vision RT “(@mfauscette)
“That winds up John Chambers. Impressive talk! I learned a lot.”(@Oracleheretic)
“Keynotes focusing on substance, not style issues. Other keynoters should take note, emulate“(@carterlusher)
“Vendors that speak at industry conf’s should replay John Chambers #oow11 keynote. Very  good balance of Thought Leadership + Product Pitch” (@sameerpatel)
“John Chambers is the best speaker in our industry. #oow11 He sets the bar.”
“Bold & consistent if nothing else” (@ca_bshimmin)
“Great ideas! John Chambers, Cisco President, at Oracle OpenWorld”

I will not go through all the rich content of this entertaining and some times provocative speech  (“If you agree with everything I say today, I haven’t done my job”. John Chambers).  I hope to be very soon in a position to point to a the slide deck or even the recording of the speech -- So stay tuned
But here are some talking points (as perceived by the audience) , as well as the first reactions  on this speech about change from The Register and The New York Time

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Tags: Cisco, cloud, data center, john chambers, Oracle, twitter, virtualization

Service providers are recognizing the power of Cisco’s cloud solutions to deliver best-in-class services to their customers. Based in Chile, Entel has worked to integrate the power of data center computing with the intelligence of the network in a Unified Service Delivery approach. The combination of network and compute sets Entel apart as a leading provider in Chile.

Check out what Entel is saying about the quality of Cisco’s services and solutions, including UCS servers and Nexus data center switching.

Tags: Cisco, cloud, data center, Entel, nexus, UCS, usd