After just getting back from a great week at Cisco Live 2011, I wanted to highlight one of the demonstrations that garnered a huge amount of attention from attendees (customers & partners). This is from our CITEIS project, which is Cisco’s internal Private Cloud.
This demonstration highlights a number of unique Cisco Data Center technologies, along with partner technologies:
Aside from technical sessions, keynotes, and fun evening events, Cisco Live had a bustling show floor with lots of companies showing off devices, software, hardware, and gadgets.
We took a tour around the World of Solutions and here’s our roundup of the coolest, geekiest devices we saw this week.
Check out the full list of what we saw, complete with links and more details.
Cisco Live’s first ever “Industrial Intelligence Day” focusing on manufacturing and industrial customer needs was judged a great success according to the feedback given at the sessions in Las Vegas this week. In an action packed day attendees heard about trends in network convergence between business IT and Industrial plant networks, and how standard Ethernet IP protocols were becoming prevalent in industrial and control networks.
As Master of Ceremonies, I had the pleasure of introducing Alan Cohen, Vice President, Global Public Sector & Industry Solutions. Alan kicked off the day talking about the care-abouts of executives in Manufacturers and how Cisco is addressing them. He used real-life customer examples such as Coca-Cola, General Motors, GE, Continental Tire and Anglo Platinum. Alan expressed how Cisco was helping these customers address the challenges of Growth, Market Transitions, Innovation, Risk and Goverance. This set up a good interactive environment for Bryce Barnes and John Parello to introduce Energy and Sustainability for the manufacturing sector. Bryce pointed out that 35% of all energy usage in the world is consumed by manufacturing industry and we added that that figure goes over 50% if you include the transportation and distribution of those manufactured goods and materials.
After watching John Chamber’s Insightful Keynote, delegates returned to hear Paul Didier and Chris Haley (both Cisco) and Gregory Wilcox (Rockwell Automation) talk about the status and trends for wired LANs including resilience and security with a fascinating presentation on Motion from Gregory. That was followed by wireless strategies from David Wolf and Scott Friberg from Cisco talking about wireless innovations and real-world testing where wireless is now deemed appropriate for time critical applications. Then delegates went to the main tent for a thought-provoking session. Read More »
We’ve seen lots here at Cisco Live so far—great demos from partners of cloud computing at work, Chairman and CEO John Chambers’ keynote address highlighting Cisco’s strength in IT, and a telehealth demo showing the power of Cisco HealthPresence. During today’s keynote presentation from CTO Padmasree Warrior and CIO Rebecca Jacoby, live and virtual attendees got the chance to see real-world examples of how Cisco technology is driving innovation now through the 21st century.
Padma kicked off her talk with a few mind-boggling stats—did you know that currently 13 billion devices connect to the network? That equals two devices for every person on earth. That number is expected to grow to 50 billion devices, meaning each of us will own six. (I guess that means it’s ok if I lose my phone, I can always grab my tablet!)
And speaking of tablets, Padma said that by the end of her talk, she estimates that over 6000 tablets will have been sold. That’s a lot of devices that rely on the network—so how is Cisco is responding to the demand?
Context-Aware, Cisco Borderless Networks Accelerate the Adoption of Cloud services
According to a recent Cisco Enterprise customer poll, 50% of those surveyed are interested in deploying some type of cloud infrastructure – whether it is public, private, or a hybrid. According to Forrester, (“Sourcing Groups Prepare For 2011 — Cloud Is Key Initiative 11/10”) Cloud adoption is already over 25% in North America, and continues to grow in Europe.
There are many reasons for migration to Cloud, including application portability on any device, business agility to deliver services and expand into new business models, and operational simplicity.
While many headlines talk about the Cloud, there is little mention of the role of the network in enabling Cloud services.
As organizations move to the cloud, and the varied devices and connection types accessing private and public cloud services, they become prone to malware or Web vulnerabilities. There’s also the risk of data loss. Ultimately, IT is faced with “can the network secure these connections, users, and data in a manner that ensures reliability and seamlessness?” It is no wonder that a Forrester blog cited that Security is the #1 barrier for cloud adoption.
Another concern is network performance. 83% of CIOs considered performance a top
concern for cloud services in an IDC Enterprise panel. Management of virtualization has also become more complex. According to an Enterprise Strategy Group study, 44% of IT consider virtualization to have a major impact on network and server management.
The Cloud-Powered Business announcement today highlights for customers how the network is delivering solutions to break through these barriers to Cloud adoption: Security and Performance.
In this short interview, Praveen Akkiraju, SVP/GM of Services Routing Technology Group will discuss how Cisco is enabling organizations to accelerate adoption of cloud services by extending Borderless Networks to deliver secure, reliable, and optimized cloud services, “The Critical Role of the Network in Supporting Cloud-Based Solutions”.
