My journey as a teleworking mom started almost ten years ago after I had my older son. I was coming back to work and in the process of changing roles at Cisco Systems. I live in North Carolina and had a job opportunity for a leader based in California. She knew that I wasn’t in a position to move and given we were already on opposite sides of the country, was supportive of my working from home. Thus my journey started as an individual contributor, working for a manager who based the decision to provide me flexibility on my track record of contribution at Cisco and her trust in my ability to do the job outside of an office.
Since then, I’ve been a part of the dramatic changes that have place in the workplace. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article on flexible work practices, the mobile worker population will be approximately 1.3 billion by 2015. At Cisco, almost 50% of our employees are collaborating with peers in other time zones and almost 90% telecommute at least one day per week. In many of our emerging countries, employees view flexibility as a right that is expected, versus a privilege that is earned.
My life has evolved as well. I’ve had another child and become a manager of a virtual team, with responsibility for a number of HR processes, including flexible work practices at Cisco. My experiences have offered me a few insights on how to be effective in our increasingly virtual world of work. Let me share these with you.
From an employee perspective, I have three tips that I think have been important toward my success. Read More »
With younger generations increasingly adept at technology, classrooms are adopting a tech-driven approach to teaching. Interestingly, what we see in response is the same as what we see in the workplace: a push toward BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device.
And as it turns out, students’ preferences for using their own devices over available library or computer lab resources carries over to their professional lives, as well. According to a recent Cisco study, “Two of five […] would accept a lower-paying job that had more flexibility with regard to device choice, social media access, and mobility, than a higher-paying job with less flexibility.”
In my previous blog post, I shared important feedback Cisco has received from our customers (users, IT managers and Cx0s) around their specific needs for collaboration and unified communications solutions.
Influenced by what we’ve been hearing, today Cisco announced Cisco UC Release 9.0. This release helps address our customers’ needs and reinforces Cisco Unified Communication’s role as the core foundation for communications and collaboration.
Why are we excited? It delivers! Whether it’s voice, video, messaging, web conferencing, mobility, or security— it’s all about more flexibility, bridging systems together, and protecting our customers’ investments.
Today, Cisco introduced the Cisco® Catalyst® 3560-C and Catalyst® 2960-C Compact Series (C-Series) switches. With these switches, Cisco continues to deliver on its commitment to innovation in its core technologies.
These C-Series switches are aimed at helping customers deliver network services in locations that pose unique wiring, space or power challenges which would otherwise require disruption of business operations.
Another industry-first: Power over Ethernet (PoE) pass-through technology
With Cisco’s industry-first Power over Ethernet (PoE) pass-through capability, the C-Series Switches eliminate the need for power outlets and dramatically reduce cabling complexities and overall infrastructure requirements. PoE pass-through technology powers IP devices in locations without access to power outlets. Cisco C-Series Switches can draw power from an upstream (PoE+/PoE-capable) switch or a router in the wiring closet, to power itself and to drive power downstream to the IP devices connected to it.
Cisco EnergyWise gives the switches the capability to monitor, manage, and reduce energy consumption of the devices connected to the switch. Devices can be turned off and powered down when they are not needed, allowing businesses to generate additional cost savings.
Other key features of the C-Series Switches include: - Simple Setup and Unified Network Management > Including Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations for “zero touch” setup and quick troubleshooting and Cisco Auto SmartPorts for automatically configuring the switch based on type of devices that connect to it.
- Unparalleled Security with Cisco Trustsec > For more info on Cisco Trustsec, please click here.
- Dramatically reduced cabling costs and flexible device placement > The C-Series Switches do not require expensive individual cable drops and can be deployed up to 100m away from the wiring closet. The flexible device placement makes them particularly suited to non-traditional networking environments and their sleek, fanless design makes them a good fit for locations including check-out kiosks in retail stores.
For full details on today’s announcement, please click here. For more information on Borderless Networks, please visit the site here.
I welcome your feedback and comments on this announcement.
