In sports, when looking at the record books we often find that most of the records are held by current players. In most cases this get attributed to the fact that the games change over time and certain elements are emphasized over others. Maybe it’s passing over running in football, home runs instead of stolen bases in baseball, or dunks over jump shots in basketball. Whatever it is, we eventually accept that the new approach to the game is going to lead us to viewing measurements differently.
For some reason, that same mentality doesn’t seem to apply to changes in how we leverage IT technologies to drive our businesses. While we now live in a world where change happens at 2x, 3x and sometimes 5x what it did in the past, but we’re still using measurements that are centered in a world where IT is primarily focused on keeping the operations running and keeping the costs down. Measurements like Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) are primarily focused on upfront costs of equipment or a level of labor that is often ignored after the initial ROI calculations are complete. But what happens when a new system is able to take on orders of magnitude more work them previous systems, which often happens with server virtualization projects, so IT handles more capacity? Do ROI and TCO really account for that increased productivity properly? Read More »
Introducing Cisco Industrial Intelligence. Neither James Bond gone corporate nor Cisco gone espionage, Industrial Intelligence is the enabling of business enterprises and municipalities to more intelligently and responsively manage industrial operations globally, and it’s one of Cisco’s latest adjacencies as part of the Borderless Networks solutions portfolio. Having IP-data and control flows converged with voice, video and virtualization creates a more intelligent platform for innovations that connect devices to measure, monitor, and manage resources for greater efficiencies, to connect people in less time and space, and to connect ideas that generate solutions to today’s industrial, operational and environmental challenges.
Chet Namboodri talks about how the Cisco Industrial Intelligence solution can help to improve operational efficiency, safety, agility, and use of assets.
What a wonderful thing maps are. As a child I would pore over them, sometimes for hours, looking for the silliest names, the most intriguing locations, the most exciting geographies. I was particularly taken by maps of the Canadian Shield, a place so vast and forbidding that even today large swaths of it remain unexplored.
This is the home of the world’s largest remaining arboreal forest — it is huge. I also like the fact that on the maps of northern Canada, even today, roads meander northward from the reasonably populated cities near the US border, and then, inextricably, end. As a kid I longed to go there, to see what lay beyond the end of the road. I still do.
I still take aimless ambles through maps today when I have time. The nature of my work is such that I have had the pleasure of driving to the end of some of those roads, and in some cases, creating roads of my own. I have visited places with exotic names like Timboctou (we call it Timbuktu), Ouagadougou, and Zanzibar. The joy of map-gazing, however, still burns hot for me.
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.
Today at CES, Cisco and Verizon Wireless announced the new Cisco 4G LTE Enhanced High-Speed WAN Interface Card (EHWIC) which integrates with the Cisco ISR G2. This is part of Cisco’s next-generation mobile Internet architecture deployment at Verizon Wireless, which spans from the cell towers to the network core, to support a wide range of intelligent mobile devices and applications.
This 4G LTE EHWIC is the latest in a long line of ISR innovations from Cisco, the result of continued investment in our core technologies.
Cisco’s 4G LTE ISR G2 solution and Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network deliver a high-speed, reliable wireless WAN experience, enabling customers to create radically new business models at significantly lower costs.
For more information about today’s announcement, please see the press release here.
If you have any feedback or would like more information, please feel free to get in touch.
