With the ever growing demands placed on IT organizations to “do more with less” it is becoming apparent that the way we deploy the network infrastructure, how we administer policies and how we manage the whole thing needs to evolve.

Why is IT spending so much time maintaining separate wired, wireless and VPN networks? We need to focus on the business that is banging on the door telling you to support more mobile and wired devices, more bandwidth hungry applications and extend that support well beyond the walls of corporate facilities.

How can we simplify how IT operates and still deliver a high-performance, high-quality connected experience? Cisco Unified Access can help! We announced the webinar series earlier this week, and part 1 is just around the corner.

In next Wednesday’s webinar (CLICK TO REGISTER) we will discuss:

• The industry perspective regarding challenges surrounding, BYOD, Mobility and the Internet of Everything
• The latest Cisco technology that can help you simplify and optimize you network
• How a unified access network can improve performance and operations
• Deploying consistent and contextual policies will improve access control and enforcement
•  How reducing operational complexity can accelerate device deployment and end user problem resolution.

Read More »

Tags: 11ac, 802.11ac, Cisco, Cisco Unified Access, Converged Access, gigabit, gigabit ethernet, gigabit Wi-Fi, LAN, mobile, mobility, network, wi-fi, wifi, wired, wireless, wlan

Innovation never stops in the mobile world, and that rule applies to security threats as well. Network attacks are becoming more sophisticated and even high-tech businesses with the most advanced security may find themselves in the crosshairs as we shift to more devices and anywhere access.

Just a few weeks ago, multiple leading social networking and large enterprises were hit with an attack when their employees visited a known and trusted website focused on mobile application development. Attackers used a method commonly referred to as “water-holing,” where they compromise a legitimate site commonly visited by employees of their target organizations. Using zero-day vulnerabilities and malicious code that change at a rapid rate, these attacks highlight the need to consistently enhance traditional defenses based on signatures or reputation with global and local context analysis.

This episode underscores how important security is in a more mobile, more connected world—attackers are paying attention, using these industry trends to create targeted and sophisticated attacks that can bypass traditional defenses. The Cisco 2013 Annual Security Report found that Android Malware grew 2,577 percent in 2012 alone. The Internet of Everything is taking shape and the number of online connections is soaring. According to Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2013, 30 billion things will be connected by 2020.

Read More »

Tags: attackers, byod, Cisco Security, Cisco Security Intelligence Operations, Internet of Everything, IoE, malware, Mike Fuhrman, mobile, mobile malware, security, sio, zero-day vulnerability

At Cisco, we take very seriously our ability to anticipate and catch market transitions. A few years ago, we saw a market transition that would affect our Service Provider customers in the area of Mobility. With 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi deployments rising, the world was clearly shifting from Coverage, Capacity to Services… and the importance of customer experience rising amongst operators worldwide. As a result, we set in motion a new strategy for our Service Provider Mobility Group (SPMG). The key to our strategy was to develop an architecture that would enable Service Providers to offer a differentiated experience to their customers.

Our Mobility CTO Paul Mankiewich refers to the new mobility operator requirements as “the Grand Challenge.” The inflection point is here. Not only do our key SP customers recognize it, but our competitors are also seeing the tremendous business opportunity represented by the “Grand Challenge,” especially as it relates to emerging Monetization use cases that are propelling the market’s rapid growth.

Our vision to Read More »

Tags: acquisition, cisco quantum, competitors, mobile, mobility, monetization, news, Service Provider

In the last MSE Blog, you were taken through how to monetize your WLAN using location analytics. Today I am going to expand on our partnership with Meridian.

The Cisco MSE enables location-based services and has an ecosystem of partners that use the MSE to create location-based apps. One such partner is Meridian, which is a mobile software company that uses the MSE to provide location based services in it’s mobile app. Prior to the 7.4 MSE release, venue owners using Meridian and MSE to provide indoor location and way-finding in their mobile app found it a real challenge to make MSE work with Meridian. First they would have to provide Meridian with the venue maps, then wait for Meridian to create an account for them and then finally open up the MSE to be accessed by Meridian’s server.

In 7.4, we set out to simplify and automate this whole process. Starting this release, integration between MSE and Meridian is made painless and easy with a single click. Enabling the mobile app integration on MSE will allow the MSE to send the venue maps to Meridian without having to open the MSE for inbound access. An account is created for the venue in Meridian’s CMS and the best part is that you can immediately launch Meridian’s mobile app and look at the maps and if you are at the venue, you can see your own location indicated with a blue dot.

The real magic happens behind the scenes on the MSE. Read More »

Tags: 11ac, 802.11ac, advanced location, Cisco, Cisco Unified Access, Converged Access, data analytics, gigabit, gigabit ethernet, gigabit Wi-Fi, Indoor location, LAN, location, location services, mobile, mobility, network, wi-fi, wifi, wired, wireless, wlan

The ever-increasing number of devices and applications coming into the workplace poses complex challenges for the enterprise. As a result, IT must adapt the ways in which they enable, manage, and secure end-user access.

• How will the network handle increased demand for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and mobility?
• How can IT maintain raised expectations for wired devices, while improving the end-user experience?

To solidify IT as a key contributor in driving better business processes, IT teams must shift from maintaining the network to delivering innovative, connected experiences. The key to success is to simplify the network, and Cisco Unified Access does just that.

Mark your calendars for our five-part webinar series to learn how to create an effective, unified access strategy. Find out how to transform IT to better address the demands of BYOD and next-generation technology.

• Wednesday, April 3: Activate the IT Transformation <--Register NOW!
• Wednesday April 17: One Network Part 1: Deploying Unified Access
• Wednesday May 1: One Network Part 2: Simplifying the Network Infrastructure
• Wednesday May 15: One Policy: Centralized Policy, Control and Enforcement
• Wednesday June 5: One Management: Converged User Access Management

You will learn how to: Read More »

Tags: 11ac, 802.11ac, Cisco, Cisco Unified Access, Converged Access, gigabit, gigabit ethernet, gigabit Wi-Fi, LAN, mobile, mobility, network, wi-fi, wifi, wired, wireless, wlan