Networked technologies have made work and learning increasingly mobile and highly flexible. So much so that employees are now choosing work-location flexibility over a higher salary and employers are providing workers with the tools to facilitate this. Cisco IBSG calls this “Smart Work.” Of course, the ability to make flexible working a viable option depends on a number of factors, including availability of good broadband connectivity, employer trust, the nature of the work in which an employee is engaged, and suitable social software and video technologies that enable the employee to remain in a connected (albeit virtual) work environment.
Employees, too, have to develop a new form of self-discipline that involves maintaining a good work-life balance; rather than working longer hours, this entails spending much of their extra time with family, in the community, or furthering their own personal and professional development. Read More »
Last week I had the privilege of attending the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in San Francisco. Hosted annually by the Nonprofit Technology Network, the conference is a gold mine of professional development and relationship-building opportunities for nonprofit staff who use technology for marketing, fundraising, operations, program delivery, and more.
Cisco sponsored the Ignite Reception at NTC, where attendees had 5 minutes and 20 slides to talk about how their nonprofits are using technology.
Cisco’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts operate at this intersection of human and technology networks, too. We know that by working with nonprofits, government agencies, or other businesses, we can accomplish much more than we could alone. And, by adding technology to the equation, we can multiply our impact even further.
Many nonprofits have similar experiences. They are collaborating--and using innovative, network-enabled technologies--to reach more people with better services.
If you work for a nonprofit that has used human and technology networks to multiply your impact, we want to hear your story.
Mobile video is exploding at a rate unimagined only a few short years ago. Whereas the quick YouTube clip had been a satisfying enough diversion, consumers armed with next-generation devices now demand the latest bandwidth-busting, 2-gigabyte Hollywood opus. The end user wants it on his iPad, and he wants it now.
For the industry at large, this creates no shortage of challenges. According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index, by 2016, 71 percent of global mobile data traffic will be video, placing a heavy burden on the network. But along this next frontier of mobile video there are also unprecedented and exciting opportunities.
International IT services provider Sycor was redesigning the networks for one customer who had 4500 employees spread across 80 branches in addition to a headquarters and many telecommuting and mobile workers. One issue they were addressing was that this customer was having problems with one of their web-based applications. This specific app was used by just one person at each branch, but was important to the customer’s business. So Sycor engineers tuned both the app’s website as well as the central database with which it communicated.
The solution they were considering was a dedicated data terminal at each branch to work separately but in parallel with the existing network deployments. And then the customer started having problems with more applications at more branches. Something had to be done.
Explosive data growth and new transformational technologies such as cloud computing, converged infrastructure, unified networking and big data are changing the way organizations are running their businesses today. These new technologies affect IT systems and infrastructures, as well as the practitioners that design, install, operate and manage them. New skills and knowledge are needed for organizations to maximize the benefits of these new technologies.
To prepare the next generation of workers, Cisco is joining forces with EMC to offer comprehensive technical education solutions in the areas of cloud architecture, virtualization, storage, data center networking and data science. Watch below as Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager, Learning@Cisco and Tom Clancy, vice president, EMC Education Services discuss the joint education offerings available.
The joint education solutions offer advanced training and certifications to help customers acquire the skills required to successfully architect, build and transform their IT infrastructure, adopt cloud computing and realize the promise of data science and Big Data analytics.
