While 2012 will be the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac, in IT 2012 will be the year of the cloud. And not just one big cloud, but many clouds.
This world of many clouds means numerous opportunities for Cisco partners to offer customers, whether it’s building clouds, selling cloud services, or designing and implementing cloud-ready networks.
To help ensure partners have a successful Year of the Cloud, today Cisco is announcing a set of cloud capabilities called CloudVerse to help partners build public, private, and hybrid clouds for customers — bringing together the intelligence of the network, the power of the data center, and the flexibility of cloud applications.
Here’s just one example of a unique offering: Cisco partner Logicalis built a customized hosted cloud solution for its clients. Watch this video to find out how they did it. Keep reading to learn about new CloudVerse services and technologies.
There’s no arguing that cloud usage is on the rise. By the year 2015, 50% of all CIOs expect to operate the majority of their applications and infrastructures via the cloud. And global cloud traffic will increase 12 times to 1.6 zettabytes per year – that is the equivalent of more than four days of business class video for every person on the planet.
Despite this meteoric increase in cloud usage, it’s still common for customers to tiptoe into the realm of cloud or shun it altogether, citinglack of cloud talent, concerns around overall user experience, security risks, and cost as major inhibitors to cloud deployment. That’s where Cisco and our partners come together to provide deep expertise in strategy, planning, design, implementation, and optimization.
What are the specific new technologies and services in CloudVerse? Read More »
The movie industry has the Oscars, the music industry the Grammys, but what about the IT industry? How do we recognize the top performers, the stars, and those behind the scenes making the magic happen? One could argue that CRN’s Top 100 is about as close to a channel award shows as you can get, minus the red carpet designer gowns and tearful acceptance speeches.
This year’s CRN awards are out and we’re happy to report that several Cisco executives were recognized on the Top 100 list:
Rob Lloyd in the category of “Channel Advocates”
Edison Peres in the category of “Channel Sales Leaders”
Keith Goodwin in the category of “Channel Services Leaders”
Chuck Robbins in the category of “Channel Strategists”
John Chambers in the category of “Influential”
The awards were based on nominations from solution providers who rank executives based on a number of criteria: channel influence, effectiveness and visibility, as well as business and sales impact. CRN also factored in channel sales volume, channel investment and resources, channel advocacy and visibility, and performance in UBM Channel research projects with a panel of UBM Channel editors making the final ruling.
Thank you for voting for Cisco in these awards. We’re proud to see that a number of partners made it to the list as well and congratulate the winners.
Of course, what would an award be without an acceptance speech?
It used to be that everyone had to be at the office to work. Phone, desk, computer, email--that was it. We’ve come quite a long way since those days and I personally am thankful. Using WebEx, Jabber, video, and a phone means I can work at home in my sweats on most days. I’m sure you have your own list of reasons that may or may not include a relaxed work-at-home attire.
This week at the Collaboration Summit in Miami, collaboration took a huge leap forward. Unified Communications via Jabber can now happen via a Web plug-in, so customers can use IM, Android, click-to-call and click-to-video from Apple, BlackBerry, Windows, and even Nokia devices.
Not only does collaboration offer great benefits to your own work experience, but these tools are a great way for partners to differentiate, too, by offering a host of integrated solutions and services to customers. And with channel programs, incentives, sales and marketing resources, partners can earn even more profits on the countless ways to customize collaboration solutions.
Plus, the Jabber Software Development Kit means new collaboration-enabled applications. (More details on the Collaboration blog.)
Let’s see, what else happened this week? New versions of WebEx, partners, parties, demos, and Cius ambassadors roaming the halls. Read More »
If you have paid close attention, you’ve probably discovered that the first letter of each word put together spell the word LISTENER. Makes it easy to remember, right? It all starts and ends with listening!
LISTEN
If you don’t do anything else, just listen. If you’re new to social media, listen first, engage next. If you’ve been doing social for a while, keep listening. Always! Not just during your launch period or around your event. Listening can help you get an outside perspective on your company. It can help you gain real-time unfiltered feedback, uncover issues, pain points and new opportunities. It can also be used to gain an edge on your competition, and can even help you avoid or minimize a crisis situation. Hint:Read More »
Many Cisco partners have indicated they want to learn more about how to leverage social media to generate leads, to listen to customers, interact, and network. But you’ve also told us you aren’t sure where to start. We’re here to help!
We’ve marshaled our resources and developed an ebook, “The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media” to help Cisco partners develop a strategy, set goals, and launch a social media presence.
Take a look at our ebook, download a copy, and share the link via your social networks. Be sure to let us know in the comments if this book was helpful, if you have your own social media successes and insights to share, and which tools you’d like us to cover next time.
Keep reading to view the ebook and download your own copy. Read More »
