From the IT Executive Symposium at Cisco Live 2012

When you strip away all the hype and emotion around the word “innovation,” you end up with a simple but powerful concept: Innovation is about doing something new that creates value. Innovation isn’t just important—it’s critical to a company’s growth and success.

In his keynote at Cisco Live 2012, Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers discussed the importance of being able to capitalize upon market transitions. This requires both innovation (the ability to adapt) and agility (the ability to change quickly, to be flexible). One of the most interesting comments I heard was in the IT Executive Symposium, where several discussions focused on dealing with today’s economic uncertainties. The point was made that innovation most often occurs when we find ourselves deeply challenged. As Jeff DeGraff, professor of business management at the University of Michigan stated, “That is when the risk-reward model is inverted.” Read More »

Tags: Cisco, Cisco Live 2012, environment for innovation, IBSG, innovate, innovation, IT Executive Sympsium, ITES, market disruptions, rick hutley

Collaboration is both more important and more difficult for businesses than in the past. The reasons? The pace of business has accelerated. We’re working more globally. And we’re increasingly mobile, says Rick Hutley, vice president for the Global Innovations Practice in Cisco’s global consultancy, the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG).

During a live discussion with Talk2Cisco viewers last week, Hutley answered questions about the sorts of returns your business might realize and what Cisco has seen, the role of cloud computing in successful collaboration and how to effectively use social media as part of your collaboration toolkit.

In case you missed the show, we’ve summed up some of the highlights below. You can view the whole show here.

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Tags: collaboration, IBSG, rick hutley, ROI, roi of collaboration, talk2cisco