By Wouter Belmans and Uwe Lambrette, Directors, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group

As cloud computing matures and hype becomes reality, uptake among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises is increasing. And although the cloud is still in its infancy, the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) believes it is an appropriate time to ask: “How is the cloud value chain taking shape, and where are the battlefields I need to be concerned about?”

Cisco IBSG has found that major disruptions are taking place on six battlefields across the value chain:

1. SaaS Will Further Disrupt the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Landscape Read More »

Tags: Cisco, cloud, cloud brokers, commercial, Computing, IaaS, IBSG, infrastructure as a service, ISVs, network service providers, NSPs, paas, platform as a service, Professional Services, SaaS, service providers, software as a service, SPs, Value Chain

Co-written by Bryan Mobley, Director, IBSG Service Provider

The business world’s rise to the cloud has been dramatic and increasingly rapid. From an initial attitude of vague interest mixed with trepidation, organizations have begun to embrace the transition in a big way. Some are already realizing the expansive benefits in costs, efficiency, and innovation that come with this game-changing technology.

To keep with the pulse of cloud migration, Cisco initiated a series of roundtable discussions two years ago. The philosophy of each meeting was to bring together 10 to 20 decision makers from a variety of enterprises, midsized businesses, and government agencies. So far, we’ve held 15 of these discussions across North America. In addition to providing a unique opportunity to share our thought leadership, these sessions provide an ideal forum for hearing our customers’ thoughts on cloud: the benefits, the inhibitors, and even a few war stories. In the end, however, it is the advantages of cloud that spark the most contagious conversations.

Here are some of the key trends that have emerged from two years of discussions:

Read More »

Tags: Cisco, cloud, Computing, enterprises, IBSG, infrastructure, migration, private cloud, Public Cloud, SaaS, Service Provider, services, SMBs, software as a service, vdi, virtual desktop, WebEX

CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the third blog in a four-part series (Read Part I) (Read Part II) exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.

Back in 2006, Gartner Research predicted that no company would be able to build or sustain a competitive advantage over the next few years unless it capitalized on the combined power of individualized workers and social dynamics. The “Future Worker of 2015,” Gartner said, would collaborate more, work alone less in order to be successful. Read More »

Tags: Borderless Networks, Carrie Krinock, CIO, Cisco, cloud, collaboration, customer experience, Europe, Executive ViewPoints, innovation, Manufacturing, new business models, new revenue streams, operational excellence, Robbert Kuppens, SaaS, UK, WebEX

Last week at the Cloud Connect 2012 conference in Santa Clara, I was sharing a panel with industry colleagues representing the most prominent vendors in the application optimization, cloud infrastructure and network acceleration space . The topic was “hitching your wagon to the cloud”, discussing the importance of the network, particularly WAN, to make your cloud deployments successful. Folks talked about interesting concepts like “stateless branch office”, and “nirvana of Internet as WAN” before someone in the audience retorted, “I need solutions that help me deal with reality!” Read More »

Tags: ASR1000, branch, cloud, hybrid WAN, ISRG2, SaaS, WAN, WAN Optimization

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are leading the way to cloud services. In fact, SMBs represent two-thirds of the public cloud market, outpacing the growth of enterprise cloud adoption by about 10 points, according to a recent McKinsey report (“Outlook—Overcast and Bright: How the Cloud Is Transforming IT for SMEs,” McKinsey & Company, July 2011). Yet, many service providers (SPs) are wondering whether the rate of SMB cloud adoption makes it worthwhile to invest in cloud and managed services for SMBs. They are asking:

• Is now the time to invest in SMB-focused services?
• What do SMB customers want?
• How do SMBs want to consume cloud services?

SMB Cloud Watch is ongoing research from the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) designed to answer these questions. Here are some highlights of our most recent findings: Read More »

Tags: Cisco, cloud, Cloud Computing, cloud services, IaaS, IBSG, infrastructure as a service, managed services, research, SaaS, Service Provider, small and medium-sized businesses, small medium business, SMB Cloud Watch, SMBs, software as a service, SP