Cost always plays a big part in purchase decisions. It’s certainly a factor as I consider buying a new car. As you’re well aware, purchasing a new car isn’t just about the initial cost. In my case, I’m considering reliability, speed (not that I need to go that fast carpooling my kids to school), mileage, and looks to a certain extent. (I just can’t bring myself to drive a minivan.) But what does buying a car have to do with your customers, or IT spending for that matter?
To put it simply, customers often cite initial cost as a big factor in their network decision-making, too. But if they are looking only at CapEx when purchasing new equipment, it’s the same thing as only looking at the initial cost of a car: They’re not seeing the entire picture.
Total cost of ownership, or TCO, is a better metric to assess network cost, because it considers the full impact on IT spend, including CapEx, services, labor, bandwidth, and energy consumption. And TCO is not just a measure of the initial expense, but of how much equipment will cost over its lifetime.
In June 2011, Cisco commissioned a third-party business consulting firm to analyze the true TCO of the network, comparing the quantitative costs of acquisition, support, labor, bandwidth, energy, and product longevity. The firm also assessed qualitative business benefits like network uptime, user productivity, and security.
The quantitative results alone show that a network built on Cisco’s architectural approach can yield up to a 13% better TCO, building a powerful business case for you to take to your customers about why the choice of networking gear matters.
Here are some facts drawn from the findings, which support Cisco’s firm belief that a strategic next-generation Cisco network architecture delivers superior value and lower TCO: Read More »
The demise of Apple’s Steve Jobs is a big loss to the tech industry. He was instrumental in changing the way we consume digital media and communicate. With the unveiling of the iPhone 4s, this week, I wonder if it would change my life any further than cell phones and mobile devices already have. Gone are the days when I called friends ahead of time to get directions to their house. Heck, I don’t even bother reconfirming directions to places I vaguely remember. All because I can count on my cell phone to call the friend in case I get lost (happened to me last week).
Will cell phones and other mobile devices change the way I work more than they already have? Will they change how data centers are managed? If the recent spate of news is any indication I think the answer is yes! What do you think?
According to a recent paper on biomedical-engineering-online.com titled How smartphones are changing the face of mobile and participatory healthcare, “Indeed, Georgetown Medical School in the USA, for example, is now requiring every medical student to have an iPhone, and surgeons are finding the device (and its apps) very useful in improving their diagnostic skills and education .” Closer to home, I found some iPhone applications written specifically for the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS). One iPhone application , SiMU, monitors the UCS. A second application allows users to find the technical specification of UCS components. Another UCS Systems Management ecosystem partner, Cloupia even has an iPad app to manage the FlexPod -- an integrated server and storage data center offering that includes Cisco UCS.
Remote management is not new, but these mobile devices provide new ways to handle data center management. Clearly these apps are a starting point of changes yet to come in the way we monitor and manage data centers. I would expect the number and variety of applications to only grow, and at times radically change the way we work. Do you agree?
Service providers are recognizing the power of Cisco’s cloud solutions to deliver best-in-class services to their customers. Based in Chile, Entel has worked to integrate the power of data center computing with the intelligence of the network in a Unified Service Delivery approach. The combination of network and compute sets Entel apart as a leading provider in Chile.
Lot of people, lot of activities, lot of parties , lot of data, lot of announcements and lot of clouds ! - That’s Oracle OpenWorld 2011 here in San Francisco ! We have been pretty busy today , with a great flow of visitors on our booth (#721) and a series of well attended theater presentations and speaking sessions.
Today , Amy [ who predicted last week the "chance of clouds " ] and I (no I don’t sing ), met Intel General manager for Critical Servers , Pauline Nist, (@panist ) for a short interview on camera .
Yes again a blog about the great partnership with Intel ( Please Intel Sandhya Gorman interview in part I )!
I personally really like the lively comments of Pauline -- Check out!
So two suggestions for your Tuesday schedule at Oracle OpenWorld
No matter which hemisphere you’re in, the season is beginning to change and the new season reminds me of a few changes and constants. Here in the San Francisco Bay area, the weather will soon be getting colder, the trees on the local hills will turn their leaves a different color, and traffic congestion picks up as local workers return from their vacations. But these changes are not out of the ordinary and we’re used to dealing with them. A little preparation, knowledge, and flexibility–whether dressing appropriately, admiring the beautiful seasonal transitions, and shifting a commute schedule–keep us going and happy.
Likewise, major changes in the cloud and data center are upon us, but we’ve seen transitions like this before in IT. Proper training, strong partnering, and accepting that progress is inevitable will position you for success on the pathway to Cloud delivery.
An example of one of our customers moving to the Cloud is Entel. Based in Chile, Entel has worked to integrate the power of data center computing with the intelligence of the network in a Unified Service Delivery approach. Here is a short video our global team put together with Entel.
It’s exciting to see customers using Cisco UCS servers and Nexus data center switching to deliver cloud services flexibly, at scale, and with a pay-per-use model and meeting with good success. In its portfolio of services, Entel can offer virtualization as well as Cloud services to their customers based upon specific needs. By combining the network and compute, Entel has what could be considered the most advanced data center in Chile. Their ability to offer any service with high availability quickly to the market puts them in a spot of opportunity and if that sounds good to you, please leave a comment on this blog.
