Year: 2013

June 21, 2013 1 Comment
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CiscoLive Preview and Enterprise Networks Weekly Overview

If you are going to Cisco Live Orlando next week, you probably have your schedule planned out.  However, I’m going to do something a little silly and urge you to attend Rob Soderbery’s Monday afternoon keynote.  This is a silly recommendation as most people are either keynote people or they aren’t.  You’ve already made up your mind on whether you go to these things.  However, we have something special planned for it that will only happen at this keynote.  And that’s actually all I can say about it.  That, and the general program listing:

Your Enterprise Network: Getting You Where You Want to Go

Is your enterprise network ready to take you where you want to go? Will it support the business applications that you are being asked to support? In this keynote, you will hear how Cisco is unifying access, building out new network services and making the network more manageable so you can meet the coming needs of your organization. We will also show you how you can support more aspects of your business using the network as a platform for the Internet of Things.
Monday, June 24, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

On to the stuff I *can* talk about…  the Weekly Overview and more after the jump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx5otGpljp4

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Lauren Friedman

Marketing Manager

Enterprise Networks

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Intelligent Communities Global Blog Series, How to Be the Most Intelligent Community in the World?

One of the questions I was asked about the awards given by the Intelligent Community Forum is what does it take to become an intelligent community.  I’ll try to summarize what I’ve learned from participating in the ICF as a keynoter, juror and (before Cisco) a leader of a Top 7 community.

Among the few hundred communities that apply in this contest, it is clear the first step is make sure the community has sufficient broadband.  Almost all of the things that intelligent communities can do for and with their residents depend upon that connectivity in one way or the other.

Second, high-speed connectivity is not enough to stand out in this global competition.  The next question is what a community does with the technology.  Is it transforming:

  • The way that residents interact with their government?
  • How residents — from pre-kindergarteners to seniors — are educated?
  • How well the physical aspects of the community are managed?
  • How residents are kept healthy and safe?
  • The local economy and the income opportunities for residents?

… Just to name some of the evidence that ICF is looking for.

Screen Shot 2013-06-21 at 12.41.16 PM

Intelligent Communities Forum Co-Founder Louis Zacharilla preparing to announce the 2013 winner. Continue reading “Intelligent Communities Global Blog Series, How to Be the Most Intelligent Community in the World?”

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Norman Jacknis

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What Do CEOs Care About in a Hyper-Connected World?

If you think we already live in a connected world (and we do!), get ready to fasten your seatbelts.

Today, there are “only” about 10 billion connected “things” on the planet. This includes hundreds of millions of people communicating with one another in myriad ways, and a rapid increase in two-way conversations between people and machines. That is, when the machines aren’t busy “chatting” with other machines.

It may sound complicated (and it is!). But the Internet of Things is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The next phase of the Internet — the Internet of Everything (IoE) — will encompass 50 billion connections involving people, process, data, and things by 2020. This will drive the next wave of dramatic Internet growth and opportunity.

Cisco estimates that the IoE economy promises a staggering $14.4 trillion in Value at Stake for private-sector companies globally over the next 10 years. This value is embedded in five drivers: asset utilization; employee productivity; supply chain and logistics; customer experience; and innovation.

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Joseph M. Bradley

Global Vice President

Digital & IoT Advanced Services

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The History and Development of the MPI standard

Today’s guest posting comes from Jesper Larsson Träff; he’s Faculty of Informatics, Institute of Information Systems in the Research Group for Parallel Computing at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).

Have you ever wondered why MPI is designed the way that it is?  The slides below are from Jesper’s talk about the History and Development of the MPI standard.  They go into detail about how certain design decisions were made, and why.  Amusingly, I’m in a picture on slide 2.  🙂

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Jeff Squyres

The MPI Guy

UCS Platform Software

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Cisco Domain Ten: Domain 10: Process and Governance – Part (a)

So, with this blog, the end of my Cisco Domain Ten(SM) journey approaches.  Starting back in December, I’ve now covered each of the ten domains in our Cisco Services’ framework for data center transformation. A few weeks back, I discussed some of the challenges you may face in Domain 9: Security and Compliance, and it’s now time to discuss Domain Ten: Process and Governance, and the overarching challenges of operations management.  This is a hugely important topic so in this case I’ve split my blog into 2 parts, with this part (a) focused on your challenges, and the subsequent part (b) aimed at outlining how we in Cisco Services can help you address these operations management challenges.

Domain Ten: Process and Governance aka Operations Management
Domain Ten: Process and Governance aka Operations Management

The Cisco Domain Ten framework applies as much to service provider data center transformation as it does to business (enterprise) data center transformation.  In my Cisco Domain Ten series, I’ve often focused on enterprise challenges, so for this blog, I’ll focus on the operational challenges I’ve observed at first hand in the service provider environment.  That said, most if not all points I raise in this article will be equally applicable to enterprise/business and public sector data center operations.

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Stephen Speirs

No Longer at Cisco

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Cisco Connected Hospitality to deliver Wi-Fi and more at HITEC

Next week in Minneapolis, our team is bringing Wi-Fi in a big way to HITEC 2013, the world’s largest hospitality technology show.  As leaders in the Wi-Fi industry, we don’t just talk about what we can do; we make it happen, especially at this year’s HITEC.

For starters, we are sponsoring the wireless network at the Minneapolis Convention Center so wireless Internet connectivity at the show is free to attendees in the pre-convention areas. Our advanced Wi-Fi technologies and free Wi-Fi access will be offered at the entrance, registration, conference rooms, the Digital Den and Hall D and E common areas of the event center. Every guest in attendance will experience the Cisco network in real-time.

Enhance your HITEC experience with the Cisco-enabled mobile app

Our team is also featuring Connected Mobile Experiences with the HITEC conference mobile app, our premier business-relevant mobile solution for the hospitality industry. With this fully-functioning mobile app, you can see for yourself how Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences allows venues to use location-based services and analytics to create unique and personal mobile experiences for attendees.

The application includes conference information and scheduling with the convenience of an indoor GPS-like way-finding system that helps attendees easily locate their sessions, exhibitor booths, and conference amenities.  Continue reading “Cisco Connected Hospitality to deliver Wi-Fi and more at HITEC”

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William Gustafson

Vertical Solutions Architect

Cisco Systems

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Citrix at CiscoLive – From Disneyland to Disneyworld

You’re probably thinking I have the best job in Silicon Valley. Last month I was running the Cisco UCS – with Citrix XenDesktop demos at Citrix Synergy in Anaheim. This week it’s time for Cisco Live 2013 at the Orlando Convention Center. So you’re right I do have an enviable job, bringing together the best of Cisco and Citrix technologies that help customers work better, with more flexibility and greater security – and also having some fun in the process.  If like me, you are fortunate enough to be attending, I am sure you are looking forward to the John Chambers’s keynote, the Super Sessions and the Cisco Party.

In addition you will have another great opportunity to check out and experience the latest innovations in our Cisco Desktop Virtualization Solutions portfolio for Citrix XenDesktop.I want to spend the next few minutes taking you through a virtual tour of the Cisco and Citrix  presents at the event. Let’s pick up action in the Cisco Unified Data Center (UDC) Booth 758.

clive2013The Desktop Virtualization demos in the Cisco UCS booth are at the center of all the action.. We have two cool demos. One of these demos features the Cisco UCS Storage Accelerator with Citrix XenDesktop, that showcases how performance intensive Citrix write-cache can be placed locally on the UCS Blade servers. You guessed it, this eliminates the need for expensive SAN storage. Come, learn and experience, how you can achieve 50% reduction in SAN costs, increased IOPS and all the jazz that comes with Cisco Storage Accelerator and Citrix XenDesktops.

Also catch my good colleague Ashok Rajagopalan presenting on “Deploy VDI with Higher Performance and Lower TCO with Cisco UCS”. Do not miss this presentation, particularly as the outline touches the architectural approach to Cisco Desktop Virtualization, Performance Optimization with Cisco UCS VM-FEX, Manageability simplification and UCS-Nvidia GPU integration, among others. Ashok has a busy schedule at the event. His breakout session BRKVIR – 2022 titled, “Transformation of server caching in Desktop Virtualization, Big Data and Database workloads” is fast filling up and I recommend you register quickly.

As a teaser , here is quick snapshot that I made at Citrix Synergy on these topics

For additional insights, check out Ashok’s Video Blog on benefits of Cisco Desktop Virtualization Solutions

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Ravi Balakrishnan

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Datacenter Solutions

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Cisco Live 2013 Preview: Internet of Everything 2023

Internet of Everything 2013

“Do you have a vision for tomorrow? Cisco does.”

Next week I’ll join Chairman and CEO John Chambers and Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior to officially kick off Cisco Live 2013 in Orlando, Florida. We’ll be sharing our vision for the new opportunities and amazing things that can happen when you connect the previously unconnected.

The Internet of the future – the Internet of Everything (IoE) – is changing how we work, live, play and learn. During our opening address, my colleagues and I will share our predictions about how the intersection of the four elements of the IoE – people, process, data and things – creates new capabilities and experiences that are more relevant and valuable than ever before.

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Dave Evans

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How Mobile Phones Are Driving Business and Social Impact

If you look around and think everyone has a mobile phone, you’re right. There are almost as many mobile subscriptions (6.8 billion) as there are people in the world (7.1 billion), according to the International Telecommunication Union.

Even in developing countries, the mobile penetration rate (the number of mobile phone numbers within a specific population) is 89 percent. Between 2011 to 2016, the number of mobile phones in Africa is expected to double from 500 million to 1 billion–nearly the entire population. But how are we all using our mobile phones?

What we’re learning is that a mobile phone can transform someone’s life, especially for underserved populations and/or those living in remote locations. They enable financial inclusion for the 1.8 billion people with access to a phone but not a bank. They provide farmers with information on market prices and weather reports, and they link micro and small entrepreneurs to markets and potential buyers. And, they provide mothers with important information to keep themselves and their children healthy. All this relevant and actionable information is getting to people who aren’t able to access this type of information via the Internet or in person.

Belinda and her child never fell sick during and after her pregnancy, thanks to messages that she received that told her about proper nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding. Photo courtesy Grameen Foundation
Belinda and her child never fell sick during and after her pregnancy, thanks to messages that she received that told her about proper nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding. Photo courtesy Grameen Foundation

But we’re also learning that organizations — large, for-profit corporations and small, nonprofit social enterprises alike — are using mobile technology to operate better and smarter. Organizations are using mobile phones to gather real-time data that help them make informed business decisions and that yield social impact.

Let me introduce you to two organizations that have developed innovative technology tools that are driving this double bottom line business and social impact.

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Charu Adesnik

Executive Director, Cisco Foundation

Director, Social Impact Investments