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Ali Amagasu

Marketing Communications Manager

Ali Amagasu is not a software developer. Or system administrator. She's an enthusiastic marketer who knows just enough about technology to help the other less-technical citizens of the business world understand the value and implications of emerging products and solutions in the cloud and networking arenas.

Before coming to Cisco she worked in marketing communications for a number of Silicon Valley's largest and most successful companies, and served as a one-woman marketing department for a single, very special startup.

All of her opinions should be taken with an enormous wedge of salt.

Articles

April 18, 2016

CLOUD

Hybrid devops? Containerized microservices? What?

2 min read

I’m so glad I’m not a programmer. I mean, the money would be great, the constant job offers would be nice, and I suppose the freedom to show up to work wearing anything you want would be a bonus, but the actual programming? Ick. It seems awfully tedious. I can’t imagine the patience it would […]

April 8, 2016

CLOUD

Ready to go Cloud Native?

1 min read

Sure, your first concern when you embrace the whole notion of private cloud is how you’re going to port your legacy apps into your new environment. But what then? Your team can’t just keep developing applications the way they always have and then moving them over. They need to take that next step and build […]

March 24, 2016

CLOUD

Batteries Included

1 min read

If you’ve spent any time on Cisco Cloud blogs at all, you’ve heard about Metapod. It’s our production-ready, OpenStack-based, on-premises private cloud solution. We engineer it, deploy it, and remotely operate it 24×7 on your behalf. It’s the perfect solution for companies that enjoy the public cloud experience, but need the security and performance advantages […]

March 15, 2016

CLOUD

The Votes Have Been Counted!

1 min read

And it looks like the Foundation has used that input to assemble a Summit schedule jam-packed with relevant and interesting presentations about OpenStack. There will be a lot of NFV material this time around, a lot of SDN, and yes–we’ll all still be talking about containers. If you’d like to hear from Cisco speakers at the event, you’ve […]

February 10, 2016

CLOUD

OpenStack Summit – Vote Now Speaking Sessions and Topics

3 min read

You know the drill. It’s one of the great things about the OpenStack Summit. Unlike most other conferences, where organizers single-handedly set the agenda based on what they think you want to hear, the OpenStack Summit agenda is based on what you actually want to hear. Curious about containers? Intrigued by NFV? Wondering what’s next […]

February 9, 2016

OPEN AT CISCO

YOU Decide Who Speaks in Austin

3 min read

You know the drill. It’s one of the great things about the OpenStack Summit. Unlike most other conferences, where organizers single-handedly set the agenda based on what they think you want to hear, the OpenStack Summit agenda is based on what you actually want to hear. Curious about containers? Intrigued by NFV? Wondering what’s next […]

October 14, 2015

CLOUD

Take a Stand on Private Cloud

1 min read

The cloud has become inescapable. Email about it clutters your IN box, headlines about it adorn your magazines, colleagues chatter about its merits in the hallways, and meeting after meeting is held to determine just what—if anything—should be done about it at your company. Should you be using public cloud? Building a private one? Going […]

September 3, 2015

CLOUD

Catch These Cisco Speakers at OpenStack Summit Tokyo!

1 min read

OpenStack Summit Tokyo is just eight weeks away now, and we’re happy to say that event organizers have chosen about a dozen of Cisco’s OpenStack pros to speak at different breakout sessions during the event. And believe it or not, these sessions are not all about networking. Oh sure, I can see how you’d think that. It is our thing after […]

July 9, 2015

CLOUD

Behind the cloud: Interview with Cisco engineer John Schofield

4 min read

Cisco OpenStack Private Cloud delivers a true public cloud experience in a private cloud environment—on your premises, behind your firewall. We handle the engineering, setup, and ongoing operations, so you can focus on building and running your applications. It’s a core component of Cisco’s growing cloud portfolio. Today we meet with one of the real people […]

July 2, 2015

CLOUD

Cisco OpenStack Private Cloud – June Update!

2 min read

What if car ownership was like being a Cisco OpenStack Private Cloud customer? You’d do your research and buy the car that was right for you. You’d drive it and love it because it was reliable and functional and had all the safety features you were looking for. But then one day you’d walk out to the garage, and BAM–you’d find […]

May 21, 2015

CLOUD

Three Things I Learned at the OpenStack Summit – Day 3

4 min read

Want to liven up a boring conversation? Bring up OpenStack appliances. That will get people talking. In an enthusiastic manner. With vigorously-defended opinions. The appliances talk was by far the most interesting one I went to all day. And you’d think that with the panel consisting entirely of people whose companies offer or are planning […]

May 20, 2015

CLOUD

Three Things I Learned at the OpenStack Summit – Day Two

3 min read

Your love of OpenStack is not enough. You’ve had your “Aha moment.” You get the OpenStack value proposition. You’ve listened to other customers talk about their success with it. You can see the problems it’s going to solve for your organization. You are all in. But it’s not enough. Just know that. Even if you’re […]

May 19, 2015

CLOUD

Three Things I Learned on Day 1 of the OpenStack Summit

3 min read

Defcore is Totally Vanilla and it’s about to get REAL Defcore is indeed Vanilla OpenStack. That is what panel participants conceded when asked about it in the Defcore session I attended yesterday. They don’t necessarily love the characterization (apparently they’re asked it on a regular basis), but bottom line: that’s what it is. It’s a […]

May 5, 2015

CLOUD

A Kilo of Cisco Contributions

3 min read

“Voices of Cisco” is a short-term blog series that will feature insight from Cisco OpenStack experts in the lead-up to the OpenStack Summit in Vancouver. The intent is to shine light on our involvement in the project, explain some of the newest features that are coming out, and explain how our own products are engineered […]

March 26, 2015

CLOUD

The results are in! OpenStack Summit Speaker Update

2 min read

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read through the OpenStack Summit speaker submissions and cast votes for their favorites. The Foundation notified the selected speakers this week, and I’m happy to say that the Cisco team fared quite well. We will be represented in 25 presentations (as of Monday, 3/23*), including the […]

February 18, 2015

OPEN AT CISCO

OpenStack Summit Vancouver: Cast Your Votes Today!

3 min read

The OpenStack Summit is happening from May 18-22nd in Vancouver, with sessions submitted and chosen for the community, by the community! What interests you when it comes to OpenStack? Do you need a deep dive in a particular project? Are you wondering if the economics make sense? Are you trying to figure out how to […]