Rex Backman

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Note:  Cisco’s Mohammed Ahmed of the Cisco IBM Alliance team was the key contributor for this blog post In the IT industry we understand that customer confidence and respect is a leading reason that customers choose IBM and Cisco solutions and  services. Cisco and IBM have earned this trust over the years by each having deep […]

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  We made it…another successful Strata-Hadoop World show for Cisco’s Big Data & Analytics team. This year we had a few unique challenges – the Pope was leaving town when we arrived; then the UN General Assembly made traffic a bit more difficult than normal; finally towards week’s end the threat of ‘The Hurricane’ for […]

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Like many of us I am in the wonderful city of Chicago on a warm sunny day preparing Cisco’s presence for Microsoft Ignite 2015. Starting Monday in booth #122 at McCormick Place we’ll be showcasing our leading solutions for the Microsoft stack.  Stop by if you are here! Our Ignite focus will be on our […]

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From the beginning Microsoft has been a strategic partner with Cisco in the development of our Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) technologies and solutions. In fact Cisco...

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Have a bit of free time this Wednesday morning? If so please feel free to sit in on a Cisco keynote delivered by Mark Balch, Director of Cisco UCS Product...

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A Guest Blog by Partner Rick Heiges of Scalability Experts: Rick is a SQL Server Microsoft MVP and Senior Solutions Architect.  He primarily works with Enterprise customers on their Data Platform strategies. Rick is also very involved in the SQL Server Community primarily through PASS and events such as the PASS Summit, SQL Saturdays, and 24 […]

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A Guest Blog by Cisco’s Frank Cicalese:  Frank is a Technical Solutions Architect with Cisco, assisting customers with their design of SQL Server solutions on Cisco Unified Compute System. Before joining Cisco, Frank worked at Microsoft Corporation for 10 years, excelling in several positions, including as Database TSP. Frank has in-depth technical knowledge and proficiency […]

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The world of data is changing. Businesses face growth in the volume of information and the types of data they encounter. There are new landscapes of vast and dynamic information that must be processed, managed and analyzed to achieve business insight. It is no surprise, therefore, that legacy infrastructures are failing to meet I.T.’s expectations. […]

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If it’s mid-July then it is time once again for Microsoft’s annual worldwide partner conference – WPC. For 2014, we find Cisco’s Microsoft team in Washington D.C. joining around ~16,000 other Microsoft partners. The partners come from all around the world and are of all partner types be they VARs, local System Integrators, Global System […]

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This month the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), a Boston area based analyst firm, published a white paper commissioned by Cisco and Microsoft on the topic of the private cloud. In it ESG covers the best-of-breed technologies and solutions that Cisco and Microsoft bring to market together for Windows Server 2012 R2 / Hyper-V based private […]

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This week Microsoft launched SQL Server 2014, their data management and business intelligence platform. SQL Server at Microsoft has grown tremendously over the years; it is far from its origins as a simple relational database that Microsoft licensed from Sybase years ago. For the 2014 version of SQL Server, Microsoft has focused on continuing their […]

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      Business intelligence begets better, more informed decision making—and, ultimately, success. But how do you get effective business intelligence? It starts with your tools and infrastructure… With the proliferation of database and virtualization sprawl and the growing requirement for business insight that has increased I/O performance demand and complexity in the datacenter, enterprises […]

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Windows Server 2012 R2 is central to Microsoft’s Cloud OS vision; the operating system platform delivers enhancements and new features in virtualization, management, storage, networking, and more.  Our Cisco server infrastructure solutions (UCS) as well as our management (UCS Director, UCS Manager, Cisco Intercloud) and network capabilities are purpose built for supporting Microsoft’s virtualization and […]

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Cisco continues to work closely on technologies and solutions around the UCS compute family so we can bring maximum value to you and your Microsoft oriented datacenters. The UCS family is well suited for Windows Server, Hyper-V and VMware based private clouds, and support for the key workloads of SQL Server, Exchange, and SharePoint. Recently […]

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Speed is one thing that Cisco UCS and the NHL’s Minnesota Wild franchise share in common. If you have ever been to a professional hockey game you recognized and probably came to appreciate the speed, skill, and nimbleness of the players out on the ice. For Cisco UCS, speed is an attribute inherent in what […]

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The Microsoft ecosystem continues to be an important area of focus with our Cisco Datacenter product...

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We’re just a week away from Microsoft’s annual partner soiree – Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 (WPC) – where ~16,000 channel partners from around the world will converge in Houston to learn about all things Windows Server, SQL Server, Surface, Office 365, System Center, and much more…  Why Cisco @ WPC 2013? Cisco is at WPC […]

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Like many of you I have spent the past week or so getting caught up with work and office goings on after a very successful and informative Microsoft Tech Ed North America 2013 event in New Orleans. At Cisco, our Microsoft team is already ramped up for next week’s Microsoft Tech Ed Europe event and […]

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Are you using or evaluating Windows Server 2012 and Microsoft System Center 2012 to deliver higher performance and scale for your workloads? If so, then take advantage of an upcoming joint Cisco / Microsoft webinar to learn how the Cisco Nexus 1000V can simplify your Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V environments through a non-disruptive operational model, […]

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This afternoon here in New Orleans at Microsoft’s Tech Ed 2013 North America event Cisco was honored with two Best of Tech Ed (BoTE) awards for our innovation and technology. Our Nexus 1000V switch for Microsoft Hyper-V was awarded with a Best of Tech Ed award in the ‘Virtualization’ category. Our FlexPod with Microsoft Private […]

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Next week in New Orleans Microsoft’s trade show season kicks off in earnest with Microsoft Tech Ed North America which will be followed a few weeks later with Microsoft Tech Ed Europe 2013.  Cisco will be a gold sponsor at each event showcasing our datacenter assets. Cisco continues to double-down on investments for Microsoft oriented […]

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We’re at the final day of Microsoft’s Management Summit 2013 (MMS 2013) here in Las Vegas. We’ve handed out ~1,500 t-shirts; performed hundreds of demos on our technologies Nexus 1000V, UCS Manager, VM-FEX, and Cisco PowerTool; evangelized our Microsoft Cloud OS solutions FlexPod and VSPEX; and generally interacted with most of the 5,000+ attendees here. […]

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It’s late Sunday night in Las Vegas as I write this from my hotel room – Cisco’s day one MMS 2013 blog post. It has been a long day already here at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center getting set up for the show… Our Cisco booth is complete; UCS, Nexus 1000V, FlexPod, and VSPEX Engineers […]

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We’ve been doing quite a bit of work recently with our strategic partners Intel, NetApp, and Microsoft on Microsoft oriented private cloud solutions. Specifically we’ve been focusing on new innovation going into our joint FlexPod with Microsoft Private Cloud reference architecture. A great way to learn about these joint development activities is to join in on an […]

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Note: This guest blog is from our partner EMC. In it Chad Dunn, Director of VSPEX Business Operations, comments on VSPEX as an infrastructure solution for Microsoft oriented I.T. environments.  Rex.  Cisco and EMC Buddy-Up on VSPEX for Microsoft Private Cloud At EMC we’re always keen on working with fellow industry-leaders to deliver solutions that accelerate […]

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Note: This guest blog is from our partner NetApp.  VDI Reference Architect Rob Briggs introduces ExpressPod for the Microsoft private cloud as well as comments on FlexPod successes. Rex.  FlexPod, ExpressPod, and Windows Server 2012 RDS – “It’s in the Box!” I’ve seen a lot of great discussion and buzz this week at the Microsoft […]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpuolfWKoXQ We’re doing quite a bit actually…if you’re headed to the Microsoft Management Summit 2013 show in Las Vegas in a few weeks, stop by our booth, grab a t-shirt, and see us demo our UCS Manager and Nexus 1000V capabilities and more… Cisco’s technology investments for Windows Server 2012 & System Center 2012 center […]