Avatar

Those thinking of some winter experiences may find Amsterdam in February to be the ideal trip to scratch that itch. Offering all of the city’s best attractions without the peak summertime crowds, February serves as a fantastic time to experience the Dutch capital at its most genuine. Just be prepared with adequate winter clothing.

In just a week or so, Cisco Live EMEA 2023 will be ready to sizzle at the RAI Amsterdam. From a Cisco Cloud Networking standpoint, Cisco Nexus Dashboard, Cisco Nexus Cloud, and Nexus 9000 Series switches are showing up in a big way.

Read on to learn what you can expect and experience at this buzzing event, and a tour of how Cisco Data Center and Cloud Networking is ready to engage and enrich you.

 

 

1. Can’t-miss keynotes

At the outset, I would recommend that you attend all keynotes to understand Cisco’s strategy for building an inclusive future together during this new era of hybrid work. Keynotes and Innovation showcases provide insight and strategic direction. With compelling innovation, the power of IT, and a focus on meaningful impact in our communities, businesses can drive change and leave a lasting impact for generations to come. At Cisco, we are All IN on creating an inclusive future for all. Join us for a dynamic, opening keynote session KEYGEN-1001 on Feb 7 at 10 AM CET, featuring several of Cisco’s Executive leaders, to learn how Cisco’s latest innovations can help you now and in the future.

Innovation Talks highlight new innovations and best practices on solutions and services. I strongly recommend innovation session INTENT-1589, featuring Cisco Execs Rebecca Stone and Omri Guelfand on the topic, “Simplifying Network Experiences, Transform the Way You Work” on Wednesday Feb 7, 12 PM CET, to learn how Cisco delivers best of breed technologies with powerful platforms that are more automated, more intelligent, more secure, more flexible and more sustainable.

We also have innovation sessions featuring Security, IoT, Enterprise Networking and many other hot topics. Make sure to check them out.

2. Take a DevNet deep dive

Get hands on with Cisco Data Center and Cloud Networking at this year’s Cisco DevNet Zone. We’re hosting multiple sessions, workshops, demos and learning labs featuring ACI, Infrastructure as Code, NX-OS, and Nexus Dashboard. Cisco DevNet Zone is a beehive of excitement at all Cisco Live events and many attendees find it very compelling given its appeal to everyone from beginners to API experts. Over the years, our DevNet community has grown to 500,000+ members and offers software certifications starting with this edition of Cisco Live. DevNet certifications are designed for both network engineers and software developers and provides Associate, Specialist, Professional and Expert level paths to specialize.

The top draw in the DevNet zone is the special Cloud Networking Takeover Session (DEVNET-1687) on Tuesday, Feb 7, 3 PM local time. Cisco Execs Thomas Scheibe and Yousuf Khan will introduce an open API approach with Cloud Networking. Its broad presence in Cisco DevNet offers customers a fast-track to learn, test and deploy data center technologies across diverse use-cases and as a pre-integrated solution jointly with our technology ecosystem partners. As a new practice this year, pre-registered attendees are seated first, so register early to get a closer view.

In this session you will learn how Cisco is tackling the IT challenge of managing hyper-distributed workloads with illustrations on the new capabilities designed to bring simplicity to network operations, changing the way customers configure, operate, and analyze cloud networking. During the Takeover session, we will also feature a “Raffle quiz” fun event where you get to answer tech questions and get a chance at winning very attractive prizes. We also have a Demo Pod in DevNet zone where Cisco’s latest Cloud Networking innovations will be featured during the entire course of the Cisco Live event. A full hour of giveaways, happy hour and fun awaits you. Be sure to reserve this session slot in your calendar for Wednesday.

3. Get hands-on at the World of Solutions (WOS)

The World of Solutions is your opportunity to explore the broader Cisco Partner Ecosystem, find answers to your specific networking challenges, and hear the unique perspective of Cisco engineers and partners. Get into the center of the Cisco Live action! Here’s what you’ll find in the World of Solutions: Join us for our welcome reception on Tuesday Feb 7, at 6 PM, and connect with fellow attendees and Cisco partners to help us celebrate the opening day of the World of Solutions with music, food, and drinks. We hope to see you there!

The World of Solutions (WOS) enables you to immerse yourself in the Cisco Showcase where hybrid work takes center stage through more than 150+ demos. Our goal is to let you discover the latest Cisco software solutions that provide the visibility and management that IT managers need to transform business. Dive deeper and learn even more about specific products, industry solutions, services, and hardware. Explore the Cisco Show Case for demo specifics.

We have stacked a rich technology demo solutions menu featuring Full-Stack Observability, Hybrid Cloud, IoT, Cloud Networking, Software Services, Security, among major ones. Specifically, on the Cloud Networking front, we have demos on “automating and simplifying hybrid clouds” theme (featuring ACI, Nexus Dashboard, Nexus Cloud, and Infrastructure-as-Code). In addition, hardware pedestals will display our Nexus portfolio evolution and latest Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches. The list of Data Center Networking demos is vast and the best way for you to experience them all is to stop by at our demo booths in WOS.

 

 

4. Choose your own adventure with breakout sessions

To your heart’s delight is how I will describe Cisco technical breakout sessions. Yes, we have several 100’s of breakouts from industry recognized experts at the show. Cisco ACI, Nexus Dashboard, Nexus Cloud and other Cloud Networking breakouts feature prominently with 50+ sessions.

With the growing emphasis on DevOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), automation toolchains like Terraform and Ansible, we offer more sessions this year, and mark DevNet Czar Quinn Snyder’s IaC focused sessions DEVWKS-1235, DEVLIT-2785 on your calendar. Visit the sessions catalog to choose from a variety of topics on Cloud Networking.

 

5. Connect with your peers

As a Cisco Live attendee, you benefit from the opportunity to interact with your peers, Cisco staff and partner technical experts in both structured and informal settings. Our Welcome Reception and Customer Appreciation Event are the highlights of the week’s social calendar. Get ready to be entertained Wednesday evening at our annual celebration event!

Read more on the Social Events & Networking Onsite section. Tuesday’s welcome reception at the World of Solutions, and Thursday’s customer appreciation event are the highlights. To celebrate the return to live events, we are pleased to welcome back the RPJ Band as our headline act. Jennifer Cooke a DJ/ Singer/Songwriter/Producer from Amsterdam will be opening the event and closing for those that want to continue to party!

I can go on and on, but I would never be able to cover all the excitement in store. There is so much more you can explore on your own, and our Meet and Greet ambassadors will be happy to assist you at the show. As for me, if time permits, I plan to visit some of Amsterdam’s iconic locations. Safe travels and a happy Cisco Live.

Cisco Live EMEA 2023

 



Authors

Ravi Balakrishnan

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Datacenter Solutions