What a difference nine months can make!

Last April, Rob Lloyd walked on stage at PS14 and announced our Intercloud strategy. Fast-forward to Cisco Live! last week, where Gee Rittenhouse and Faiyaz Shahpurwala were on the main stage talking with customers and partners about how they’re already bringing Intercloud to life. Cloud was one of the hottest topics this year. No wonder – in a relatively short time, we have become a force to be reckoned with in the world of cloud.

It was exciting to see the Cloud, Software, and Managed Services engine step up a gear at Cisco Live!. Keynotes, demonstrations, booths, and breakout sessions were all about cloud as an enabler for capturing the Internet of Everything (IoE) opportunity. We need to build on that momentum, because the transition is happening now, and it’s happening fast!

There’s a real ‘start-up’ energy to this proactive disruption we’re driving. Accenture is only one of the many industry “big hitters” amongst the 45 partners that have joined us. Together, we will make Intercloud do for the cloud what the Internet did for all those disconnected, proprietary networks back in the ‘80s.

Are you wondering if we have the credibility to lead the charge? Let me tell you … yes, we do! Read More »

Tags: cisco openstack private cloud, cloud software and manged services, Hybrid Cloud, InterCloud, Internet of Everything

Security is a primary concern for many organizations making the transition to cloud.  In the blog, “Taking a Hybrid Cloud Approach to Security”, cloud provider Presidio shares how building a hybrid cloud enables you to maximize security while maximizing flexibility at the same time.

Security in this instance can be thought of in terms of risk.  For example, sensitive data and mission-critical applications need a higher level of security than a devops test environment.  The challenge for organizations is to accurately assess their risk and align their security strategy with their business objectives.  Threats can come from outside – and inside – an organization.  The best response to threats goes beyond just the technology underlying your data center and that of your cloud provider.

The truth is, your organization is unique.  This means your security strategy is going to be unique as well.  The foundation of a solid, comprehensive strategy is, of course, an enterprise-class architecture with end-to-end security.  To be complete, however, security policies must be in place which meet the specific security needs of your organization and regulations of your industry.

The architecture must also be supported by procedures that enable the members of your organization to easily comply with these security policies.  These procedures must be effective while at the same time not getting in way of the workflows or corporate culture already in place.

Developing – and successfully implementing – such a security strategy can be extremely complex.  For organizations new to cloud, especially hybrid clouds, understanding the nuances of comprehensive security may be outside their expertise.  This is why an experienced cloud provider is crucial to any secure hybrid cloud deployment.  One size does not fit all, nor are all clouds created equal.  The right cloud provider can be a powerful partner in maximizing your ability to benefit from a hybrid cloud.

How can you find the right partner?  Ask how much they can do for you.  Not just what they offer every customer.  What can they bring to the table in terms of experience with your industry?  Can they help assess your requirements and risks?  Do they offer security beyond the commodity-based cloud offerings so common in the market?

A hybrid approach to cloud has much to offer organizations of all sizes.  And when deployed with the right partners, you can have confidence in the security of your data and applications.

Learn more about how Hybrid Cloud and Cisco Powered cloud and managed services can transform your business.

Tags: Cisco Powered, Hybrid Cloud, partners, security, xander Uyleman

Forrester research indicates that private cloud has entered into the formal IT portfolio by becoming a core part of data center strategy.   I have been writing about the sea change underway in private cloud.  This sea change means that automating the provisioning of virtual machines and their infrastructure is inadequate in a world where your users  expect continuous delivery.

Application developers want to accelerate application stack design and deployment.  Your customers expect to consume applications and their supporting infrastructures on-demand and take delivery within minutes.

Doubt this fact?  I consistently hear from senior executives about the growth of shadow IT within their organizations simply because the data center cannot meet delivery expectations.

At CiscoLive Milan today, the Cisco ONE Enterprise Cloud Suite was introduced.  I can hear your response now…..What another cloud management platform? So I will respond:  no way!

Many of today’s solutions are simple toolkits that require IT administrators to customize and maintain integrations between tools, processes, applications and teams.  IT needs to become software and infrastructure engineers.  End users have expectations of simplicity and out-of-box operation and these tools simply frustrate meeting end users expectations.

Cisco ONE Enterprise Cloud Suite is an engineered software solution not a platform. It delivers a hybrid-ready private cloud software solution that contains out-of-box installation and content.  There are out-of-box utensils designed specifically to accelerate the design and deployment of your existing and cloud-first applications – across private and hybrid environments.  Learn more by watching this video.

Read More »

Tags: application developers, application templates, Cisco, Cisco Enterprise Cloud Suite, Cisco ONE, Cloud Management, HP Helion, Hybrid Cloud, InterCloud, marketplace, paas, private cloud, vcac, VMware, vRealize Suite

Moving to cloud offers many benefits to organizations.  However, these benefits come with a corresponding range of new challenges for IT to address.  One of these challenges is what is known as “Shadow IT.”  Shadow IT refers to activities of members within an organization to secure their own IT resources without going through a company’s IT department.

There are many compelling reasons why organizations consider Shadow IT an important issue:

Security: IT resources outside the management of a company’s IT department are also outside of their control and policy management.  Many cloud providers offer only marginal security with their baseline service; to get better security requires an upsell and higher cost.  This means that sensitive company data and digital assets may be exposed without a company’s knowledge.  As a result, a company may be at risk in many ways, either through potential loss of customer data or failure to comply with industry standards and requirements.

Cost: When cloud services are purchased individually, they cost more.  A large organization can consolidate cloud resources needs across all of its departments to achieve volume-pricing discounts.

Efficiency: A group that purchases its own cloud resources may underutilize them.  When clouds resources are managed by IT, unutilized resources can be shared with other departments.  Such a strategy increases the efficient usage of cloud resources.  In addition, fewer resources are required across the company, resulting in lower cost as well.

Unified Management: When cloud resources can be centrally managed, their management can be consistent and unified across the company.  This enables IT to ensure that cloud resources are properly protected as well as simplifies tracking allocation and usage of resources.

There is a high value in eliminating Shadow IT.  However, it is clear that relying upon policies that prohibit Shadow IT activities is not enough to solve the problem.  In the blog, “Overcome Your Shadow IT Struggles”, cloud provider Presidio discusses the reasons why Shadow IT exists.  The blog also describes how you can provide compelling reasons for members of your organization to go through IT and use internal resources.

Another important facet of eliminating Shadow IT is selecting the right cloud services and provider.  It does little good to consolidate cloud access if the services IT brokers to the organization don’t provide enterprise-class security, performance, and flexibility as a baseline.

Learn more about how Hybrid Cloud and Cisco Powered cloud and managed services can transform your business.

Tags: cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Shadow IT, xander Uyleman

By Kevin Bloch, Cisco Chief Technology Officer, Australia and New Zealand

One of the best parts about my job is that I get to spend a lot of time listening to some very smart people, both internally within Cisco and externally. As we touch so many parts of the global technology industry and market, it puts me in a fantastic position to see what’s coming down the track. So, each year around this time, I take the opportunity to offer some predictions for the year ahead (which, incidentally, is Cisco’s 30th birthday).

It will probably come as no surprise that the biggest theme you’ll hear about this year is digital transformation, which is essentially underpinned by the Internet of Everything (IoE). In the next twelve months, enterprises will spend more than $40 billion globally, designing, implementing and operating the Internet of Things (IoT). Already thirty-eight percent of technology spend is outside of IT.

Read the full Top 10 ICT Trends in 2015 blog and feel free to provide any feedback.

Tags: cloud, Hybrid Cloud, IoE, IoT, mobile, NFV, SDN, security, software, video, wifi