Cisco Intends to Acquire Acacia Communications

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Acacia Communications (NASDAQ: ACIA) today announced they've joined right into a definitive agreement to which Cisco has decided to acquire Acacia. A current Cisco supplier, Acacia designs and manufactures high-speed, optical interconnect technologies that permit webscale companies, providers, and knowledge center operators to satisfy the short-growing consumer calls for data.

Underneath the the agreement, Cisco has decided to acquire Acacia for $70.00 per be part of cash, or roughly $2.6 billion on the fully diluted basis, internet of money and marketable securities. As Cisco and Acacia get together, Cisco intends to support Acacia’s existing customers and new clients that are looking industry-leading coherent optics, digital signal processing / photonic integrated circuit modules, and transceivers to be used in networking products and knowledge centers.

“By innovating across software, plastic and optics, Cisco is reinventing every domain from the network with this intent-based architectures,” stated David Goeckeler, executive v . p . and gm of Cisco’s networking and security business. “With the explosion of bandwidth within the multi-cloud era, optical interconnect technology is becoming more and more proper. The purchase of Acacia will let us develop the effectiveness of our switching, routing and optical networking portfolio to deal with our customers’ most demanding needs.”

Cisco provides a full portfolio of optical systems to aid webscale, company, enterprise, and public sector customer segments. These optical systems address performance, power, and price needs. Acacia’s technology will enrich Cisco’s optical systems portfolio. It will likewise permit the growing quantity of customers transitioning from chassis-based systems to pluggable technology to simplify operations and lower network complexities.

“Coherent technology is a game-changer for optical networking and is constantly on the evolve using the deployment of pluggable coherent optics,” stated Raj Shanmugaraj, president and ceo, Acacia. “Upon close, Cisco and Acacia continuously serve and support existing Acacia customers. By integrating Acaciatechnology into Cisco’s networking portfolio, we feel we are able to accelerate the popularity toward coherent technology and pluggable solutions while accommodating a bigger footprint of consumers worldwide.”

The purchase is anticipated to shut throughout the other half of Cisco’s FY2020, susceptible to customary closing conditions and needed regulatory approvals. When completed of the transaction, Acacia employees will join Cisco’s Optical Systems and Optics business inside the networking and security business under David Goeckeler.

About Acacia Communications

Acacia Communications develops, manufactures and sells high-speed coherent optical interconnect products that can transform communications systems through enhancements in performance, capacity and price. By applying optical interconnect technology inside a plastic-based platform, a procedure Acacia Communications describes because the “siliconization of optical interconnect,” Acacia Communications has the capacity to offer products at greater speeds and density with lower power consumption, that meet the requirements of cloud and repair providers and could be easily integrated inside a cost-effective manner with existing network equipment.

Keeping Students Learning and Keeping Cyber Threats at Bay

Partner Success Story

Getting an iPad inside a classroom is a superb learning tool. But getting an iPad that the student may take home  is better still. Aside from one problem: if students connect these units for an unsecure network, they risk installing dangerous adware and spyware. Adware and spyware that does not only puts students in danger, but results in a massive resource strain for that IT department to debug the devices.

It was the task that Shawnee Heights School District 450, an open school district in Tecumseh, Kansas, faced once they issued an iPad to all of their 3,500 students. Even though collaboration between students and teachers was important, the district also required to keep students safe online.

Formerly, the district used a proxy on every iPad that needed authentication to filter Internet traffic. However it was too complicated for college students to make use of, as well as for IT to handle.

Shawnee Heights IT found the right match Security Connector for iOS. The Cisco Security solution provides visibility into network traffic on iOS devices, as well as blocks connections to malicious sites in tangible-time - in school and also at home. Security Connector for iOS enables Shawnee Heights IT  to deal with their security concerns inside a solution that's both simple to manage and completely transparent to students.

And it is working seamlessly. Throughout a 30-day period, 23,000 from 33.9 million Internet demands were effectively blocked because of security concerns.  Now, students can certainly connect to the sources they have to learn and collaborate without having to worry about cyber attacks.

“Cisco security connector continues to be among the best purchases we've made,” stated Blair Anderson, IT Director at Shawnee Heights. “It provides me with reassurance understanding that our staff, students and products are protected.”

Using Automation for a DataCenter Network Core Migration

My relationship with network automation and programmability

The thought of network automation and programmability continues to be beside me for any lengthy time, lengthy prior to the term had any meaning for me personally. Previously I have tried personally TCL/Expect, after which Perl along with regular expressions to control network equipment and obtain performance metrics through Telnet and SSH. Although Perl is really a effective scripting language, it needed lots of try to build things on your own, as there wasn't any community with this particular use of the word what. I've been researching Network Programmability for a while now, using various sources:

• I've attended Cisco Live DevNet sessions and labs (Cisco Live Berlin & Barcelona) and 2 different DevNet Express occasions in Athens (2018 & 2019).
• I've adopted Kirk Byers’s email course on Python for Network Engineers and signed up for several web based classes for Python along with other development tools.
• I've adopted both seasons of NetDevOps Live number of webinars in the Cisco DevNet Team.
• I've became a member of several communities using forums for many known Free Network Automation Frameworks and that i follow automation experts, teams and projects on Twitter along with other Social Networking.

The Electricity Core Internet upgrade project - every change is definitely an chance

Project needs and project launch

A couple of in the past, we began focusing on a large network upgrade project with my workmate K.D., with respect to our Department, because the group of network engineers responsible of seeing it through. The work required the majority of our attention, beginning in the research stage along with a practicality study, resulting in writing up specifications documents to have an RFQ, selecting someone, and lastly towards the actual project design and implementation phase, that I had been also assigned because the role of Project Manager.

It contained switching the Electricity Network Core in our Datacenters to Nexus Electricity Switches, separating the consumer Access Network Layer in the Electricity Server Access and Core Layers. For 13 years, you and servers systems were mixed together. Exactly the same pairs of Legacy Cisco 6k Catalyst Switches were operating because the core switches for everything.

For that switch to be effective, we wanted to organize first for a number of large-scale infrastructure upgrades and adjustments to Power, Cabling and Rack space in multiple structures. With individuals complete, we'd still need:

• seamlessly integrate the brand new Core Switches towards the existing network and migrate towards the new design (upgrading all of the old Core Switches was needed first).
• leverage VDC technology to isolate critical systems in a number of separate L2 fault domains
• introduce OTV and MacSec file encryption across Electricity sites
• give a new strong, scalable and resilient Electricity Core
• minimize impact to bank services.

Learning in parallel

By finish of The month of january 2018, i was deep in staring at the relevant technologies and merchandise available. Together with my workmate, we attended Cisco Live Barcelona, gathering information that may be useful towards the project, but simultaneously checking up on current developments, including all we're able to learn about DevNet. The DevNet Express occasions were already going strong around the globe at that time. I was finally in a position to attend one, the very first in Athens, A holiday in greece, come June 2018. Attending this type of live event, could be transforming using the event structure allowing you to return in your tracks, find the journey, and begin exploring. At first, we didn’t think there'd the perfect enough to rehearse and apply our additional skills towards the project, therefore we didn’t arrange for it to occur. However, as time continued, such occasions presented themselves almost naturally.

After DevNet Express Athens, I'd taken time to discover much more about Network Automation Frameworks, taken an e-mail course from Kirk Byers about while using Netmiko Python Library, began using Ansible, signed up for Python courses, and tracked lower any possible resource, using Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn. My workmate had been learning python and studying lots of relevant material on Cisco DevNet. We frequently exchanged understanding, cooperating, discussing options and discussing ideas, each one of these taking roles, pushing for change and simultaneously ensuring i was keeping a stable feet on the floor, looking for practical ways to use the use of our additional skills.

Use Cases - network automation tools used

By November 2018, i was within the project implementation phase, moving things around, destroying and rebuilding infrastructure to get at our goal. Which involved invoking many Disaster Recovery Processes. Rather of applying individuals standardized DR processes by hands, I began writing small python Netmiko based automation scripts on their behalf. It had been fun and easy also it labored. Besides, what may go wrong, i was already performing Disaster Recovery, right? Next, picking out practical suggestions for Network Automation within our workplace began getting simpler for all of us. I prepared a couple of more scripts for small everyday operational tasks (a few examples here and here)

We first migrated towards the new Electricity Core after which arrived at the purpose, where i was finally prepared to migrate the Electricity servers in the old switches towards the new Electricity access layer, therefore we wanted to discover where exactly every server was connected. That will let us:

• verify steps and coordinate the migration
• make certain you will find none left out once the migration has ended
• perform cleanup later

It had been a 15-year-old atmosphere, with added layers over time, so writing a multiple-use script for this demonstrated a bit more difficult than other cases. It involved studying switch addresses from your stand out file, integrating using TextFsm and NTC-templates to show command output in structured data, gathering arp information in the core switches, mix-referencing it with mac address table information from each access switch, and lastly conveying the outcomes to stand out files. Automating this method permitted us to operate it repetitively, supplying a practical method to check our progress between migration home windows scheduled with groups of system admins and making certain success for that project. You'll find the code and a bit more detailed explanation here.

Following the effective migration of both Electricity Core and Servers Access layer within the new design, we'd to do acceptance tests for the entire atmosphere. I'd notice the Python-based Automated Testing Framework produced by Cisco and released in public places, known as pyATS. When I had almost no time to undergo the documentation and obtain to some extent where I possibly could setup something helpful, I switched to Twitter for help. Cisco DevNet’s Stuart Clark responded by contacting the Cisco pyATS team towards the save. These were kind enough to supply me with information on ways to use the Genie CLI for creating results with minimal effort. I setup my Electricity testbed very rapidly and effectively collected data between your tests, by running Genie Learn and Parse instructions, as well as in the finish compared results by running Genie Diff against result sets.

Using pyATS and Genie, we could draw quite interesting and helpful conclusions effortlessly and speed, for instance we recognized the Mainframe routing process switched the traffic in one Nexus peer to another throughout the tests, resulting in further analysis. We easily verified that services were effectively absorbed by active links and equipment throughout the tests, which all switch processes maintained the required information whatsoever occasions.

Project Conclusion - Current Status

The Electricity Network Core upgrade project continues to be effectively concluded by finish of May 2019. We've many userful stuff here from your automation attempts and we're still learning, finding smaller sized projects, on the situation by situation basis, and investing time carefully in selecting possible new learning pathways, as our time is efficacious. The PyATS & Genie suite remains ready for use in the Electricity atmosphere each time we have to gather status data “before” and “after” big changes.

We're feeling certain that our python scripting skills provide us having the ability to complete gaps within our monitoring atmosphere, manipulating data directly interior and exterior the network equipment or through keeper APIs. We're also thinking about writing code for automated network recovery purposes and network traffic engineering. At this time, we're putting our needs in queue and arranging the little development projects to pay for them, ensuring we're not neglecting our other responsibilities and separate projects.

Future plans - Practical Approach

I've since prepared more scripts, geared to not waste time in order to standardize tasks, tackling additional Network Automation tools, for example Nornir for any use situation described on DevNet Code Exchange. Within the several weeks in the future I'd like to visit much deeper with PyATS, having its library framework within python scripts, to ensure that a network operational status might be switched right into a monitored operational condition variable and convey relevant alerts via a separate alerting tool like Nagios, when things fail.

My work partner, proficient with Network Management tools for example HP NNMi and Cisco Prime Infrastructure, continues to be concentrating on Rest APIs, and removing information from your Management Tools. Cooperating, establishing a database model for monitoring our network equipment or perhaps developing a complete self-service CI monitoring platform, appears possible over time.

How To Provision a Production-Grade Kubernetes Cluster From Anywhere

Remember?

I bet everyone who're working or having fun with Kubernetes still remember perfectly the very first time you attempted to set up it.

And so the second time.

And so the third time.

…

And lastly, the one which it labored.

And many likely, if you are an expert additionally you recall the lengthy path that introduced you to definitely own the needed expertise on Kubernetes to be able to setup and fine-tune production-grade clusters to operate apps.

Or, if Kubernetes isn't a part of your job’s scope, you most likely remember the length of time it required that you should hire a company capable of singing a legitimate Kubernetes install…and just how much it costed.

In order to save all of this effort and time to the customers Cisco released Cisco Container Platform (CCP), a turnkey means to fix easily provision production-grade Kubernetes clusters on-prem or perhaps in the cloud within a few minutes, with couple of clicks and requiring virtually no understanding of K8s. All of the needed integrations when it comes to network, storage and security are carried out instantly by CCP so the provisioned K8s clusters will be ready to run being produced.  Clusters provisioned by CCP happen to be outfitted with correctly-configured monitoring and logging tools like ElasticSearch, FluentD, Kibana. With the Container Network Interface (CNI) you may choose whether or not to leverage Cisco ACI as network infrastructure or any other ones for example Contiv or Calico (no reliance on the actual infrastructure). With CCP you are able to take proper care of the entire existence-cycle from the K8s cluster: it is simple to perform Kubernetes software upgrades, nodes upgrade, cluster scale up or lower and cluster deletion.

This really is already good so if you're following our cloud bulletins you may know this, and so i thought I’d produce a demo that could push the simplicity individuals “few mouse clicks” to the limit, making possible to produce a production-grade cluster in only a single click - literally.

Presenting the Kubernetes dash button.

The idea is rather simple: develop a dash button that, once pressed, results in a production-grade Kubernetes cluster available.

Leveraging the wealthy group of the Cisco Container Platform (CCP) APIs this really is even too easy, and so i considered to then add more feature on the top:

• I needed to provision the cluster and can get on just with the dash button. So, I needed CCP to show around the dash button itself the Ip from the master node from the cluster produced
• I needed bi-directional communications between your dash-button and CCP itself, so will be able to check up on the dash button if CCP properly received the provisioning request, and make certain the provisioning process has began after which finished.
• I needed a good battery existence that will avoid me getting to recharge the button every single day, and so i required to have electronics in a position to sleep or hibernate
• My lab, where I've the infrastructure and CCP, is behind a proxy, and for that reason not accessible in the outdoors world, which meant I'd to find away out to possess my lab initiate communication using the dash button by positively examining the press from the button
• I needed to make use of the button everywhere I am going without having to worry concerning the local Wi-Fi settings

How it operates

To fulfill all of the above needs I added a few elements within the picture, winding up using the following architecture:

The button is dependant on an Arduino ESP 32 board, it connects via Wi-Fi to my smartphone and uses its web connection, by doing this I'm able to make use of the button everywhere my phone has data signal. A publish-subscribe message service (MQTT) on the web is accustomed to bypass the proxy limitations. I located the MQTT in your own home however, you can provision one on AWS or make use of a free MQTT service around the cloud. Once pressed, the button publishes a unique message around the MQTT service. Within my lab, a few scripts are continually polling the MQTT service and, every time they identify the special message, they invoke the best API within the Cisco Container Platform to trigger the provisioning of the shiny new Kubernetes cluster. When the cluster is provisioned, the Ip from the master node is came back, with the MQTT service, towards the dash button that shows it on its display, and, at this time the Kubernetes cluster is able to accept connections and run applications.

Cisco is Identified as a Leader in Aragon’s Globe for Intelligent Contact Center

A couple of days ago at Cisco Live, I'd the pleasure of getting together with a number of our customers, partners, and colleagues discussing our contact center portfolio vision and product innovation strategies. The feedback continues to be very positive readily and anticipation as our portfolio is constantly on the evolve to return.

I’m thrilled our portfolio and strategy were validated lately by globally recognized industry analyst firm Aragon Research. Within their 2019 Aragon Globe for Intelligent Contact Center, Cisco was recognized among the leaders in Intelligent Contact Center.

Getting an excellent vision is a factor, but converting the vision into execution and gratifaction is exactly what brings value to the customers. This recognition represents how complete our technique is, and just how strong our performance is within fulfilling that strategy on the market.

Aragon Scientific studies are a completely independent research and advisory firm, with decades of expertise in assisting business also it executives make more informed technology and strategy decisions. The Aragon Research Globe is really a market evaluation tool that appears beyond size and share of the market, and rather uses individuals as comparative factors in evaluating providers’ complete abilities.

Aragon’s analysis evaluated key areas for example brand awareness, product strategy, market understanding, management team, marketing, product roadmaps, knowledge of our customers’ needs, completeness of portfolio, and execution.

Aragon’s evaluation comes in the middle of a transition from traditional premise-based methods to cloud based, AI-based choices. This provides our abilities in individuals key areas particular significance.

Based on the report created by Aragon Research lead analyst Jim Lundy: “Cisco has ongoing to purchase its premises products because of its current customers, while offering them a way towards the cloud including its Collaboration Flex licensing program and Advanced Cloud services that may be consumed by premises customers.”

Here are the key reasons for our leadership:

The Cisco Brand

Cisco is renowned for being able to execute in scale for big enterprise contact center deployments, and our deep knowledge of enterprise It requires. Our brand is globally noted for its innovation, extensive R&D, open platforms, digital transformation, and shaping the way forward for work.

Contact Center Share Of The Market Leadership

Within the last twenty years, we’ve been delivering leading contact center technology globally with an extensive partner network, driving better customer encounters. With more than 3 million agents across 36,000 different enterprises, this will make us an industry-share leader for contact centers - number 1 in The United States and # 2 worldwide.

Concentrate on AI

Among the cornerstones in our product technique is to continuously innovate as evidenced through the cognitive contact center enhancements we introduced captured. A good example of this will be our Cisco Solutions intelligent agent that is operated by Google Contact Center AI. Cisco Solutions learns customer conversations in tangible-time, and proactively presents intelligent suggestions along with other relevant data towards the agent while they're getting together with a person.

Flexible Cloud, Premises, and Hybrid Deployment Options

Our “cloud first, not cloud only” approach helps our on-premises customers evolve their business. Everyone really wants to minimize heavy CAPEX costs and take advantage of continuous delivery of innovative features enabled through the cloud. Our customers wish to be around the innovative, they also wish to safeguard their investments and take advantage of the rock-solid security and stability that is included with on-premise infrastructures. Cisco has got the strategy and hybrid cloud services to create this transition a real possibility.

Finish-to-Finish File encryption

Cisco comes with an state of the art status for enterprise security. We still invest to create your contact centers safer, providing you with reassurance that customer and company information are fully protected.

Overall Unified Communications and Collaboration Abilities

There exists a broad and integrated portfolio, with deep knowledge of every area of communications varying from contact center, collaboration, calling, security, networking, and devices. This enables us to provide tremendous productivity benefits and economies of scale with the integration of key abilities. A good example of this is the way we seamlessly integrate the agent knowledge about Webex Teams, giving your agents intuitive use of subject material experts past the contact center, so that you can have better and faster plan to your clients.

Cisco and Google Cloud Create Framework for Innovation

Cisco and Google are collaborating to determine a hybrid cloud architecture that empowers people to innovate. Within the last 2 yrs, our engineering teams happen to be cooperating to provide a hybrid cloud solution which includes very best in-class technologies from both companies. Together, we’re supplying a framework that gives the safety and consistency operations teams require, to allow them to adjust to altering business demands.

Next Stage Co-Innovation

In April, we announced the next thing in our co-innovation using the integration of Google Cloud’s Anthos with Cisco’s data center, security, networking, and analytics portfolio. The hybrid architecture offering gives our customers the liberty to select how they would like to modernize applications in their own pace, yet still time making the most from their existing data center investments.

Due to this integration between Google Cloud’s Anthos and Cisco data center technologies - including Cisco HyperFlex, ACI, SD-WAN and Stealthwatch Cloud - customers can now seamlessly move workloads and applications across clouds as well as on-premise environments. Additionally, they can realize the next benefits:

• Operate consistently across a company data center and also the cloud
• Consume cloud services from your enterprise data center
• Modernize on premises environments using the latest cloud technologies
• Take advantage of a completely-managed service, like Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
• Make the most of edge computing

Dealing with Reliable Partners

Our customers need so that you can innovate with full confidence. They would like to deploy start up business services and applications while using cloud using the assurance they're dealing with proper, reliable partners. Cisco and Google Cloud happen to be positive when controling Cisco’s resellers to assist deliver these hybrid cloud solutions.

Among the partners that's been involved because the initial phases in our co-innovation is Telindus. They offer located services towards the financial services market. Its clients are highly controlled and conservative, but they would like to remain innovative to be able to obtain a competitive advantage. The brand new Cisco-Google Cloud hybrid cloud architecture provides Telindus as well as their customers using the confidence they have to pursue start up business initiatives.

Building having a Consistent Hybrid Framework

The Cisco HyperFlex™ hyperconverged infrastructure works as a common foundation from the Cisco-Google Cloud hybrid architecture. You can use it with Kubernetes-based and virtualized workloads. Whenever a HyperFlex or HyperFlex Edge product is combined with Google Cloud’s Anthos, they interact to supply a consistent experience whether on-premises, within the Google Cloud, or perhaps in other public clouds. Customers can also add Cisco networking, security, and management products according to their needs while using hybrid cloud architecture.

Critical Network Infrastructure in IoT Industries

The Web of products and also the means by which different industries are transforming their clients are getting an immediate effect on the kind of networking infrastructure they now require. Digitization, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Automation are actually the primary motorists for a lot of companies across multiple verticals to consider new methods for providing their services, running their daily operations, coping with their clients and suppliers and be more effective.

But let’s look first into what we should mean by Critical Network Infrastructure. In most cases, we make reference to the data technologies and cybersecurity systems needed to operate mission critical applications that offer the continuity of ordinary business and government operations. Scalping strategies supply the resiliency to prevent vital network interruptions and non-recoverable failures. They're also characterised by supplying High Availability, Optimal Performance and Elevated Security.

Previously, before IoT and Digital Transformation grew to become ubiquitous, almost the only real firms that needed this kind of Network Infrastructure were what we should describe as Providers or Telecommunications Carriers. Fundamental essentials organizations that offer telephony, cellular services, high speed broadband access and nowadays even cable and video streaming services. Systems really are a Critical Infrastructure for this kind of companies as their business design happens to be according to supplying connectivity in some way. Up to very lately we've known Critical Network Infrastructure simply as SP networking or Carrier infrastructure.

Each one of these has altered as more industries require to supply a better Customer Experience, even though the networking infrastructure was utilized previously to supply mainly back-office operations and internal communications services, nowadays whole business operations need to go beyond this infrastructure and also the interaction using the finish users relies exclusively around the low latency,  uptime. and security of those systems.

Information and for that reason the information traffic transporting it, is moving closer and nearer to the finish user, across multiple regions and also over very lengthy distances. Through the year 2021 as much as 41% of all of the data traffic is going to be delivered across multiple countries.[1]

The interest in reliable real-time information is more critical than ever before, with the appearance of Smart Homes, Autonomous Vehicles and Smart Metropolitan areas the expectation would be to have Secure, Fast, Easy and Reliable data. This could simply be achieved by getting High-Performance Networking, Automation & Analytics, Always-On and Guaranteed Reliable Infrastructure to interconnect many of these systems.

Probably the most immediate IoT Use Cases that need Critical Network Infrastructure, and therefore where a few of the finest possibilities are suitable for Cisco and our Partners have been in the commercial Verticals and Public Sector. Allow me to provide you with a couple of examples here:

Smart Metropolitan areas

As more metropolitan areas provide multiple services for their occupants, reliability and knowledge privacy becomes critical. A few of the primary challenges metropolitan areas are facing range from the results of urbanization, it's believed that by 2050 68% from the worldwide population is going to be residing in metropolitan areas.[2] Shifting financial aspects, sustainability and public safety will also be a few of the primary trends impacting today’s metropolitan areas. Technology might help solve a few of these problems, including Lighting, Parking, Ecological control, Urban Mobility, Supply Of Water, Safety & Security and Waste Management. A Multi-Services Network together with a Connected Communities Infrastructure Layer is needed to supply many of these services! And you know what? It is really an actual Network Critical Infrastructure, the main one we've been speaking a lot about to date.

Utilities

Power Utilities will also be facing a brand new group of challenges which are transforming the means by that they Generate Energy, operate the ability Grid and communicate with their clients. Previously Customers were only viewed as simple Rate-payers, but IoT is popping them into real Clients rich in Customer Experience expectations. Electrical Vehicles, Distributed Energy Sources, Alternative Energy and Smart Homes are trembling-up a business that's been mainly centered on supplying stable electricity supply for more than a hundred years. However, Power is and happens to be dependent on national to safeguard every country. The electrical energy grid has become altering as it must adjust to many of these new challenges and expectations. The grid is really a critical infrastructure that's becoming interconnected and that you will find go beyond a vital Network Infrastructure.

Manufacturing

In the last couple of decades globalization has switched the availability chain of just about best of luck right into a multi-national affair. Various parts are produced around the world and put together in faraway locations. Simultaneously Digital Automation is popping Discrete and Process Manufacturing into probably the most faster verticals for IoT and Digital Transformation. Industry 4. is the idea of smart factories where robots and machines are interconnected to some system that may visualize the whole production chain making decisions by itself.  When we add-up these trends as a result companies need so that you can provide High-Performance, Scalable, Resilient connectivity with really low latency (because of the precision needed for a lot of manufacturing processes), yet still time getting a higher amount of versatility across lengthy distances with strong security and policy control. Heard this before?

These are merely a couple of industries in which the Critical Network Infrastructure which was needed largely by Providers previously has become a “must” for a lot of Industries. I possibly could continue, however the idea is simply to provide you with a glimpse into what's possible. Other industries near to me for example Transportation, Mining, Oil & Gas and much more are getting much the same needs using their own specific needs and industry trends all being driven and fostered by IoT technologies. And every one of them represent an excellent chance for Cisco and every one of our Partners.

4 Trends Molding the Future of Customer Service

Technology adoption and consumer behavior shifts have altered customer support forever. The synchronised rise of traveling with a laptop, social networking, and altering census have aided an interruption that’s not even close to over. But because inevitable as change is, a lot of companies still use a 1995 playbook to resolve modern customer support issues.

The problem with this 1995 playbooks is within its results. 80 percent of companies think they deliver superior customer support. Only 8% of consumers think companies deliver superior customer support.

It’s here we are at this to alter. Listed here are four customer support trends that has to impact the way you communicate with your clients from here forward.

Positive Customer Experience

While answering customers on the internet is less costly than legacy customer support mechanisms like phone or email, the expense are really the and also the public nature of individuals pose risk.  Possibly the easiest method to invest your sources would be to legitimately enhance your customer experience so less individuals have whatever reason to become upset together with your business to begin with.

If you are having to pay focus on customer comments, you’re most likely conscious of the weak areas of your company. You realize when and where client satisfaction will probably dip. Rather of awaiting your clients to see individuals dips, proactively mind them off in the pass. The easiest method to handle unhappy or unsatisfied customers would be to get rid of the forces which make them unhappy or unsatisfied.

The very best customer problems are the type that do not need to happen to begin with.

Self-Service Solutions

If customers can certainly and completely address problems by themselves, they'll. Self-service is an excellent road to issue resolution because customers do not have to hold back in your business to reply.

Self-service makes lots of sense - on the client experience and price efficiency fronts. Based on Forrester, self-service increases client satisfaction and lowers costs for companies.

Forrester also discovered that 72 percent of shoppers prefer utilizing a company’s web site to answer their questions. Regrettably, companies aren't globally skilled at this method. Only 1 / 2 of customers will find the data they require online.

The very best self-service programs live microorganisms. They expand and morph and alter to suit customer questions and complaints. To get this done, managers must meet frequently with personnel getting together with people to discuss what questions and issues are emerging. Most of the questions is going to be repeats. Actually, one-third of customer questions are typical or repeat issues. The aim with self-services are to find out all individuals likely questions, after which provide solutions to customers in (ideally) multiple online formats.

Community-Based Service

If the best method of getting solutions to consumers would be to provide them with use of that information inside a self-service capacity, the following ultimate way would be to enable support from the customer community.

A primary reason community-based customer support tools are extremely effective is the fact that with each other, the city knows greater than anyone customer support representative possibly could. These programs also provide financial implications. Research from Gartner suggests companies that implement community-based support can help to eliminate costs by 10 - 50 %. There’s another business help to these programs: Social networks may also breed deep insights that enables companies and organizations to alter their choices, communicate better, and enhance customer support if this doesn't need to get offers for on the one-to-one basis.

Mobile Messaging Apps

Messaging has essentially altered the way you talk to each another, and it is causeing this to be transformation with gusto. Based on Statista, Facebook Messenger has greater than 1.3 billion active monthly users. WhatsApp (of Facebook) has greater than 1.6 billion active monthly users, and WeChat is nearing 1.1 billion.

Messaging has transformed the field of customer support, altering the way in which people be prepared to communicate with your company. Mobile usage research has shown Americans are delivering texts five occasions more frequently than they’re obtaining the telephone. In Asia Off-shore and Latin American countries, individuals same research has shown a powerful preference for that aforementioned chat apps vast amounts of artists are using globally. Within the U.S., this trend is much more prevalent with more youthful generations: 36 percent of Millennials would speak to a company more often when they could text. Messaging apps are larger than social systems and SMS. With regards to more youthful generations, messaging dwarfs communications vehicles like email and make contact with calls too.

Messaging apps would be the greatest pressure in communication today, as well as their functionality for just one-to-one messaging has all you need for customer support. They’re private, which companies love. They’re persistent, which customers love. They’re real-time, and they’re asynchronous. Asynchronicity is among the important aspects which make messaging apps so convenient and effective. Someone can begin a discussion having a business, make a move more essential, and get exactly the same conversation where she ended ten or twenty minutes later. The days are gone to be on hold and gone would be the expectations that standing on hold is common.

Cisco Has a New Innovation Engine

Innovation. It’s one of my favorite words because it shows how transformations can take shape when teams are performing well, and working together. Chuck Robbins has committed to an increased pace of innovation at Cisco, and we’ve been delivering – from the Catalyst family of intent-based networking switches, to security and multicloud advancements, to cognitive collaboration. But, our innovation doesn’t always come from inside Cisco. It comes from you, our partners! Our customers rely on your purpose-built applications, as an extension of the Cisco platform, to help them digitize their businesses and achieve valuable outcomes. And you rely on developing intellectual property to differentiate yourself, create greater customer loyalty, and generate more predictable recurring revenues.

According to IDC, the margins from application development services can be as high as 70%. So it’s good for your business. Partners are definitely catching on, as DevNet recently surpassed 500,000 members, many of whom are partner developers.

We want to challenge you to develop new solutions on top of Cisco. So, get ready to show us your apps with the 2019 Cisco Partner Innovation Challenge!

Cisco Partner Innovation Challenge

Last November at Cisco Partner Summit, I announced the winners of the 2018 Partner Innovation Challenge – Altus and MFEC. Luckily, Oliver Tuszik decided to keep the ball rolling – and keep the prize money growing – for 2019! This year’s 1stplace winner will receive $200,000, and 2ndplace will receive $50,000.

The challenge is designed to drive awareness and adoption of Cisco APIs across our global partner community. It’s open to any Cisco reseller who can develop a solution that showcases creativity in solving customer challenges, while harnessing the power of Cisco open APIs across any part of our portfolio. The challenge officially opened in March, and we already have 58 partner submissions! The deadline to submit an initial proposal isn’t until July 29, with final solution submissions due September 14 – so you still have time.

To learn more, visit cs.co/innovationchallenge2019. You’ll find details about the challenge process, criteria, and deadlines. Our Asia Pacific team also got on board, so you’ll find details about their regional prizes and winners spanning multiple countries.

Accelerating Platform Enabled Outcomes

We know it’s a big shift to transform your business with developer skills while also performing and running your day-to-day business. We’ve made exciting progress supporting partner transformations through DevNet, a community focused on new possibilities. To build on that, Cisco is creating more resources and programs to help you get started. Our global Partner Programmability Blitz includes a series of live and on-demand events designed for your engineering teams to start developing their own intellectual property on top of the Cisco platform. By the end of FY19, more than 95 partners will have participated. And more than 100,000 individuals across 790 partners will have received programmability enablement via online learning, in-person boot camps, and workshops from Cisco.

Join me at the next #CiscoChat on Thursday, May 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific to learn more. I’ll be joined by Alex Pujols, our Global Partner Org SE Leader, and Pete Johnson, our Cloud Principle Systems Engineer, via a livestream on Cisco.com and Facebook Live, where we’ll discuss programmability, APIs, partner enablement, and the Partner Innovation Challenge. We’ll also take your questions.

I’m excited to see what new innovations our partners come up with this year. And I’m always excited and humbled by the great partners and relationships we’ve established around the world. Together, we can do so much! So pull your developers together, throw and pizza party or hackathon, and get your creative juices flowing.

Cisco CDA Advances Spain’s Secure Digital Transformation:

Cisco today announced its commitment to help advance Spain’s secure digital transformation under the company’s Country Digital Acceleration(CDA) program. The CDA program combines partnership and shared investment between Cisco, communities, governments, and businesses to utilizedigital as the foundation for their future.

Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco: “Through Country Digital Acceleration, Cisco has the opportunity to positively impact communities, governments, and businesses around the world. We are excited to support the long-term economic goals of Spain and benefit their citizens in the digital economy.”

Called ‘Digitaliza’ in Spanish, CDA will align with the country’s goals for digitization. It will drive projects that advance citizens’ quality of life, create jobs and workforce education, and enhance global economic competitiveness. It foresees a collaboration with the public sector, the industry -including ICT, energy, finance, industrial companies, service providers, small medium businesses (SMBs), startups from any vertical, and partners- plus academia and will address the following areas:

• Industry 4.0: Encourage the digitization of industrial companies, service providers, and utilities. Help close the digital gap for small medium businesses through innovation, with the ultimate goal to increase efficiency and competitiveness.

• Smart Territories: Advance smart, inclusive, sustainable and attractive digital territories. Furthermore, help enable digital education and connected schools, and develop efficient smart mobility and transportation for people and goods.
• Critical Infrastructures: Foster the deployment of intelligent and highly secure national networks and protect critical infrastructures with advanced cybersecurity.
• Digital Jobs and Innovation: Develop digital skills (ICT/STEM) to help employability, with a focus on areas such as Industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity, leveragingnearly 20-years of the Cisco Networking Academy program in Spain.

Ongoing initiatives

CDA builds on Cisco’s 25-year commitment to helping Spain realize its full digital potential in collaboration with public and private sector organizations. By bringing the CDA Program to Spain, Cisco continues to create positive impact for society and the economy. Some examples of initiatives already being implemented are:

• Barcelona Co-Innovation Center. Inaugurated on January 28, 2019, the latest addition to Cisco’s global network of Co-Innovation Centers serves as a hub for open, creative collaboration. It focuses on urban innovation, healthcare and financial services evolution, helping to develop a vibrantco-innovation ecosystem.
• Cisco Networking Academy program, designed to reduce the growing ICT professional’s gap and promote employability. This non-profit initiative has already trained close to 175,000 Spanish students since 2000 in state-of-the-art digital technologies, through more than 390 educational centers and 780 teachers. The ‘Digitaliza’ goal is to increase the total number of new students to 100,000 in the next three years.
• Collaboration with regional and vertical innovation centers, such as Sevilla Futura and Zaragoza's Innovation in Retail Center (T-ZIR), providing Cisco mentoring and equipment to help local startups innovate.
• Cisco DevNet Spain. Innovative companies can also connect with Cisco DevNet in Spain and globally, a community with more than 500,000 developers building applications over Cisco’s open digital platform.

Santiago Solanas, Vice President, Southern Europe at Cisco: “Our aim is to place Spain as a reference in digital transformation, contribute to economic growth and advance towards a more inclusive society. The pillars of the Digitaliza program have been designed to help our country, cities, companies and the entire innovation ecosystem in capturing the maximum value from digitization.”

About CDA

Cisco developed the concept of Country Digital Acceleration to stimulate global digitization. Cisco is collaborating with governments in selected countries to strengthen digital research and education, stimulate digital entrepreneurship, accelerate innovation, develop new economic clusters and improve national infrastructure. Each CDA programme has been developed to meet the needs of the respective country. So far, more than 300 projects have been launched on smarter transport, smart cities, eHealth, cybersecurity and connected education.

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