The 2019 CiscoLive
conference is in the history books. With 25,000 attendees at the 5-day event,
Cisco demonstrates it’s a major force in shaping the digital economy. As a
long-standing Cisco partner, we were thrilled to participate in the conference.
We packed our schedules full with as many presentation sessions, trainings,
meetings, and social events as we could to gain as much insight as possible
about Cisco’s future direction. Here are our key take-aways that from the
conference:
#1—Intent-Based Networking
Goes Mainstream
Although software-defined
networking has been around for nearly a decade, Cisco is taking it into the mainstream
with Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) and DevNet Automation
Exchange. With these new market-ready solutions, you can use a
software-delivery approach to automate and streamline your network across
multiple domains and share code repositories to enhance the developer
experience. Delivering new levels of security, application-aware, and optimized
environments, the IT networking management role can shift from an administrative
effort to a strategic position, creating enormous potential for OPEX savings.
Mainstay’s Insight
A well-defined business case for
intent-based networking will be a critical element to realize the maximum value
of the solution. Along with security risk enhancements, your company can
achieve a solid OPEX savings if you deploy the solution to fully utilize the centralized
network management capabilities of Cisco DNA. Our team has the knowledge and
expertise to help define the new network operations model that enhances
productivity and security. We can also offer our adoption consulting expertise
to ensure that your organization realizes the full value of the solution.
#2—Cognitive
Collaboration Drives Powerful Employee and Customer Experiences
With the acquisition of
Accompany, Cisco has embarked on a new and exciting chapter in the
collaboration space. Called “Cognitive Collaboration,” it’s designed to drive
collaboration with AI and machine learning to break down the barriers of time
zones, applications, and disparate workspaces. As Amy Chang highlighted in her
keynote address, “Cognitive collaboration will provide business profiles and
news pre-bundled to meeting participants to ensure they are well-versed in
customer or prospect news and activities.” When paired with an ERP solution,
companies can combine leading internal insights (e.g., customer experience and sales
data) with external information (e.g., news feed, financial performance data,
personal profiles) to provide the most complete view of your contacts.
Mainstay’s Insight
As Cognitive Collaboration is fully
released into the marketplace, Cisco is moving toward an application-layer
solution that will have profound business impacts, such as new revenue capture,
reduced customer attrition, and improved customer experience measures. By
clearly defining KPIs and quantifying expected business impacts, you can make
the case to secure budgets to acquire the Cognitive Collaboration solution, so
you can achieve the intended value.
As a premier Cisco
partner, we have delivered more than 600 successful business case and user adoption
projects – funded by Cisco through its DSI program. The Mainstay team offers unique
capabilities to support and drive value for your Cisco investments. Learn more
at www.mainstaycompany.com.
