20 January 2011
Hindustan Times: Get Ready for a New Era of Digital Services on Cable TV
In order to digitise cable operators across the city, Cisco Systems has partnered with Gujarat Telelink Private limited (GTPL), a Gujarat-based MSO and broadband company. As per the guidelines set by the government, by June 30, Cisco aims to digitise at least 29 lakh subscribers across Kolkata. "The deadline for phase 1 cities (all four metro cities) is June 30. The networks have started getting upgraded and by June 30 the entire system will be digitised. This will revolutionise cable TV experience," said Sandeep Arora, vice president sales, Cisco. With the digitisation of cable services, cable will have to provide an STB to every subscriber, resulting in an upfront cost to the customer.

17 January 2011
Business Standard: Collaboration: What's next?
Globally, the 'workplace' is evolving. Productivity at work today has less to do with the individual's physical proximity to his/her workplace and more to do with access to the network and to collaborative tools. According to a recent report commissioned by Cisco, 60% of the employees surveyed felt that it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. Major technological and demographic transitions are fundamentally changing the way we communicate, work and collaborate. Taken individually, each one of these trends by itself is very powerful. Taken together, what we see is a tremendous transformational force. According to a recent report commissioned by Cisco, 60 percent of the employees surveyed felt that it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. (The author is Managing Director, Collaboration Sales, Asia Pacific & Japan, Cisco)

17 January 2011
Hindustan Times: Banned from Networking
Several companies are beginning to restrict the access their employees have to the Internet. While many do so out of fear of data leaks, security and compliance issues, others fear loss of productivity and virus attacks. Interestingly, however, there is a school of thought that believes that such policies can alienate employees and even stifle innovation at the workplace. Efforts directed at building employee engagement and trust could be thwarted. Many say social networks help companies recruit better, identify competitive intelligence, source subject-related expertise online, help showcase the company better, build brand recognition etc, then what's the hype and hoopla all about? According to the Cisco Connected World Technology Report, the new generation is not willing to compromise on anything.

15 January 2011
Dataquest: APAC Going Beyond Revenue
Investment by the government, a favorable regulatory environment, and an effective broadband/ IT infrastructure are critical for cloud development. Weakness in any of these factors will materially curtail development. Which is the hottest cloud-computing market in APAC? Where is the most revenue being generated? These are the two questions that run high on the minds of many CIOs, CFOs, CTOs and cloud vendors. The implication is that the answer to the second question will answer the first...In early 2011, Cisco set out to examine the cloud market in the region and enlisted The 451 group, an independent firm to assist in identifying the key traits/ factors for cloud-computing success, quantifying them and establishing the framework to rank countries across APAC on the basis of their relative standing on these fonts. Rajesh Rege, the author is senior VP, data center and cloud business, Cisco India and SAARC

13 January 2011
IndiaEducationReview: Cisco Networking Academy Bags eIndia 2011 Award
Cisco announced that its Networking Academy has won the prestigious eINDIA 2011 jury choice award for the 'Best ICT Enabled Skills Development Initiative'. The award was conferred on Cisco Networking Academy in recognition of its efforts toward enabling students to develop valuable information, communications and technology skills for increased access to opportunities in the global economy, a release from the networking major said. Speaking on the occasion, Bina Raj-Debur, regional head, Social Innovation Group, India and South Asia, said: "We are proud to receive this prestigious award. It is testimony to the continued efforts of the Networking Academy programme to make a positive difference to the skills-building efforts of the nation and the communities in which we live and operate. At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of youth through technology, enabling them to harness the enormous opportunities in the ICT domain. We are very pleased that our efforts have been recognized by industry and society alike."

13 January 2011
The Wall Street Journal: Career Journal: How to Make Networking Work for You
To boost your career this year, resolve to step up your networking game. In our hectic work lives, it's easy to relegate professional networking to the bottom of our to-do list. That could be a big mistake. Haphazard networking could cause you to miss out on important business and professional growth opportunities. "One has to be focused to nurture long-lasting relationships," says Gaurav Mishra, director of digital and social media at MSLGROUP Asia, a public relations firm. "It's all about prioritization," says Prem Velayudan, head of human resources at Cisco Systems India Pvt. Set a goal, such as an hour every week when you will follow-up with your contacts. You can also utilize traveling time and weekends to keep in touch. "Once you see the returns, you will yourself make time for networking," says Mr. Velayudan.

11 January 2011
The Economic Times: Made-for-India Cisco Router Finds Fans in Developed Markets
About four years after Cisco Systems named India as the location of its second global headquarters, the networking major has launched a product, innovated for India and other emerging markets and designed ground up from the country. The product, a router used in mobile towers, was tailored to meet the constraints - poor power supply, high real estate costs and huge growth in fresh subscriber numbers- with which operators functioned. But surprisingly, the product, which Cisco's president and country manager for India, Naresh B Wadhwa, calls 'more than just engineering' because of the innovation that went into designing it, has also generated considerable interest from outside emerging markets, in markets such as Europe, North America and Japan.

10 January 2011
The Financial Express: And the Winners of 2011's Guff Awards Are ...
There is an economic law that says that all markets are cyclical save one: the bullshit market, which knows only the bull phase. In 2011 everything else was in retreat but there were so many entries for my annual jargon awards that sifting through them all has been a long and painful process. But the runaway winner is Cisco's John Chambers, who managed to be even emptier - and much uglier - in fewer words: "We will accelerate our leadership across our five priorities and compete to win in the core."

10 January 2011
CRN: Interview: Stanimira Koleva, MD, APJC, Partner Business Group, Cisco
Stanimira Koleva, MD, APJC, Partner Business Group, Cisco, spoke to Sonal Desai, about the objectives and features of Partner Led, the company's new partner engagement model First of all, what is Partner Led? Till last year Cisco was focused on Customer Led, although 100 percent of our business came through partners. But in sync with our vision of Next Cisco, we decided to focus our entire energy and resources on partners to enable and empower them to sell to customers. We created a group within Cisco called Partner Led to drive this new partner engagement framework. Cisco's entire commercial business-which consists of mid-market and SMB customers-will be completely driven by partners. Since the launch of the program in August we have mapped 16,000 mid-market customers globally to our partners' sales teams. 100 percent of our commercial business sales force, as well as technical and service teams, have been aligned to the new Partner Led unit. The incentives of Cisco executives are now aligned with partner performance. They will share their goals with the partners, and in turn the partners will align their business with us. We have earmarked $15 million (of the $75 million globally) for Partner Led for the APJC region. This investment will show up in the form of more partner-centric marketing resources, incentive programs for mid-market- and SMB-focused Cisco solution providers, a partner relationship management system, and access to a team of Cisco engineers put in place to help partners close deals more effectively. In addition, we have simplified pricing and leveraged distribution support. We are now investing in building end-to-end solution capabilities, and partners are transitioning to the new model.

02 January 2011
Expresstravelworld: Danger Lurks in the Workplace
Ten years ago, employees were assigned laptops and told not to lose them. They were given logins to the company network, and told not to tell anyone their password. End of security training. Alarm bells are ringing in corporate circles as seven out of 10 young employees frequently ignore IT policies, and one in four is a victim of identity theft before the age of 30, according to a global study from US network equipment maker Cisco. The report reveals startling attitudes toward IT policies and growing security threats posed by the next generation of employees entering the workforce - a demographic that grew up with the internet and has an increasingly on-demand lifestyle that mixes personal and business activity in the workplace. Rebecca Jacoby, CIO, Cisco says, "As workforces become increasingly mobile, security and risk management concerns inevitably grow. The findings indicate the real need for better corporate policies, end-user education, and stronger, trusted relationships between employees and IT departments."

02 January 2011
Financial Chronicle: Banking 2012
These days those who walk into banks are extremely tech savvy. These young customers, often referred to as 'Gen Y' or Millenials, want advice about how to manage their day-to-day finances and trust their banks to be the primary providers of information. Gen Y is changing the rules of banking because they want their bank to be available to them anytime, anywhere and on any device. A retail banking study conducted by the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) in 2010 suggests that banks have an opportunity to increase revenues up to 10 percent by embracing Gen Y customers. Gen Y holds a large portion of financial wealth and will need a safe place to keep their assets, borrow for homes, and save for their children's education. This group will use the Internet and mobile devices as their main banking conduit. (The writer is senior vice president (financial services industry) of Cisco India & SAARC)

02 January 2011
Deccan Herald: ICT Innovations that Will Dominate 2012
In the world of ICT (information and communications technology) industry, things change fast as companies and researchers all over the world are constantly working on making life easier and more exciting for consumers without adding to the cost. Video communication revisited: Communicating with people using video will continue to be a priority, says Cisco, over the next few years. Cisco Chairman John Chambers predicted that four years from now, video is going to be the leading way in which we communicate and the primary form of information technology (IT). He stated that in 2010, video accounted for 51 per cent of internet traffic and by 2014; the number will skyrocket to 91 per cent.

31 december 2011
Express Computer: FCoE: Still to Connect
While billed as a panacea for all storage connectivity needs, FCoE is still a few years away from achieving it's much talked about benefits as a host of issues from costs to standards dog it. When a new data center is designed from the ground up, companies are showing some interest in FCoE as the cost savings from cabling coupled with investments in fewer devices (and managing the same) makes it attractive. Having said that, a company has to rearchitect its existing data center in order to accommodate FCoE, something that companies are loathe to do in the backdrop of the economic slowdown and business volatility. "The question to be asked by data center managers is not whether they should network their storage but which applications justify their investments," said Mahesh Gupta VP - Borderless Networks, Cisco India and SAARC.

26 december 2011
CRN: 10 Security Predictions For 2012
The future is hidden in the past, and many trends that started or gained momentum in 2011 will evolve into serious threats in 2012. As always, cybercriminals will follow the money in finding ways to siphon valuable data from emerging computing platforms. Google's smartphone OS Android will be a potentially lucrative bull's eye for hackers, along with social networks and small businesses. While profit is a prime motivator for most hackers, a growing number are becoming vigilantes, claiming a nobler path by justifying their criminality as a necessary evil in standing up for what they believe is right. 4. Advanced Persistent Threats: Also known as targeted attacks, advanced persistent threats will become more pervasive in 2012. Such attacks are less risky and more profitable then commandeering botnets that spread spam and e-mail carrying malware, experts say. As a result, large-scale attacks based on tricking an e-mail recipient into clicking on a link or opening an attachment are diminishing while APTs are increasing, networking company Cisco said in its annual security report in 2011. Since August 2010, the amount of spam recorded by Cisco has plummeted from 379 billion messages a day to 124 billion, the lowest since 2007. Conversely, APTs are rising.

23 december 2011
DataQuest: And Now, Technical to Managed ServicesResults
While product technology was getting commoditized, a lot of companies started looking into services and solution from mere box-pushing. This was not only helpful in building competitive advantage and retaining the customers, but also kept the balance sheet healthy. In professional services, most of the services we bring and do are towards newer technologies. We will not become another system integrator trying to get into the services arm. The services arm is more like insurance, it is more about us and how we manage operations. The more customers we support, the more efficient we get. We would give generic advice in architecture, says Srivalsan Ponnachath, SVP, services sales, Cisco India and Saarc.

16 december 2011
VARIndia: Cisco Reveals its Global Study Results
Cisco has announced the results of the global study which reveals that seven out of 10 young employees frequently ignore IT policies, and one in four is a victim of identity theft before the age of 30. The final set of findings from the three-part Cisco Connected World Technology Report reveals startling attitudes toward IT policies and growing security threats posed by the next generation of employees entering the workforce. The latest findings from the Cisco Connected World Technology Report reveal growing concerns for employers. The desire for on-demand access to information is so ingrained in the incoming generation of employees that many young professionals take extreme measures to access the Internet, even if it compromises their company or their own security. Such behaviour includes secretly using neighbours' wireless connections, sitting in front of businesses to access free Wi-Fi networks, and borrowing other people's devices without supervision. Considering that at least one of every three employees (36%) responded negatively when asked if they respect their IT departments, balancing IT policy compliance with young employees' desires for more flexible access to social media, devices, and remote access is testing the limits of traditional corporate cultures. At the same time, these employee demands are placing greater pressure on recruiters, hiring managers, IT departments, and corporate cultures to allow more flexibility in the hope the next wave of talent can provide an edge over competitors.

07 december 2011
Voice & Data: Cisco Introduces CloudVerse
Cisco adds a holistic cloud framework to its array of cloud offerings. It has today introduced 'CloudVerse.' CloudVerse is an end-to-end framework to build manage and connect public, private and hybrid clouds. CloudVerse promises 50 per cent savings on the total cost of ownership. Cisco has integrated three core elements - unified data center, intelligent network and cloud application and services. Unified Data Center is an automated fabric-based platform across physical and virtual environments. It allocates resources within and between data centers using unified computing and unified fabric. Cisco has added new Unified Management capabilities viz Intelligent Automation and Cisco Network Services Manager. Cloud Intelligent Network provides a consistent experience across multiple clouds; it has also added new 'Cloud-to-Cloud Connect' capabilities. The other core element, Cloud Applications and Services enable 'as a service' delivery of both Cisco and third-party cloud applications. It has added several capabilities to Cisco's Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) such as Private Cloud HCS, Mobile HCS and Customer Collaboration. Rajesh Rege, senior vice-president for Data Center, Virtualization and Cloud Business, Cisco India and SAARC said "We are witnessing a paradigm shift in computing with the emergence of cloud. Virtually every business sector in India is betting big on cloud computing because it enables the end-user to only subscribe to a portion of technology that they want to use. With a portfolio of cloud-based applications and services for customers to consume directly or through service providers and channel partners, Cisco CloudVerse will fundamentally change business models by enabling IT to be delivered as a service."

06 december 2011
Voice & Data: Cisco Tops Enterprise WLAN Market in Q3
Cisco Systems has bagged the maximum revenue market share in the enterprise WLAN market, thereby retaining its position as the top Wireless LAN provider, followed by Aruba Networks and Hewlett Packard, says a report by Dell'Oro, a research and analysis firm.In the Small office/home office (SOHO) market, Netgear retains the number one revenue rank, followed by Cisco Systems and D-Link. In the Outdoor Mesh segment, BelAir Networks is number one by revenue, followed by Tropos Networks and Ruckus Wireless, said the analysis firm. The overall Wireless LAN (WLAN) revenues grew more than 20% in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the year ago quarter. "Service providers with cellular infrastructures benefit as WiFi usage expands because this reduces demand on their more licensed spectrum networks. Dell'Oro Group expanded its WLAN coverage to include market statistics on the WiFi Offload market. This new research covers both outdoor units as well as indoor Enterprise-class devices," said Chris Depuy, Analyst, WLAN research, Dell'Oro Group on the report. The number of high-end WLAN devices used by service providers to deliver public service has increased over 100% versus last year, added the company.

01 december 2011
The Financial Express: Video 2.0: Delivering the Connected Experience
Video has today almost completely re-shaped the Internet and created entirely new ways of viewing content. The popularity of Internet video is growing fast and new capabilities in the Internet protocol (IP) network are delivering video experience to consumers in ways like never before. By scaling existing internet streaming services and making new services available, operators and service providers are delivering video content that subscribers' demand-anywhere, anytime, and on any device. In keeping with the increased demand for video on the Internet, Facebook for example, has teamed up with Skype to provide users with video chat facility. Google+ has followed suit and is offering community video chat to millions of its subscribers. According to the Cisco Visual Index study, video will account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2013, and 60 percent of all online video will be consumer video. In India, Internet video traffic will be 63 percent of all consumer Internet traffic in 2015, up from 20 percent in 2010. Internet-video-to-TV traffic is expected to increase 85-fold between 2010 and 2015. (The writer is senior VP (service provider) Cisco India and Saarc)

01 december 2011
SmartTechie: Indian IT: Achieving Non-Linear Growth
According to Nasscom's Strategic Review 2010 on the IT-BPO sector in India, the Indian IT sector will aggregate revenues of $88.1 billion in FY2011, with the IT software and services sector (excluding hardware) accounting for $76.1 billion of revenues. The domestic market is at an inflection point with the rise of India Inc. and growing adoption of IT to achieve greater efficiencies. The Government is fuelling IT adoption through the UIDAI and National eGovernance Programmes (NeGP), which create large scale IT infrastructure and promote corporate participation. As the Indian IT sector witnesses rapid growth, increased competition along with customer demands to cut costs, is prompting the industry to seek ways of reducing TCO so as to maximize profit. Besides diversifying core offerings through new business and pricing models, IT companies are focusing on transforming process delivery by leveraging collaboration technologies to streamline processes and drive growth.

01 december 2011
SME Channels: Can APP Stores Replace IT Markets?
With the gradual fading of 2011, partners and SMEs are waiting for the forecasts and predictions about technology trends for next year by the major vendors so that they could wait and invest on the right technology. As per Gartner the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2012 will revolve around media tablets, mobile centric applications and interfaces, contextual and social user experience, Internet of things, app stores and marketplaces, next-generation analytics, big data, in-memory computing, extreme low-energy servers and cloud computing. Cisco is the leader in the networking space and recently they have come into computing space with their data centre and cloud computing offering. B Raghavendran Vice- President and Head Partner Organization Cisco India and SAARC, says, "As the network increasingly becomes the platform for delivering a plethora of services, we have seen a big jump in Internet traffic. Additionally, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, increased traction in cloud services and virtualization as well as the growing popularity of IP voice and video have all resulted in the amount of data traffic increasing manifold. As the role of the network transforms, it is becoming central to establishing connections between people, devices, and information."

01 december 2011
ChanneWorld: Cisco Data Center Forecast Very Cloudy
Global cloud computing traffic will grow 12-fold from now to 2015, according to a new Cisco study. The growth represents a 66% compound annual rate, from 130 exabytes to 1.6 zettabytes, which is the equivalent of 22 trillion hours of streaming music, or 5 trillion hours of business Web conferencing with a webcam, or 1.6 trillion hours of online high-definition video streaming. Cloud is the fastest growing component of data center traffic, which itself will grow fourfold at a 33% compounded annual rate to reach 4.8 zettabytes annually by 2015, according to Cisco.

30 November 2011
Express Computer: Video Conferencing @ gov.in
The government is purchasing both video conferencing equipment and services in a big way. It was the government that came to the vendors' rescue during the slowdown. Apart from that, the government has also achieved some innovative implementations of this technology. While in the corporate domain, video is restricted to official meetings with an aim to reduce travel time and expenses, in the government it has been used as a tool for delivering education, for trying prisoners without their having to be brought to court, to facilitate telemedicine and as a medium for the common man to voice his grievances to the government. According Minhaj Zia, National Sales Manager, Collaboration, India and SAARC, Cisco, some relevant areas where the government has used video innovatively include telemedicine, distance learning and education, justice, telework and surveillance.

30 November 2011
Express Computer: BYOD: The Next Game Changer in IT
Bringing personal devices into the workplace is the norm in the West. It is also catching on in India. Sujai Hajela - VP/GM of Wireless Business Unit, Cisco, talked to Pupul Dutta about advances in mobility that were poised to reshape the enterprise and drive growth and innovation. What are the global trends in IT or wireless technology that you are witnessing these days? User expectations have risen. They want a better experience irrespective of the location, whether they are on the office LAN or connected via Wi-Fi, they want to enjoy a seamless experience without drops or congestion.

29 November 2011
CXO Today: Cloud Computing to Grow 12-Fold By '15: Cisco
The global cloud computing traffic will grow 12-fold from 130 exabytes to reach a total of 1.6 zettabytes annually by 2015, a 66 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), hardware and IT giant Cisco has said in its inaugural 'Cisco Global Cloud Index (2010 - 2015)' issued on Wednesday. Cloud is the fastest growing component of data centre traffic, which itself will grow four-fold at a 33 percent CAGR to reach 4.8 zettabytes annually by 2015. Cloud is also estimated to be 11 percent of data centre traffic, growing to more than 33 percent of the total by 2015. Cloud is becoming a critical element for the future of IT and delivery of video and content. The vast majority of the data centre traffic is not caused by end users but by the data centres and clouds themselves undertaking activities that are largely transparent to end users. By 2015, 76 percent of data centre traffic will remain within the data centre itself as workloads migrate between various virtual machines and background tasks take place, 17 percent of the total traffic leaves the data centre to be delivered to the end user, while an additional 7 percent of total traffic is generated between data centres through activities such as cloud-bursting, data replication and updates.

29 November 2011
Financial Chronicle: Revolution in Motion
DUBBED as the new 'voice,' video has provided users across the world with an opportunity to disregard restrictions created by geographical boundaries and made communication geography-agnostic, in the true sense of the word. Today, the versatility of video and its ability to facilitate quicker communication allows it to be optimally used across sectors. For instance, it is possible for people in remote villages -where exposure is limited and opportunities scarce -to access best-in-class academic services by using technology to connect with educational institutions in nearby cities. Similarly, patients in remote parts of India can employ telemedicine to communicate with doctors hundreds of miles away and understand what the best approach to treatment is. At another level, technology is helping banking professionals communicate with subject matter experts and offer demanding customers' quick and well informed counsel. The author is collaboration sales director of Cisco India & SAARC.

28 November 2011
CXO Today: Acquisitions to Build Our Portfolio Will Continue
Andre Smit, Managing Director, Data Center Sales, Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems is bullish on the Indian IT services market as he discusses some key trends in the enterprise space and how the company is gearing up to meet the market trends. Q] What kind of shift do you see happening in the enterprise IT space? Consumerization of IT has been a big shift. Users have started to demand services, and companies today need to provide information to a wide range of devices and can no longer mandate what technology users use. Virtualization has been a strong component in this. We are running a virtual desktop environment within Cisco. There are around 12,000 to 15,000 users. The solution in not limited to any device. The entire media richness is streamed through a suite of applications going through the network with services and security added to it. We are seeing a highly virtualized and automated environment where users get to choose what they want and how they want it. Q] What kind of opportunity is Cisco looking at in the cloud computing space? Cloud computing represents a tremendous opportunity to simplify the overall IT infrastructure. However, the market is uncertain with what is happening with cloud. It has created new challenges. CIOs are looking for solutions that allow them to use the dynamic new capabilities of virtualization to create more flexible and effective business resilience and disaster recovery models for the business. We are playing a major role in the cloud computing evolution by providing the underlying network intelligence and virtualized desktop environments that deliver performance, industry leading security, and availability for the most mission-critical applications whether in a private, public or hybrid cloud environment.

26 November 2011
DNA: Flooded with Help from Bangalore, the Villages Are Recovering
It is hard to imagine that 470 km from the country's IT capital lies a place that is among the most backward districts of the country. The 2009 floods had wreaked havoc in villages in Raichur district, washing away their houses and belongings. "When we visited the area first, the villages were in a bad condition. It was difficult for us to set foot here. People did not know what to do and from where to start. We made a conscious decision to choose the places that were worst affected. We had a fixed budget of $10 million and wanted to make best use of that," said Aravind Sitaraman, president, inclusive growth, Cisco Systems.

18 November 2011
SME Channels: Cisco Shows Commitment to SMB Customers
Cisco has unveiled 'Advantage Now' - a bi-annual road show aimed at enabling Cisco Partners to build a more profitable small business practice. Now in its fourth edition, 'Advantage Now' will feature a series of informative meets to share with partners- the latest initiatives, products, programs, insights and promotions from Cisco, to help them better serve SMB customers across the country.  Spread over a month, the event will cover 10 cities and reach out to approximately 1000 partners across India and SAARC. B Raghavendran, VP and Head, Partner Organization, Cisco India & SAARC said, "Cisco transitioned to a partner-led business model last year and this model requires us to work closely with our partners. Over the past one year, we've significantly increased our channel efforts to augment partner capabilities by providing leading practices, tools, and knowledge transfer, which in turn enable them to have more repeatable, successful, and profitable customer engagements. Advantage Now is aligned with our efforts to arm our partners with the right products and know-how to better serve this fast-growing segment and we expect to see a lot of enthusiasm from partners."

15 November 2011
Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog: Cisco's Borderless Networks Architecture Help Enterprises Overcome Security Challenges
I managed to get into conversation with Bipin Kumar Amin, principle consultant, Borderless Networks - Security, Cisco. I started by asking him about the security challenges currently faced by enterprises. Security challenges faced by enterprises: He said: "Indian network security market is growing consistently as organizations increasingly realize the importance of securing their data against external and internal threats. The advent of 3G in India has opened up new roads for technologies and applications owing to the greater bandwidth available, as well as faster data transfer. As data becomes more pervasive, privacy and security becomes the important concerns for the enterprises. Consequently, there has been no let-down in IT security spending because CIOs realize that without ensuring the security of their vital data, it's not possible to expand business.

02 November 2011
VARIndia: Janesh Moorjani to Lead Enterprise & Public Sector Business, Cisco India & SAARC
Cisco has announced that Janesh Moorjani has joined the India & SAARC sales organization as President - Enterprise and Public Sector for the region. In this role, he will lead Cisco's direct sales organisation across all Enterprise verticals and also the Public Sector segment. Janesh will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Naresh Wadhwa, President and Country Manager for Cisco in India. "We're very pleased to have Janesh join the Cisco India team. His diverse experience across roles and geographies, strong execution skills and proven ability to lead top performing teams, will play a critical role in taking our customer engagement to the next level and we welcome him into the role," said Naresh Wadhwa, President and Country Manager, Cisco India & SAARC

01 November 2011
InformationWeek: Cisco Cius: The Little Tablet that Could
What chance does another tablet have in a crowded market -- one that's dominated by Apple and Samsung? During the demo it became clear that Cisco has cleverly linked its Cius tablet to its ecosystem of TelePresence, Unified Communications, telephony, and collaboration tools. When IT majors like HP are struggling to sell tablets, can Cisco succeed? The answer was obvious in the first five minutes of the exclusive Cius tablet demo at the Cisco Telepresence room in Mumbai. Firstly, the Cius, pronounced "See Us" does not compete with the likes of iPad and Galaxy, although it is an Android-based (Froyo) tablet. Cisco calls it an "Enterprise-class tablet" and it's designed for video or visual communications (See us - get it?) Cisco wants you to believe that this is not an end-point solution – rather it is a "converged device". Secondly, the tablet is designed for enterprise/business use, and largely depends on Wi-fi connectivity and a desktop dock/handset (sold separately) for extended connectivity. It also has enterprise-grade security features akin to what you get on a Blackberry device. Thirdly, Cius can act as thin client for desktop virtualization/VDI. Fourthly, Cius is a part of a "system" of collaboration tools; though it can be used as a standalone Android tablet, the real utility of the tablet comes when it is hooked up to the Cisco system of Telepresence, Unified Communications, IP Telephony, various collaboration applications and the Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager) in the data center. That means you need to have a backend and all this IT infrastructure in place to fully appreciate the benefits of the Cius. So Cisco is really doing what Apple does best - selling not just a product but a complete system of intricately linked components that collectively offer a lot of possibilities. A Cisco spokesperson sums it up saying, "Cius does collaboration, communication and compute."

20 January 2011
Hindustan Times: Get Ready for a New Era of Digital Services on Cable TV
In order to digitise cable operators across the city, Cisco Systems has partnered with Gujarat Telelink Private limited (GTPL), a Gujarat-based MSO and broadband company. As per the guidelines set by the government, by June 30, Cisco aims to digitise at least 29 lakh subscribers across Kolkata. "The deadline for phase 1 cities (all four metro cities) is June 30. The networks have started getting upgraded and by June 30 the entire system will be digitised. This will revolutionise cable TV experience," said Sandeep Arora, vice president sales, Cisco. With the digitisation of cable services, cable will have to provide an STB to every subscriber, resulting in an upfront cost to the customer.

17 January 2011
Business Standard: Collaboration: What's next?
Globally, the 'workplace' is evolving. Productivity at work today has less to do with the individual's physical proximity to his/her workplace and more to do with access to the network and to collaborative tools. According to a recent report commissioned by Cisco, 60% of the employees surveyed felt that it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. Major technological and demographic transitions are fundamentally changing the way we communicate, work and collaborate. Taken individually, each one of these trends by itself is very powerful. Taken together, what we see is a tremendous transformational force. According to a recent report commissioned by Cisco, 60 percent of the employees surveyed felt that it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. (The author is Managing Director, Collaboration Sales, Asia Pacific & Japan, Cisco)

17 January 2011
Hindustan Times: Banned from Networking
Several companies are beginning to restrict the access their employees have to the Internet. While many do so out of fear of data leaks, security and compliance issues, others fear loss of productivity and virus attacks. Interestingly, however, there is a school of thought that believes that such policies can alienate employees and even stifle innovation at the workplace. Efforts directed at building employee engagement and trust could be thwarted. Many say social networks help companies recruit better, identify competitive intelligence, source subject-related expertise online, help showcase the company better, build brand recognition etc, then what's the hype and hoopla all about? According to the Cisco Connected World Technology Report, the new generation is not willing to compromise on anything.

15 January 2011
Dataquest: APAC Going Beyond Revenue
Investment by the government, a favorable regulatory environment, and an effective broadband/ IT infrastructure are critical for cloud development. Weakness in any of these factors will materially curtail development. Which is the hottest cloud-computing market in APAC? Where is the most revenue being generated? These are the two questions that run high on the minds of many CIOs, CFOs, CTOs and cloud vendors. The implication is that the answer to the second question will answer the first...In early 2011, Cisco set out to examine the cloud market in the region and enlisted The 451 group, an independent firm to assist in identifying the key traits/ factors for cloud-computing success, quantifying them and establishing the framework to rank countries across APAC on the basis of their relative standing on these fonts. Rajesh Rege, the author is senior VP, data center and cloud business, Cisco India and SAARC

13 January 2011
IndiaEducationReview: Cisco Networking Academy Bags eIndia 2011 Award
Cisco announced that its Networking Academy has won the prestigious eINDIA 2011 jury choice award for the 'Best ICT Enabled Skills Development Initiative'. The award was conferred on Cisco Networking Academy in recognition of its efforts toward enabling students to develop valuable information, communications and technology skills for increased access to opportunities in the global economy, a release from the networking major said. Speaking on the occasion, Bina Raj-Debur, regional head, Social Innovation Group, India and South Asia, said: "We are proud to receive this prestigious award. It is testimony to the continued efforts of the Networking Academy programme to make a positive difference to the skills-building efforts of the nation and the communities in which we live and operate. At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of youth through technology, enabling them to harness the enormous opportunities in the ICT domain. We are very pleased that our efforts have been recognized by industry and society alike."

13 January 2011
The Wall Street Journal: Career Journal: How to Make Networking Work for You
To boost your career this year, resolve to step up your networking game. In our hectic work lives, it's easy to relegate professional networking to the bottom of our to-do list. That could be a big mistake. Haphazard networking could cause you to miss out on important business and professional growth opportunities. "One has to be focused to nurture long-lasting relationships," says Gaurav Mishra, director of digital and social media at MSLGROUP Asia, a public relations firm. "It's all about prioritization," says Prem Velayudan, head of human resources at Cisco Systems India Pvt. Set a goal, such as an hour every week when you will follow-up with your contacts. You can also utilize traveling time and weekends to keep in touch. "Once you see the returns, you will yourself make time for networking," says Mr. Velayudan.

11 January 2011
The Economic Times: Made-for-India Cisco Router Finds Fans in Developed Markets
About four years after Cisco Systems named India as the location of its second global headquarters, the networking major has launched a product, innovated for India and other emerging markets and designed ground up from the country. The product, a router used in mobile towers, was tailored to meet the constraints - poor power supply, high real estate costs and huge growth in fresh subscriber numbers- with which operators functioned. But surprisingly, the product, which Cisco's president and country manager for India, Naresh B Wadhwa, calls 'more than just engineering' because of the innovation that went into designing it, has also generated considerable interest from outside emerging markets, in markets such as Europe, North America and Japan.

10 January 2011
The Financial Express: And the Winners of 2011's Guff Awards Are ...
There is an economic law that says that all markets are cyclical save one: the bullshit market, which knows only the bull phase. In 2011 everything else was in retreat but there were so many entries for my annual jargon awards that sifting through them all has been a long and painful process. But the runaway winner is Cisco's John Chambers, who managed to be even emptier - and much uglier - in fewer words: "We will accelerate our leadership across our five priorities and compete to win in the core."

10 January 2011
CRN: Interview: Stanimira Koleva, MD, APJC, Partner Business Group, Cisco
Stanimira Koleva, MD, APJC, Partner Business Group, Cisco, spoke to Sonal Desai, about the objectives and features of Partner Led, the company's new partner engagement model First of all, what is Partner Led? Till last year Cisco was focused on Customer Led, although 100 percent of our business came through partners. But in sync with our vision of Next Cisco, we decided to focus our entire energy and resources on partners to enable and empower them to sell to customers. We created a group within Cisco called Partner Led to drive this new partner engagement framework. Cisco's entire commercial business-which consists of mid-market and SMB customers-will be completely driven by partners. Since the launch of the program in August we have mapped 16,000 mid-market customers globally to our partners' sales teams. 100 percent of our commercial business sales force, as well as technical and service teams, have been aligned to the new Partner Led unit. The incentives of Cisco executives are now aligned with partner performance. They will share their goals with the partners, and in turn the partners will align their business with us. We have earmarked $15 million (of the $75 million globally) for Partner Led for the APJC region. This investment will show up in the form of more partner-centric marketing resources, incentive programs for mid-market- and SMB-focused Cisco solution providers, a partner relationship management system, and access to a team of Cisco engineers put in place to help partners close deals more effectively. In addition, we have simplified pricing and leveraged distribution support. We are now investing in building end-to-end solution capabilities, and partners are transitioning to the new model.

02 January 2011
Expresstravelworld: Danger Lurks in the Workplace
Ten years ago, employees were assigned laptops and told not to lose them. They were given logins to the company network, and told not to tell anyone their password. End of security training. Alarm bells are ringing in corporate circles as seven out of 10 young employees frequently ignore IT policies, and one in four is a victim of identity theft before the age of 30, according to a global study from US network equipment maker Cisco. The report reveals startling attitudes toward IT policies and growing security threats posed by the next generation of employees entering the workforce - a demographic that grew up with the internet and has an increasingly on-demand lifestyle that mixes personal and business activity in the workplace. Rebecca Jacoby, CIO, Cisco says, "As workforces become increasingly mobile, security and risk management concerns inevitably grow. The findings indicate the real need for better corporate policies, end-user education, and stronger, trusted relationships between employees and IT departments."

02 January 2011
Financial Chronicle: Banking 2012
These days those who walk into banks are extremely tech savvy. These young customers, often referred to as 'Gen Y' or Millenials, want advice about how to manage their day-to-day finances and trust their banks to be the primary providers of information. Gen Y is changing the rules of banking because they want their bank to be available to them anytime, anywhere and on any device. A retail banking study conducted by the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) in 2010 suggests that banks have an opportunity to increase revenues up to 10 percent by embracing Gen Y customers. Gen Y holds a large portion of financial wealth and will need a safe place to keep their assets, borrow for homes, and save for their children's education. This group will use the Internet and mobile devices as their main banking conduit. (The writer is senior vice president (financial services industry) of Cisco India & SAARC)

02 January 2011
Deccan Herald: ICT Innovations that Will Dominate 2012
In the world of ICT (information and communications technology) industry, things change fast as companies and researchers all over the world are constantly working on making life easier and more exciting for consumers without adding to the cost. Video communication revisited: Communicating with people using video will continue to be a priority, says Cisco, over the next few years. Cisco Chairman John Chambers predicted that four years from now, video is going to be the leading way in which we communicate and the primary form of information technology (IT). He stated that in 2010, video accounted for 51 per cent of internet traffic and by 2014; the number will skyrocket to 91 per cent.

31 december 2011
Express Computer: FCoE: Still to Connect
While billed as a panacea for all storage connectivity needs, FCoE is still a few years away from achieving it's much talked about benefits as a host of issues from costs to standards dog it. When a new data center is designed from the ground up, companies are showing some interest in FCoE as the cost savings from cabling coupled with investments in fewer devices (and managing the same) makes it attractive. Having said that, a company has to rearchitect its existing data center in order to accommodate FCoE, something that companies are loathe to do in the backdrop of the economic slowdown and business volatility. "The question to be asked by data center managers is not whether they should network their storage but which applications justify their investments," said Mahesh Gupta VP - Borderless Networks, Cisco India and SAARC.

26 december 2011
CRN: 10 Security Predictions For 2012
The future is hidden in the past, and many trends that started or gained momentum in 2011 will evolve into serious threats in 2012. As always, cybercriminals will follow the money in finding ways to siphon valuable data from emerging computing platforms. Google's smartphone OS Android will be a potentially lucrative bull's eye for hackers, along with social networks and small businesses. While profit is a prime motivator for most hackers, a growing number are becoming vigilantes, claiming a nobler path by justifying their criminality as a necessary evil in standing up for what they believe is right. 4. Advanced Persistent Threats: Also known as targeted attacks, advanced persistent threats will become more pervasive in 2012. Such attacks are less risky and more profitable then commandeering botnets that spread spam and e-mail carrying malware, experts say. As a result, large-scale attacks based on tricking an e-mail recipient into clicking on a link or opening an attachment are diminishing while APTs are increasing, networking company Cisco said in its annual security report in 2011. Since August 2010, the amount of spam recorded by Cisco has plummeted from 379 billion messages a day to 124 billion, the lowest since 2007. Conversely, APTs are rising.

23 december 2011
DataQuest: And Now, Technical to Managed ServicesResults
While product technology was getting commoditized, a lot of companies started looking into services and solution from mere box-pushing. This was not only helpful in building competitive advantage and retaining the customers, but also kept the balance sheet healthy. In professional services, most of the services we bring and do are towards newer technologies. We will not become another system integrator trying to get into the services arm. The services arm is more like insurance, it is more about us and how we manage operations. The more customers we support, the more efficient we get. We would give generic advice in architecture, says Srivalsan Ponnachath, SVP, services sales, Cisco India and Saarc.

16 december 2011
VARIndia: Cisco Reveals its Global Study Results
Cisco has announced the results of the global study which reveals that seven out of 10 young employees frequently ignore IT policies, and one in four is a victim of identity theft before the age of 30. The final set of findings from the three-part Cisco Connected World Technology Report reveals startling attitudes toward IT policies and growing security threats posed by the next generation of employees entering the workforce. The latest findings from the Cisco Connected World Technology Report reveal growing concerns for employers. The desire for on-demand access to information is so ingrained in the incoming generation of employees that many young professionals take extreme measures to access the Internet, even if it compromises their company or their own security. Such behaviour includes secretly using neighbours' wireless connections, sitting in front of businesses to access free Wi-Fi networks, and borrowing other people's devices without supervision. Considering that at least one of every three employees (36%) responded negatively when asked if they respect their IT departments, balancing IT policy compliance with young employees' desires for more flexible access to social media, devices, and remote access is testing the limits of traditional corporate cultures. At the same time, these employee demands are placing greater pressure on recruiters, hiring managers, IT departments, and corporate cultures to allow more flexibility in the hope the next wave of talent can provide an edge over competitors.

07 december 2011
Voice & Data: Cisco Introduces CloudVerse
Cisco adds a holistic cloud framework to its array of cloud offerings. It has today introduced 'CloudVerse.' CloudVerse is an end-to-end framework to build manage and connect public, private and hybrid clouds. CloudVerse promises 50 per cent savings on the total cost of ownership. Cisco has integrated three core elements - unified data center, intelligent network and cloud application and services. Unified Data Center is an automated fabric-based platform across physical and virtual environments. It allocates resources within and between data centers using unified computing and unified fabric. Cisco has added new Unified Management capabilities viz Intelligent Automation and Cisco Network Services Manager. Cloud Intelligent Network provides a consistent experience across multiple clouds; it has also added new 'Cloud-to-Cloud Connect' capabilities. The other core element, Cloud Applications and Services enable 'as a service' delivery of both Cisco and third-party cloud applications. It has added several capabilities to Cisco's Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) such as Private Cloud HCS, Mobile HCS and Customer Collaboration. Rajesh Rege, senior vice-president for Data Center, Virtualization and Cloud Business, Cisco India and SAARC said "We are witnessing a paradigm shift in computing with the emergence of cloud. Virtually every business sector in India is betting big on cloud computing because it enables the end-user to only subscribe to a portion of technology that they want to use. With a portfolio of cloud-based applications and services for customers to consume directly or through service providers and channel partners, Cisco CloudVerse will fundamentally change business models by enabling IT to be delivered as a service."

06 december 2011
Voice & Data: Cisco Tops Enterprise WLAN Market in Q3
Cisco Systems has bagged the maximum revenue market share in the enterprise WLAN market, thereby retaining its position as the top Wireless LAN provider, followed by Aruba Networks and Hewlett Packard, says a report by Dell'Oro, a research and analysis firm.In the Small office/home office (SOHO) market, Netgear retains the number one revenue rank, followed by Cisco Systems and D-Link. In the Outdoor Mesh segment, BelAir Networks is number one by revenue, followed by Tropos Networks and Ruckus Wireless, said the analysis firm. The overall Wireless LAN (WLAN) revenues grew more than 20% in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the year ago quarter. "Service providers with cellular infrastructures benefit as WiFi usage expands because this reduces demand on their more licensed spectrum networks. Dell'Oro Group expanded its WLAN coverage to include market statistics on the WiFi Offload market. This new research covers both outdoor units as well as indoor Enterprise-class devices," said Chris Depuy, Analyst, WLAN research, Dell'Oro Group on the report. The number of high-end WLAN devices used by service providers to deliver public service has increased over 100% versus last year, added the company.

01 december 2011
The Financial Express: Video 2.0: Delivering the Connected Experience
Video has today almost completely re-shaped the Internet and created entirely new ways of viewing content. The popularity of Internet video is growing fast and new capabilities in the Internet protocol (IP) network are delivering video experience to consumers in ways like never before. By scaling existing internet streaming services and making new services available, operators and service providers are delivering video content that subscribers' demand-anywhere, anytime, and on any device. In keeping with the increased demand for video on the Internet, Facebook for example, has teamed up with Skype to provide users with video chat facility. Google+ has followed suit and is offering community video chat to millions of its subscribers. According to the Cisco Visual Index study, video will account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2013, and 60 percent of all online video will be consumer video. In India, Internet video traffic will be 63 percent of all consumer Internet traffic in 2015, up from 20 percent in 2010. Internet-video-to-TV traffic is expected to increase 85-fold between 2010 and 2015. (The writer is senior VP (service provider) Cisco India and Saarc)

01 december 2011
SmartTechie: Indian IT: Achieving Non-Linear Growth
According to Nasscom's Strategic Review 2010 on the IT-BPO sector in India, the Indian IT sector will aggregate revenues of $88.1 billion in FY2011, with the IT software and services sector (excluding hardware) accounting for $76.1 billion of revenues. The domestic market is at an inflection point with the rise of India Inc. and growing adoption of IT to achieve greater efficiencies. The Government is fuelling IT adoption through the UIDAI and National eGovernance Programmes (NeGP), which create large scale IT infrastructure and promote corporate participation. As the Indian IT sector witnesses rapid growth, increased competition along with customer demands to cut costs, is prompting the industry to seek ways of reducing TCO so as to maximize profit. Besides diversifying core offerings through new business and pricing models, IT companies are focusing on transforming process delivery by leveraging collaboration technologies to streamline processes and drive growth.

01 december 2011
SME Channels: Can APP Stores Replace IT Markets?
With the gradual fading of 2011, partners and SMEs are waiting for the forecasts and predictions about technology trends for next year by the major vendors so that they could wait and invest on the right technology. As per Gartner the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2012 will revolve around media tablets, mobile centric applications and interfaces, contextual and social user experience, Internet of things, app stores and marketplaces, next-generation analytics, big data, in-memory computing, extreme low-energy servers and cloud computing. Cisco is the leader in the networking space and recently they have come into computing space with their data centre and cloud computing offering. B Raghavendran Vice- President and Head Partner Organization Cisco India and SAARC, says, "As the network increasingly becomes the platform for delivering a plethora of services, we have seen a big jump in Internet traffic. Additionally, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, increased traction in cloud services and virtualization as well as the growing popularity of IP voice and video have all resulted in the amount of data traffic increasing manifold. As the role of the network transforms, it is becoming central to establishing connections between people, devices, and information."

01 december 2011
ChanneWorld: Cisco Data Center Forecast Very Cloudy
Global cloud computing traffic will grow 12-fold from now to 2015, according to a new Cisco study. The growth represents a 66% compound annual rate, from 130 exabytes to 1.6 zettabytes, which is the equivalent of 22 trillion hours of streaming music, or 5 trillion hours of business Web conferencing with a webcam, or 1.6 trillion hours of online high-definition video streaming. Cloud is the fastest growing component of data center traffic, which itself will grow fourfold at a 33% compounded annual rate to reach 4.8 zettabytes annually by 2015, according to Cisco.

30 November 2011
Express Computer: Video Conferencing @ gov.in
The government is purchasing both video conferencing equipment and services in a big way. It was the government that came to the vendors' rescue during the slowdown. Apart from that, the government has also achieved some innovative implementations of this technology. While in the corporate domain, video is restricted to official meetings with an aim to reduce travel time and expenses, in the government it has been used as a tool for delivering education, for trying prisoners without their having to be brought to court, to facilitate telemedicine and as a medium for the common man to voice his grievances to the government. According Minhaj Zia, National Sales Manager, Collaboration, India and SAARC, Cisco, some relevant areas where the government has used video innovatively include telemedicine, distance learning and education, justice, telework and surveillance.

30 November 2011
Express Computer: BYOD: The Next Game Changer in IT
Bringing personal devices into the workplace is the norm in the West. It is also catching on in India. Sujai Hajela - VP/GM of Wireless Business Unit, Cisco, talked to Pupul Dutta about advances in mobility that were poised to reshape the enterprise and drive growth and innovation. What are the global trends in IT or wireless technology that you are witnessing these days? User expectations have risen. They want a better experience irrespective of the location, whether they are on the office LAN or connected via Wi-Fi, they want to enjoy a seamless experience without drops or congestion.

29 November 2011
CXO Today: Cloud Computing to Grow 12-Fold By '15: Cisco
The global cloud computing traffic will grow 12-fold from 130 exabytes to reach a total of 1.6 zettabytes annually by 2015, a 66 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), hardware and IT giant Cisco has said in its inaugural 'Cisco Global Cloud Index (2010 - 2015)' issued on Wednesday. Cloud is the fastest growing component of data centre traffic, which itself will grow four-fold at a 33 percent CAGR to reach 4.8 zettabytes annually by 2015. Cloud is also estimated to be 11 percent of data centre traffic, growing to more than 33 percent of the total by 2015. Cloud is becoming a critical element for the future of IT and delivery of video and content. The vast majority of the data centre traffic is not caused by end users but by the data centres and clouds themselves undertaking activities that are largely transparent to end users. By 2015, 76 percent of data centre traffic will remain within the data centre itself as workloads migrate between various virtual machines and background tasks take place, 17 percent of the total traffic leaves the data centre to be delivered to the end user, while an additional 7 percent of total traffic is generated between data centres through activities such as cloud-bursting, data replication and updates.

29 November 2011
Financial Chronicle: Revolution in Motion
DUBBED as the new 'voice,' video has provided users across the world with an opportunity to disregard restrictions created by geographical boundaries and made communication geography-agnostic, in the true sense of the word. Today, the versatility of video and its ability to facilitate quicker communication allows it to be optimally used across sectors. For instance, it is possible for people in remote villages -where exposure is limited and opportunities scarce -to access best-in-class academic services by using technology to connect with educational institutions in nearby cities. Similarly, patients in remote parts of India can employ telemedicine to communicate with doctors hundreds of miles away and understand what the best approach to treatment is. At another level, technology is helping banking professionals communicate with subject matter experts and offer demanding customers' quick and well informed counsel. The author is collaboration sales director of Cisco India & SAARC.

28 November 2011
CXO Today: Acquisitions to Build Our Portfolio Will Continue
Andre Smit, Managing Director, Data Center Sales, Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems is bullish on the Indian IT services market as he discusses some key trends in the enterprise space and how the company is gearing up to meet the market trends. Q] What kind of shift do you see happening in the enterprise IT space? Consumerization of IT has been a big shift. Users have started to demand services, and companies today need to provide information to a wide range of devices and can no longer mandate what technology users use. Virtualization has been a strong component in this. We are running a virtual desktop environment within Cisco. There are around 12,000 to 15,000 users. The solution in not limited to any device. The entire media richness is streamed through a suite of applications going through the network with services and security added to it. We are seeing a highly virtualized and automated environment where users get to choose what they want and how they want it. Q] What kind of opportunity is Cisco looking at in the cloud computing space? Cloud computing represents a tremendous opportunity to simplify the overall IT infrastructure. However, the market is uncertain with what is happening with cloud. It has created new challenges. CIOs are looking for solutions that allow them to use the dynamic new capabilities of virtualization to create more flexible and effective business resilience and disaster recovery models for the business. We are playing a major role in the cloud computing evolution by providing the underlying network intelligence and virtualized desktop environments that deliver performance, industry leading security, and availability for the most mission-critical applications whether in a private, public or hybrid cloud environment.

26 November 2011
DNA: Flooded with Help from Bangalore, the Villages Are Recovering
It is hard to imagine that 470 km from the country's IT capital lies a place that is among the most backward districts of the country. The 2009 floods had wreaked havoc in villages in Raichur district, washing away their houses and belongings. "When we visited the area first, the villages were in a bad condition. It was difficult for us to set foot here. People did not know what to do and from where to start. We made a conscious decision to choose the places that were worst affected. We had a fixed budget of $10 million and wanted to make best use of that," said Aravind Sitaraman, president, inclusive growth, Cisco Systems.

18 November 2011
SME Channels: Cisco Shows Commitment to SMB Customers
Cisco has unveiled 'Advantage Now' - a bi-annual road show aimed at enabling Cisco Partners to build a more profitable small business practice. Now in its fourth edition, 'Advantage Now' will feature a series of informative meets to share with partners- the latest initiatives, products, programs, insights and promotions from Cisco, to help them better serve SMB customers across the country.  Spread over a month, the event will cover 10 cities and reach out to approximately 1000 partners across India and SAARC. B Raghavendran, VP and Head, Partner Organization, Cisco India & SAARC said, "Cisco transitioned to a partner-led business model last year and this model requires us to work closely with our partners. Over the past one year, we've significantly increased our channel efforts to augment partner capabilities by providing leading practices, tools, and knowledge transfer, which in turn enable them to have more repeatable, successful, and profitable customer engagements. Advantage Now is aligned with our efforts to arm our partners with the right products and know-how to better serve this fast-growing segment and we expect to see a lot of enthusiasm from partners."

15 November 2011
Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog: Cisco's Borderless Networks Architecture Help Enterprises Overcome Security Challenges
I managed to get into conversation with Bipin Kumar Amin, principle consultant, Borderless Networks - Security, Cisco. I started by asking him about the security challenges currently faced by enterprises. Security challenges faced by enterprises: He said: "Indian network security market is growing consistently as organizations increasingly realize the importance of securing their data against external and internal threats. The advent of 3G in India has opened up new roads for technologies and applications owing to the greater bandwidth available, as well as faster data transfer. As data becomes more pervasive, privacy and security becomes the important concerns for the enterprises. Consequently, there has been no let-down in IT security spending because CIOs realize that without ensuring the security of their vital data, it's not possible to expand business.

02 November 2011
VARIndia: Janesh Moorjani to Lead Enterprise & Public Sector Business, Cisco India & SAARC
Cisco has announced that Janesh Moorjani has joined the India & SAARC sales organization as President - Enterprise and Public Sector for the region. In this role, he will lead Cisco's direct sales organisation across all Enterprise verticals and also the Public Sector segment. Janesh will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Naresh Wadhwa, President and Country Manager for Cisco in India. "We're very pleased to have Janesh join the Cisco India team. His diverse experience across roles and geographies, strong execution skills and proven ability to lead top performing teams, will play a critical role in taking our customer engagement to the next level and we welcome him into the role," said Naresh Wadhwa, President and Country Manager, Cisco India & SAARC

01 November 2011
InformationWeek: Cisco Cius: The Little Tablet that Could
What chance does another tablet have in a crowded market -- one that's dominated by Apple and Samsung? During the demo it became clear that Cisco has cleverly linked its Cius tablet to its ecosystem of TelePresence, Unified Communications, telephony, and collaboration tools. When IT majors like HP are struggling to sell tablets, can Cisco succeed? The answer was obvious in the first five minutes of the exclusive Cius tablet demo at the Cisco Telepresence room in Mumbai. Firstly, the Cius, pronounced "See Us" does not compete with the likes of iPad and Galaxy, although it is an Android-based (Froyo) tablet. Cisco calls it an "Enterprise-class tablet" and it's designed for video or visual communications (See us - get it?) Cisco wants you to believe that this is not an end-point solution – rather it is a "converged device". Secondly, the tablet is designed for enterprise/business use, and largely depends on Wi-fi connectivity and a desktop dock/handset (sold separately) for extended connectivity. It also has enterprise-grade security features akin to what you get on a Blackberry device. Thirdly, Cius can act as thin client for desktop virtualization/VDI. Fourthly, Cius is a part of a "system" of collaboration tools; though it can be used as a standalone Android tablet, the real utility of the tablet comes when it is hooked up to the Cisco system of Telepresence, Unified Communications, IP Telephony, various collaboration applications and the Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager) in the data center. That means you need to have a backend and all this IT infrastructure in place to fully appreciate the benefits of the Cius. So Cisco is really doing what Apple does best - selling not just a product but a complete system of intricately linked components that collectively offer a lot of possibilities. A Cisco spokesperson sums it up saying, "Cius does collaboration, communication and compute."