A new Enterprise Class Teleworker (ECT) service developed by Cisco IT to automate time-consuming configuration and management tasks will help customers address remote management needs. The new service was the topic of a recent three-day technology-sharing workshop that brought together members of Cisco IT with executives and engineers from Customer Advocacy Advanced Services and the Security Technology Group.

Typically, Cisco first develops products and services, and then IT deploys them for Cisco employees to use. However, in an unusual reversal of the norm, Cisco IT presented the new ECT service to select engineers and manager from the Advanced Services and Security Technology groups.

The ECT service has been in place within Cisco for more than three years, according to Plamen Nedeltchev, a member of the technical staff within the IT Infrastructure Access organization. “Cisco IT supports more than 6500 at-home Cisco workers with a secure home-office wired/ wireless/telephony network. Each ECT home network is built on a Cisco IOS router, either a Cisco 831 or 871 (for wireless). But the heart of the service is Cisco IT’s patented methods for automating the incredibly time-consuming tasks of provisioning, configuring, and managing thousands of IOS routers and IP phones,” says Nedeltchev.

These automation methods are a significant value-add for employees and customers who want a turnkey remote access solution.

"ECT has been a true leadership solution from Cisco, with end to end convergence and integrated solution framework being its key drivers, and this provides a whole new set of services and solution support model for customers" says Gautam Aggarwal, Senior Manager for Security Solutions within Security Technology Group (DSSTG). "Packaged services can be achieved for seamless integration of ECT solution components in the area of VPNs, Layered Security, Threat Defense, Secure Network Provisioning and Management. Ease of Deployment and Business Continuity have been the main pillars of the ECT solution and has already achieved tremendous traction with the field and high success rate with customers".

“This [service] represents a unique opportunity for Cisco to support our customers with a new range of secure remote access solutions,” says Nedeltchev. “It is a little different from our usual solutions—it requires coordination among network, security, voice, and network management groups for it to work. Automating most of the tedious configuration and security management makes a large-scale service possible.”

“Advanced Services sees this as a great opportunity to expand our portfolio with a managed services-led solution for customers with IOS-based equipment and IP phones in several remote locations,” says John Morrell, senior director in Advanced Services. “We’ll work with IT, the Security Technology Group, and Worldwide Technology Practices to create a compelling customer offer based on the innovative work done by Cisco IT.”

For More Information

Cisco on Cisco
Enterprise Class Teleworker Service
Cisco IT Enterprise Class Teleworker Case Study