More than 19,000 people gathered at Cisco Live this week. Not wanting to disappoint anyone, Cisco made a number of announcements this year that spanned many different areas, the most notable of which is networking his cloud.
With the “Let’s Go” theme, I initially thought Tom Brady would make an appearance, but spoiler alert: There was another NFL superstar’s visit, though he didn’t, and NFL Chief Security Officer Kathy・Mr. Lanier talked about the importance of cyber security. in the NFL. This was followed by Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco, and Jeetu Patel, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Security and Applications Business Group, throwing soccer balls around the stage and into the audience. I was. Comedian Jim Gaffigan provided the comic relief closing the keynote.
In line with Cisco’s strategy to connect everything, both days saw numerous innovations focused on simplifying, securing, and delivering a better experience across networking, security, collaboration, and applications. .
Network update
The announcement that stood out to me was Cisco’s vision for the Networking Cloud. This is Cisco’s bold move to radically simplify the management of its network portfolio (and security).
Network Cloud Vision is a multi-year effort to enable simplified and integrated cloud-based network and security management.
The first phase began last year with Meraki adding monitoring support for Catalyst switches. All networks starting from campus wired and wireless systems He works on providing cloud-based network management across domains. It’s also important to note that rather than abandoning its on-premises management platform, Cisco plans to offer options to organizations that prefer or need to keep all their data on-site. . The goal is to consolidate all existing platforms into just two: a cloud-based management system and an on-premises management system.
Creating and communicating a vision is another thing, but what comes next is the hard work of executing it. That’s why every network executive I spoke to at Cisco Live was so committed to making this vision a reality.
Additionally, there are several other network-related features focused on simplifying the portfolio. This includes:
- Cross-platform navigation: This starts with single sign-on to all network platforms to streamline and simplify access. There’s also an API key exchange to facilitate data sharing, and a platform navigator to easily navigate between existing network management and security systems.
- Simplified usability: Cisco implements an integrated design system for cloud-based networking and security. The goal is to provide a unified experience (“principle of surprise” as I like to call it) across all network and security platforms. Think switching between iPhone and iPad for a consistent and intuitive experience.
- Simplified Catalyst Stack: This is a rebranding of DNA Center to Catalyst Center and Viptela SD-WAN to Catalyst SD-WAN to leverage and enhance the Catalyst brand and simplify naming conventions. It starts with action. Next comes Catalyst SD-WAN, delivered in the cloud, enabling a pay-as-you-go model. Cisco also announced a simplified Catalyst license for switches that combines hardware, software, and support licenses into a single SKU.
- Platform Enhancements: ThousandEyes Network Assurance has been extended to Meraki MX and WebEx devices. This gives you greater insight to the edge (which may include your home office) and gives you more comprehensive network visibility. Enhanced Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst switches to expose CLI show commands to aid in troubleshooting. AI Blueprints enable organizations to rapidly deploy high-performance networks to support AI modeling environments.
- Sustainability Insights: Cisco also added these from the Nexus dashboard and WebEx Control Hub.
Cisco Adds Security, Observability Tools
Security updates include Cisco Secure Access for a secure service edge, the new Secure Firewall 4200, and Cisco Multicloud Defense. The networking giant has also added generative AI and security to its hybrid work software.
A new cloud-native application protection platform provides security monitoring, analysis, and remediation to build, deploy, and run secure cloud-native applications in today’s distributed multicloud environments.
Cisco also unveiled a full-stack observability platform that enables users to capture data across many different domains including applications, networking, infrastructure, security, cloud, sustainability and business sources.
Additionally, new partnerships with Panduit and Vertiv now provide insights into energy usage and sustainability in the Nexus dashboard. This includes historical and real-time insights into energy consumption costs and greenhouse gas emissions for Nexus switches and other infrastructure.
The concept of circularity was also mentioned several times in relation to the ability to reuse or responsibly recycle Cisco equipment. Cisco has also added sustainability insights via WebEx Control Hub.
what next
Moving to cloud-based management requires not only new technology, but also a cultural change. With so many Cisco users, especially experienced CCIEs, leveraging his CLI commands for a living, the idea of using his GUI in a cloud-based system is as appealing as it is to digital native employees. may not be relevant.
However, given how complex modern, highly distributed IT environments have become, the ability to leverage cloud-based management software means reduced lifecycle management activities, faster access to new capabilities, and faster resolution of issues. It can bring many benefits such as faster detection and resolution. AI and automation.
Given that the ability to view CLI commands is included in the latest release, it seems that Cisco understands these concerns and is trying to simplify the transition. My advice is to simply try it out first and provide feedback to help shape future releases. Cisco offers Free trial for eligible users.
Going forward, many of Cisco’s customers will be focused on when and how we execute on our vision of providing a simple and secure network environment. Given the amount of attention that Cisco receives, it becomes important for Cisco to communicate a formal roadmap so that it can then highlight it as evidence of progress with each new release. This includes network management as well as integration of network and security tools.
Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget. The firm’s analysts have business relationships with technology vendors.
