Clearwire has selected Cisco to supply equipment for its 4G mobile WiMAX network buildout.The deal appears to be Cisco's biggest WiMAX win, though terms weren't disclosed.

Under the multiyear agreement, Cisco will also develop mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi devices for end users that extend its Linksys line of consumer routers. The devices, expected later this year for the CLEAR 4G mobile WiMAX service, will be marketed to consumers, small office/home office, and small-to-midsize business users.

Clearwire is in the process of testing and certification of Cisco's 7600 series routers, ONS 15454 and ONS 15310 optical platforms, ASA Firewalls, and the Service and Application Module for IP Home Agent.

Clearwire currently provides mobile WiMAX services in Balitmore and Portland, Ore., and plans to bring its CLEAR 4G service to more than 120 million users in 80 markets across the United States by the end of 2010. The operator, though, is facing complaints from users about slow service and an onerous termination fee.

Continue Reading at PCWorld.

Cisco’s acquisition of Pure Digital, maker of the Flip camcorder, has sparked a lot of discussion about the networking giant’s intentions. One theory is that Cisco is looking to compete with Apple—especially in the digital living room.

Ben Worthen at the Wall Street Journal surmises:

It isn’t a big leap to see Cisco developing a home-media hub that cobbles these pieces together—some sort of device that allows people to upload and watch videos and listen to music throughout their homes. In fact, it looks like a next logical step. Apple has a similar device called Apple TV, which can direct music to a home audio system and videos to a television. It works with Apple’s iTunes store, naturally. 

All of that is true. As noted yesterday Cisco has a lot of living room parts. The cable box (Scientific Atlanta), the router (Linksys), software to bring video conferencing to the home and now the Flip camcorder. 

Worthen connects a few dots and notes that the folks that make the Flip have proven they can create the right gadget at the right time. On that topic definitely read Michael Arrington's history lesson on Pure Digital and how it arrived at the Flip. 

While this digital living room scrum is noteworthy—and pretty damn interesting—let’s not lose sight of Cicso’s big goal. Sell the big honking networking gear that will move all of this video around. Cisco really doesn’t care where the video comes from as long as enterprises and consumers move a lot of it over a network increasingly powered by the networking giant’s hardware and software. 

The only thing Apple and Cisco have in common is that they want to sell you a ton of hardware. Apple sells the fashion statements and Cisco sells most of the stuff you never see in the network, data center and telecom provider. Every once in a while Cisco puts on a nice front end—Telepresence and Flip camcorders—to entice you to use more bandwidth for video. 

The living room is only part of the equation for Cisco. In fact, it’s only part of the equation for Apple. Both merely see it as an avenue to sell you more hardware. Both companies are pursuing different halo effects.

UCS may help Cisco gain a foothold in server and storage purchasing decisions

As anticipated, on Monday Cisco detailed its Unified Computing System, which comprises a blade server, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single rackable system -- all of which the company claims help customers achieve "next-generation datacenters."

The Unified Computing System comes out of what Cisco called a "joined at the chip" partnership with none other than Intel.

"Cisco is differentiating itself in the systems market space, with a blade server and fabric interconnect as a single integrated management domain. Cisco is attempting to use virtualization to break up the traditional server architecture by recombining it with networking technologies," analyst firm Gartner explained in a report.

A transition in the way IT shops purchase servers, storage, and networking hardware may already have been underway. In recent years, large IT shops have begun buying in "pods," or discrete racks of servers and storage systems configured for certain operating systems and classes of applications.

Gartner has been calling this trend toward modular, building-block datacenter fabrics "tera-architectures" since 2004, according to Andrew Butler, the research firm's distinguished analyst and vice president. Since then virtualization has become endemic, Butler added. "A fabric-based architecture that brings the server, storage, and network components closer together will be very well positioned to leverage both trends," he explained.

IDC is also seeing "a requirement for purpose-built systems that lower the burden of integration across servers, storage, and networking organizations for multiple workloads," Gartner said in a report.

Working across server, storage, and networking units within a customer also means that Cisco's Unified Computing System will likely carry a heftier price tag which, in turn, requires the involvement of more IT folks with buying power -- possibly the CIO. So UCS just might give Cisco a way into hardware purchasing decisions that it did not have before. 

But Cisco is not the only one there. Long-time partners-cum-competitors Dell, HP, and IBM also team up with Microsoft and VMware, meaning they can match Cisco's intentions for servers and storage.

"Cisco is betting that UCS's technological differences will beat the competition. But to displace an incumbent vendor like HP, these features must also be price competitive and offer value, as the server market is driven by price and … that is lower than Cisco's norm," Gartner said in its report.

Forrester Research principal analyst Galen Schreck sees the move as defensive on Cisco's part. "It was necessary because there's been a collision of servers and networking. People are buying HP blades with networking consolidated in them. What would be left for Cisco in that universe?" Schreck adds that Cisco's approach is "a bit more elegant."

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Cisco IronPort Is First Security Vendor to Offer Flexible Portfolio of Appliance-Based Managed, Hosted and Hybrid E- mail Protection Services

Media

Cisco's New Email Security Services And Why They're Unique

Benefits for Customers

Benefits for Channel Partners

SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 3, 2009 - Cisco today announced new managed, hosted and hybrid hosted e-mail security services that provide the industry's most versatile set of e-mail protection offerings. As businesses demand greater agility and flexibility in how they collaborate, the Cisco® IronPort® Email Security services are aimed at providing them with complete choice and control over where their e-mail security is deployed and managed, whether it be on premise, off-site, in the cloud or a combination of the three.

Facts/Highlights:

• Spam is the weapon of choice for many criminal networks. Findings from the 2008 Cisco Annual Security Report revealed that spam accounts for nearly 200 billion messages a day, approximately 90 percent of the world's e-mail traffic. Today's announcement features security offerings to help businesses in light of these trends.
• Cisco IronPort Hosted Email Security, Hybrid Hosted Email Security and Managed Email Security services provide businesses with the ability to choose the e-mail security solution that meets their unique needs. These services enable high levels of e-mail protection, with exclusive preventive and reactive technologies, including spam protection, data-loss prevention, virus defense, e-mail authentication and powerful reporting tools for customized security services.

Cisco IronPort Hosted Email Security Solution

• Protection is delivered via a dedicated e-mail infrastructure hosted in a network of Cisco data centers.
• Unlike other hosted e-mail security solutions, the Cisco IronPort offering has no shared infrastructure. This provides organizations with the highest uptime while maximizing protection of sensitive data from contamination risks.
• The cloud-based model supports corporate green initiatives by reducing the corporate data center's energy and physical footprint, reducing power, cooling and operational expenses.
• Customers retain control of hosted devices with co-managed device access and can access real-time reports and modify configurations without service ticket response delays.
• Capacity assurance provides scalable protection enabling for future growth of spam volume.

Cisco IronPort Hybrid Hosted Email Security Solution

• The benefits of on-premise and cloud-based solutions are combined, as control of inbound traffic is enabled in the cloud, and outbound controls, such as data-loss prevention and encryption, can be handled on a customer's premise.
• Organizations can take advantage of the efficiencies of the cloud but maintain physical control of on-premise equipment for handling sensitive data.
• With a common management interface spanning both the hosted and on-premise equipment, the hybrid solution delivers unified centralized reporting, message tracking and quarantine.
• All future capacity requirements for hosted and on-premise infrastructure is included in each year's annual service fee.

          Cisco IronPort Managed Email Security Service

• A state-of-the-art service is staffed by Cisco e-mail security experts who remotely manage and monitor customers' e-mail infrastructure.
• The service provides the high level of data security inherent in on-site e-mail security appliances while taking advantage of the flexibility to delegate some or all management and maintenance responsibilities, allowing information technology staff members to focus on other strategic initiatives.
• Companies can eliminate ongoing training and avoid additional spending on dedicated hardware for managing rising spam volumes.
• Capital expenses on hardware are reduced with a simplified per-user, per-year pricing model that can be included in the operational expense budget.
• Customer support is available 24x7 through security operations centers staffed by Cisco e-mail security experts.

Pricing and Service Availability:

Cisco IronPort Email Security services will be available in April through resellers authorized to sell Cisco IronPort e-mail security services. Pricing is variable on the type of service implemented.

Visit ciscodealer.com for other security and networking options.

Introduction

"Cisco Sells its 6 Millionth IP phone as Worldwide Demand Soars for IP Communications."

Australian bank Westpac takes delivery of Cisco's six- millionth phone; more than 300,000 Cisco phones sold in Australia.

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New Aironet 1140 Series Access Point and Cisco M-Drive Technology Combine to Accelerate Adoption of Next- Generation Wireless for Mobility and Collaboration

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 13, 2009 - Cisco announced today the industry's first next-generation wireless access point that combines full 802.11n performance with deployment simplicity, enabling businesses to cost-effectively support the growing wave and diversity of mobile devices and applications.

The new Cisco® Aironet® 1140 Series Access Point is introduced at a time when businesses are becoming increasingly mobile and collaborative. The Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n Draft 2.0 access point is designed to meet the need for integrating high-quality voice, video and rich media across wireless networks with greater performance and throughput than prior 802.11a/g-based wireless networks. Cisco, which delivered the first enterprise-class Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n Draft 2.0 platform in 2007, is now taking 802.11n mainstream with new solutions that offer ease of deployment, reliability and performance. Learn more about Cisco's leadership in 802.11n and business demands for wireless in a video from Ben Gibson, Cisco's senior director of mobility solutions. http://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/comments/cisco_taking_80211n_mainstream_with_aironet_1140.

The Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point offers full 802.11n performance with security while using standard Power over Ethernet (PoE). The new access point combines a sleek design with power efficiency to simplify deployment in office environments. In addition, Cisco's heritage in building enterprise-class networks is further extended to the wireless network with the introduction of Cisco M-Drive Technology - a set of features that delivers a reliable and consistent radio frequency (RF) platform that simplifies wireless adoption and enhances 802.11n performance. Learn more about the Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point and Cisco M-Drive Technology in a video with Chris Kozup, Cisco's senior manager of mobility solutions. http://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/comments/cisco_taking_80211n_mainstream_with_aironet_1140

Tune in to Cisco Mobility TV to hear how Cisco is taking 802.11n wireless mainstream with the Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point and M-Drive Technology

When: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009, 10-11 a.m. Pacific Time

Where: Pre-register now at http://www.cisco.com/go/semreg/motvjan13/170665_17

Facts:

• As part of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, the Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point integrates easily into any enterprise network targeting investment protection and a low total cost of ownership.

• The Aironet 1140 Series Access Point is the only dual-radio platform that combines full 802.11n Draft 2.0 performance (up to nine times the throughput of existing 802.11a/g wireless networks) and built-in security features using standard 802.3af Power over Ethernet.

• The access point can be ordered in a new Eco-Pack, a 10-access point bulk pack that reduces packaging by 50 percent and allows simpler unpacking, staging and installation.

• The access point takes advantage of Cisco M-Drive Technology - a new system-wide set of features of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network that showcases Cisco's RF excellence to deliver a reliable and consistent platform that further enhances 802.11n performance. The benefits of Cisco M-Drive Technology include improving wireless coverage and capacity, optimizing device connections, and simplifying wireless management.

• ClientLink, a feature of Cisco M-Drive Technology, will help extend the useful life of existing 802.11a/g devices while enhancing the performance of new 802.11n devices. The technology (see below for availability) will use beam forming to improve the throughput for existing 802.11a/g devices, increase overall wireless channel capacity and reduce wireless coverage holes for legacy devices.

• Miercom, an independent testing and analysis lab, tested ClientLink which showed an increase of up to 65 percent in throughput for existing 802.11a/g devices connecting to a Cisco 802.11n network. Unlike other solutions that do not offer performance improvements for legacy devices, ClientLink delivers airtime connectivity fairness for both 802.11n and 802.11a/g devices. Furthermore, by increasing the throughput speed for 802.11a/g clients, ClientLink effectively increases the total available channel capacity by up to 27 percent, and can help optimize both 802.11n and 802.11a/g device performance. For the complete Miercom testing methodology and results, download the ClientLink report at: http://www.cisco.com/go/802.11n/

• Cisco M-Drive Technology is currently available as a software upgrade for existing Cisco Unified Wireless Network customers. The ClientLink feature is scheduled to be available to customers as a part of their Cisco SMARTnet support agreements in the first half of 2009.

• The Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point is available globally with a list price of $1,299 USD. The 10-unit Eco-Pack for the Aironet 1140 Series Access Point has a list price of $12,990 USD. Customers should engage their Cisco partner to explore any current trade-in and pricing options. Cisco Capital has financing programs to provide customers flexible purchasing options. Cisco Services offers migration services to assist in the adoption of next generation wireless.

Supporting Quotes:

• "Cisco leads the industry with more 802.11n deployments than any other vendor, a result of our expertise in addressing the next generation of mobility solutions that enterprises need to enhance and simplify their business," said Maciej Kranz, vice president of product marketing for the Cisco Wireless Networking Business Unit. "To support the increasing wave of mobile devices, media-rich collaborative applications and mobile user expectations, businesses need a proven 802.11n wireless solution, and the easy-to-deploy 1140 Series Access Point is designed to do just that."

• "We increased employee efficiency and improved patient satisfaction by mobilizing applications, including bedside and surgical charting, patient throughput management and voice over IP," said Scott Lapham, network engineer at Southeast Alabama Medical Center. "With the Cisco Aironet 1140 Series Access Point, we significantly enhanced the performance of our wireless network; and this will support more mobile devices, as well as the next wave of mobility applications like asset tracking and mobilizing our picture archiving and communications system (PACS) software to view large radiology images where needed."

• "Cisco's M-Drive Technology simplifies the adoption of 802.11n by delivering high-performance and a stable wireless environment," said John Yrigoyen, director of Wireless Solutions at NEC Unified Solutions. "As a user benefit, expect improved wireless coverage, optimized device connections and simplified management."

Tags / Keywords: Cisco, M-Drive, ClientLink, Motion, Southeast Alabama Medical Center, NEC Unified Solutions, Aironet 1140, Aironet 1250, 802.11n, wireless, WLAN, enterprise, mobility, collaboration, new business models

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com.

The following table compares the currently shipping Catalyst 6500 Models.  CiscoDealer.com buys and sells used Catalyst 6500 Equipment.  For more information about current inventory and pricing, call us toll free at 1-800-544-5345.

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New Cisco Emerging Technology Simplifies Media Sharing in Any Format to Any Screen

SAN JOSE, Calif. December 8, 2008 - Cisco® today announced a media processing platform that simplifies live and on-demand media sharing across PCs, mobile devices and other digital screens, by seamlessly formatting video and rich media for viewing on any device. The create once and share anywhere Cisco Media Processing platform provides media conversion, real-time post production, editing, formatting, and network distribution capabilities in a single networked solution to help businesses develop targeted visual communications that drive intimacy with employees and customers.

The first product being introduced within the Cisco Media Processing portfolio is the Cisco Media Experience Engine (MXE) 3000, which delivers the ability to transform a single source of content so that it is playable on any device. It also delivers real-time post production and processing capabilities such as watermarking, voice and video editing, text and image overlays and noise reduction to create customized broadcast quality video experiences.

Cisco's business video strategy combines systems and services, using the network as the platform, to help enable video solutions that create powerful visual networking experiences across multiple devices. The Cisco MXE 3000 joins a new class of media-optimized technologies and solutions that enable better video experiences, faster delivery of rich media content and simplified media sharing across the network. These "medianet" technologies will enable exciting, advanced communications, collaboration and entertainment experiences through video- and rich media-optimized service provider, business, and home networks, known as "medianets."

"The proliferation of video as a communications and collaboration medium continues to drive new business models for our customers. As businesses look for ways to do more with less, video has emerged as the technology that can make a significant impact in the way we interact and manage," said Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco's Emerging Technologies group. "Media Processing embodies the fabric of medianet and will enable a range of new experiences on Cisco medianets, including language translation for live and on-demand video, speech recognition that will make video searchable and the transformation of video to make it available to all connected devices with displays."

Cisco Media Processing is the latest addition to Cisco's growing list of emerging technologies, a set of technology and business model innovations that build upon Cisco's core expertise in IP networking. Examples of recently introduced emerging technologies include Cisco TelePresence, Cisco Digital Media Systems (DMS), and Cisco Physical Security, among others.

"Cyprus University of Technology is excited about MXE 3000's capabilities to extend the reach of our video content to our students. We can create the video source once and use this new solution to adapt the content seamlessly for digital signage, PCs, and even mobile devices," said Filippos Filippou, director of information systems and technology, Cyprus University of Technology. "We will also be able to use the MXE 3000 to customize the viewing experience using its graphics overlay, editing, and quality enhancement capabilities. Cisco's Media Experience Engine coupled with Cisco's Digital Media System delivers a complete solution that takes any media content to any endpoint."

DMS Remote Management Service for the Cisco Media Experience Engine is available through Cisco's Remote Operations Services (ROS). Remote Operations Services through Cisco Services help customers deploy a tightly integrated, end-to-end solution with flexible service options to augment an organization's internal staff, such as 24/7 proactive monitoring, incident management, identification and remediation and service level management.

The Cisco Media Experience Engine is available immediately. For more information, visit www.cisco.com/go/mxe.

Supporting Resources:

Media Experience Engine
Cisco Digital Media Systems
Cisco Web Site

Related Announcement:

Cisco Introduces 'Medianet' Technologies to Drive New Generation of Video and Rich Media Experiences

About Cisco Systems

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Designed for Service Provider IP NGN Needs, Cisco ASR 9000 Offers Unsurpassed Scale, Nonstop Video Experience and Reduced Carbon Footprint

SAN JOSE, Calif. - November 11, 2008 - Cisco today announced a major leap in networking technology at the service provider network edge with the introduction of the Cisco® Aggregation Services Router 9000 Series (ASR 9000). The Cisco ASR 9000 is designed to deliver massive scale, non-stop video experience and a reduced carbon footprint. The Cisco ASR 9000 meets service providers' need to increase the speed, longevity, services richness and efficiency of the network edge, a demand spurred by the massive spike in video and data traffic across wireline, cable and mobile networks.

The Cisco ASR 9000 follows the introduction eight months ago of the Cisco ASR 1000 Series, the first in a series of Cisco aggregation services routers. With the 92-terabit Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System (CRS) in the core, Cisco offers the most comprehensive core and edge solution to meet customer speed and scaling needs in the "zettabyte era."

"The Cisco ASR 9000 offers service providers tremendous scalability and a services-optimized architecture that truly sets a new benchmark in the industry for carrier Ethernet systems for the zettabyte era," said Pankaj Patel, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Service Provider Technology Group. "This platform is designed for IP NGN transformation and will be used as the carrier Ethernet transport foundation for video and mobility data growth. The Cisco ASR 9000 has been specifically optimized to deliver video and rich media better than any other platform on the market."

The "Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and Methodology, 2007-2012" report provides key findings on a variety of consumer and business Internet Protocol (IP) networking trends that are driven largely by the increasing use of video and Web 2.0 social networking and business collaboration applications. Cisco VNI projections indicate that IP traffic will increase at a combined annual growth rate of 46 percent from 2007 to 2012, nearly doubling every two years. This will result in an annual bandwidth demand on the world's IP networks of approximately 522 exabytes, or more than half a zettabyte. This demand on networks is equivalent to downloading 125 billion DVD movies per month.

"Earlier generations of edge routers were not designed to address the massive growth that IP video is driving across mobile and wireline networks. Softbank Corporation is looking for innovative solutions that enable us to reduce costs, keep pace and converge our broadband, mobile and business networks onto common infrastructure," said Junishi Miyakawa,?executive vice president, director and CTO of SOFTBANK MOBILE, SOFTBANK BB, SOFTBANK TELECOM. "The Cisco ASR 9000 offers investment protection, massive bandwidth capacity and excellent services capability in a highly reliable and efficient design that gives us the flexibility to build a truly leading IP NGN network for our 4G mobile and video services."

The 10- and six-slot Cisco ASR 9000 offers a series of new hardware and software innovations to deliver visual networking in the "zettabyte era." Those innovations are:

• Unsurpassed scale
  The Cisco ASR 9000 provides up to six times the capacity of comparable edge-router solutions, with up to 6.4 terabits per second of total capacity and up to four times the line-card speed available on the market, with 400 gigabits per slot. The Cisco ASR 9000 will also extend IP over dense wavelength-division multiplexing (IPoDWDM) with Ethernet services to the aggregation edge by integrating optical transponders. By providing IPoDWDM from core to edge with Cisco CRS-1, Cisco XR-12000 and Cisco 7600 Series Routers, the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) significantly reduces network complexity and cost while reducing the carbon footprint.

• Nonstop video experience
  The Cisco ASR 9000 incorporates the Cisco Advanced Video Services Module (AVSM), a major innovation enabling terabytes of streaming capacity at the aggregation edge while simultaneously offering content caching, ad insertion, fast channel change and error correction. The Cisco AVSM eliminates the need for standalone content-delivery network elements and inherits all the high-availability characteristics of the router, which optimizes the network insertion point for advanced content services and moves content sourcing closer to the consumer. Fast channel change and onboard error correction for both unicast and multicast video traffic helps ensure that errors can be detected by any set-top box and retransmitted within milliseconds to maintain a transparent and optimized visual experience for the audience.

• Reduced total cost of ownership for mobility services
  The Cisco ASR 9000 Series brings six times the capacity of competing products to Carrier Ethernet backhaul. Moreover, every Cisco ASR 9000 line card is SyncE-ready, which means that it inherently works with cell site routers to deliver seamless mobile handoff capabilities, avoiding the need and costs incurred to dedicate slots for additional synchronization cards.

• Reduced carbon footprint
  Modular power is designed to scale with system capacity, allowing the service provider to tier the amount of power used. The six-slot unit has design advantages utilizing a patent-pending side-to-back ventilation scheme that helps service providers free up side-by-side rack space. When compared with competitive offerings, every 6.4-terabit unit deployed is estimated to save service providers the carbon equivalent of 88 tons of coal, 164 transpacific passenger flights or 16 around-the-world car trips per year.

• Enhanced edge services with Cisco QuantumFlow Processor
  The Cisco ASR 9000 has unsurpassed capacity and has been designed to offer advanced subscriber management as well as use the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor to deliver silicon-based security services and video like the Cisco ASR 1000. By eliminating numerous single-function network appliances, the Cisco ASR 9000 substantially reduces a service provider's carbon footprint, resulting in greater efficiency to its networks, lower operational costs and greater environmental stewardship.

• Powered by Cisco IOS XR
  The Cisco ASR 9000 capitalizes on the industry benchmark Cisco IOS® Software family, which is optimized for core, edge, branch and data center. Cisco IOS XR Software offers nonstop system operation, in-service upgrade capability, and support for the distributed scale of business and residential service delivery. Operational in more than 200 service provider networks worldwide, Cisco IOS XR helps enable new levels of scale, high availability and reliability at the edge of the network to support uninterrupted video-service delivery and improved customer experience.

In addition to having SOFTBANK as the first customer, the Cisco ASR 9000 is in trials with several tier 1 service providers based in the North America and Europe. Pricing for the system begins near $80,000 USD with availability planned for the first quarter of 2009.

Find More Information Online:

Web Site Link

Cisco ASR 9000 Series

Recent Cisco IP NGN Carrier Ethernet News

New Cisco IPoDWDM Enhancements Transport Service Providers Networks to 'Zettabyte Era'

Cisco Enhances IP NGN Carrier Ethernet Design for Video Services

The Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast and Methodology, 2007-2012 and the associated updated "Approaching the Zettabyte Era" Cisco white paper are part of the Cisco Visual Networking Index, an ongoing Cisco initiative designed to provide quantitative and qualitative information regarding trends in IP network demand and usage.

Technorati Tags: Cisco, Cisco IP NGN, Cisco IP Next-Generation Network, IP NGN, Cisco Carrier Ethernet, Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast and Methodology, Visual Networking, VNI, Cisco ASR 9000, Cisco IOS XR, Cisco ASR 1000, Cisco CRS-1, Router, Edge, Video, Mobility, Carrier Ethernet, Connected Life, Pankaj Patel, SOFTBANK MOBILE, SOFTBANK BB, SOFTBANK TELECOM

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Highly Secure Solution Helps Employees Collaborate Via Office-Caliber Video, Voice, Wireless and Data Service in Branch or Home Offices

SAN JOSE, Calif. - September 9, 2008 - Cisco® today announced the Cisco Virtual Office, a highly secure solution that allows businesses to extend their enterprise - and productivity - by "bringing the office" to employees who regularly work in a variety of remote settings, such as branch locations or from a home office.

The Cisco Virtual Office addresses the growing trend among mid-sized and large enterprises that have increasingly distributed workforces who need access to collaborative business applications and services outside of their corporate offices. The networking solution packages routing, switching, security, wireless, IP telephony, and policy control technology into a centrally managed office-caliber solution that provides highly secure video, voice, data and wireless service. (http://www.cisco.com/go/cvo) It is flexible, allowing employees to work in a variety of places with technology and services that are as advanced as if they were sitting at their desk in their office. This "extension" of an employee's collaborative office environment includes access to voice and video over IP communications, all protected within a highly secure networked environment.

The Cisco Virtual Office comes at an opportune time. As businesses look for flexible and cost-effective work options, particularly in the wake of rising gas prices and energy costs, the solution enables them to ensure highly secure collaboration amongst a more distributed workforce. (http://www.internetinnovation.org/Portals/0/Documents/Final_Green_Benefits.pdf) This agility helps maintain business continuity, such as during inclement weather, and can generate cost savings on real estate by eliminating needs for additional office space. Furthermore, remote workers can enhance productivity by accessing the same communications and collaboration technologies available to their office-based counterparts.

One of the solution's most valued features is its "zero-touch" setup. Automated, pre-configured setup offloads installation responsibilities from employees, most of whom are not qualified or knowledgeable enough to implement networking systems themselves. With the solution's zero-touch setup, businesses can extend their workforces to thousands of locations with the peace of mind that employee error and IT support will be minimal. As a whole, the Cisco Virtual Office consists of the following components:

Remote site

• Zero-touch setup of the new Cisco 881w Series Internet Services Router (ISR) and Cisco 7970G IP phone with color display. Once the Cisco 881w ISR is connected to the Internet, it "calls home" and automatically downloads a pre-defined configuration that syncs with headquarters. From there, employees can benefit from efficient, automated delivery of collaborative business applications and services. For example, wireless LAN connectivity is offered as an option to provide such features as mobile intelligent roaming.

Headquarters site

• A Cisco 7200 Series router serves as a converged platform for virtual private networking, offering easy-to-manage encryption and security. It utilizes Cisco Dynamic Multipoint Virtual Private Networking (DMVPN), which secures the exchange of data between two locations without traversing the head office, improving network performance and data delivery by offloading traffic demands from headquarters. This infrastructure also supports SSL and L2TP over IPsec VPNs, serving as a single point of convergence for multiple secure access technologies, such as mobile users with laptops or PDAs.

• Management servers for policy, identity and configuration, which include the Cisco Configuration Engine for image distribution to as many as 10,000 Cisco Integrated Services Routers; Cisco Security Manager for management of security policies; and Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS), which provides access policy control to meet regulatory and corporate compliance requirements. This centralized management architecture allows control of all the services that Cisco Virtual Office enables, including security, mobility, collaboration and unified communications.

Services

• Cisco and its approved partners provide services for Cisco Virtual Office planning, design and implementation. Services include deployment and integration at the head-end site, consultative guidance for automating the deployment and management of remote sites, and ongoing operational support. These services help reduce customers' operating costs and continually assess, tune and evolve Cisco Virtual Office components to keep pace with customers' business needs and security threats.

"The Cisco Virtual Office is ultimately about helping extend secure mobility and empowering the collaborative workforce wherever and whenever it connects," said Marie Hattar, vice president of network systems and security solutions for Cisco. "It enhances the benefits of remote working by providing office-caliber technology wrapped in a security blanket. It allows businesses to stay agile, and in some cases, it can provide an environmentally friendly alternative to commuting while managing operational expenses at corporate sites."

According to Hattar, as the number of distributed workers increases and the way they access corporate networks and information multiplies, both in terms of device and location, businesses need an increasingly flexible IT infrastructure that extends the same protection found within a corporate office to remote locations where employees connect. Because of the solution's security capabilities, businesses can safely establish highly secure mobility, collaborate with their constituents and adopt distributed employee work models that can be more efficient than relying exclusively on centralized corporate sites for conducting operations.

American Century Investments, a leading investment management company based in Kansas City, Missouri, is harnessing the value of remote working and distributed - yet collaborative -- enterprises through the Cisco Virtual Office. To date, American Century Investments has rolled out the Cisco Virtual Office solution to more than 110 of its sales agents and remote workers.

"Our remote worker implementation of the Cisco Virtual Office is designed to provide our employees with flexibility and to allow them to be as functional working from home as they are in the office," said Keith Little, network services manager for American Century Investments. "As our intermediary sales staff grows, we will continue to broaden our adoption of this solution so we can provide our employees with easy remote access to network resources. The Cisco Virtual Office provides us with the benefits of greater employee productivity and operational efficiency. Simply put, we've adopted the Cisco Virtual Office as our own virtual office."

Cisco's Internal Deployment: 12,000 Employees in 70 Countries

In addition to American Century Investments, Cisco is an active user of the solution. More than 12,000 employees in 70 countries use Cisco Virtual Office, and in 2009 the company plans to increase adoption to 20,000 users. By 2010, Cisco plans to have deployed the solution to 30,000 of its employees globally. To find out more on Cisco's rollout strategy and benefits, please view these videos from the company's vice president of information technology Chuck Trent and two U.S.-based users:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxhFgKHYjwc

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoYd3zWwuY0

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDteqoaRaHA

Pricing & Availability

The Cisco Virtual Office solution is available today and starts at $700 per seat.

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco Physical Security is the exclusive provider of video surveillance for the World Series of Poker. Cisco helps utilize their existing equipment as they migrate into the IP world.   Watch the video below: