Partners, clients, and technology fans from all over the globe travelled to Las Vegas at the end of June to take part in the Cisco Live! event. The five-day conference produced an avalanche of exciting news for both the brand, and the industry, culminating in new announcements, advanced product launches, and an ongoing commitment to transform the company into one focused on software, instead of hardware.
The drive behind Cisco’s vision of the future can be seen in their “Network intuitive” initiative, which was unveiled during the Cisco Live! conference. The new framework combines a range of technologies that Cisco has been building in recent years, from software-defined access to software-defined networking, APIs, network function virtualisation, and intelligent WAN.
The Network Intuitive Era
The development of the Network Intuitive is intended to lead the way in a new era for Cisco, as well as introducing its long-term vision of the future, with a focus on helping enterprises obtain as much value as possible from their data. The latest approach is intended to be more automated, focusing on the aim of setting policies, instead of writing specific lines of code.
The change in focus should help to simplify enterprise codebases, and make them more efficient while freeing up more developers who could be working on more significant issues. Overall, networks should be more intelligent because of the new service, while devices will be secure, and simpler to deploy.
Essentially, the Network Intuitive concept involves using an intent-based approach to networking where networks can be programmed with machine learning strategies which adapts to user needs. IT departments can make the most of this solution by defining the right policies for company networks.
An example of one of the new products emerging as part of the new approach could be the “Cisco Security Connector“, which is a tool intended to offer companies greater control, visibility, and privacy for iOS devices which connect to corporate networks. This tool will be available later in the year.
IoT and Programmable Switches
During Cisco Live!, Cisco also introduced a new line of programmable switches which were identified as the “Catalyst 9000“. The switches will give network administrators the opportunity to prioritise certain forms of network traffic other over areas. For instance, a switch might be programmed to prioritise video data during a live-stream event.
While programmable network components aren’t a new concept for Cisco, the new collection of switches will reinforce the concept that programmable networks may be the key to the future.
Additionally, Cisco Jasper used the latest event as a platform through which to announce the development of the Control Centre Advanced 7.0. This upgraded version of the platform will integrate a range of Cisco technologies, ranging from better analytics to multi-layer security, and Cisco Spark integration. The new version will apparently also make it easier for enterprises to launch new IoT technology.
