Cisco has been a part of this list ever year since its inception in 1998—our unique culture of transparency and openness continues to drive these types of recognitions.

What makes Cisco a great place to work?

“We are trusted to do our jobs.  We go through a gauntlet of interviews to get a job at Cisco.  Sure, we have to the appropriate educational background and/or work experiences, but we also have to be a cultural fit into the company and the teams that we’ll be working with.  What is Cisco’s culture?  I work hard and trust my colleagues to work hard…I haven’t been let down.  I work with creative, innovative professionals and we all know that a collaborative work environment creates a better product.  It is as simple as “two heads are better than one.”.

Our exectives trust their teams to vet ideas and come to them with appropriate recommendations so that good decisions can be made.  We are treated as professionals…and we act the same.  We collaborate on projects and share any glory or any blame.  Quality of life and work/life balance is also very important.  We do work hard, but we are also given the flexibility to complete our work when (or where) we need to.  Again, trust.” says John Earnhardt, Cisco Senior Manager.

Here are Cisco’s rankings on this prestigious list through the years:

1998 – 25th
1999 – 24th
2000 – 3rd
2001 – 3rd
2002 – 15th
2003 – 24th
2004 – 28th
2005 – 27th
2006 – 25th
2007 – 11th
2008 – 6th
2009 – 6th

Below the “100 Best Companies to for 2010“:

1. SAS
2. Edward Jones
3. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Google
5. Nugget Market
6. DreamWorks Animation SKG
7. NetApp
8. Boston Consulting Group
9. Qualcomm
10. Camden Property Trust
11. Robert W. Baird & Co.
12. Bingham McCutchen
13. W. L. Gore & Associates
14. Recreational Equipment
15. Zappos.com
16. Cisco
17. Methodist Hospital System
18. Whole Foods Market
19. Genentech
20. Devon Energy
21. NuStar Energy
22. Johnson Financial Group
23. Umpqua Bank
24. Goldman Sachs Group
25. Novo Nordisk
26. CHG Healthcare Services
27. Scottrade
28. JM Family Enterprises
29. Quicken Loans
30. Alston & Bird
31. PCL Construction Enterprises
32. Baptist Health South Florida
33. Shared Technologies
34. Chesapeake Energy
35. American Fidelity Assurance Co.
36. Container Store
37. Aflac
38. Scooter Store
39. TDIndustries
40. Scripps Health
41. QuikTrip
42. Adobe Systems
43. Salesforce.com
44. Ernst & Young
45. USAA
46. OhioHealth
47. J. M. Smucker
48. FactSet Research Systems
49. Mercedes-Benz USA
50. King’s Daughters Medical Center
51. Microsoft
52. Booz Allen Hamilton
53. Nordstrom
54. Paychex
55. Mayo Clinic
56. CarMax
57. DPR Construction
58. Four Seasons Hotels
59. Monsanto
60. Indiana Regional Medical Center
61. Brocade Communications Systems
62. Kimley-Horn
63. Southern Ohio Medical Center
64. Stew Leonard’s
65. Arnold & Porter
66. Plante & Moran
67. EOG Resources
68. Men’s Wearhouse
69. MITRE
70. Deloitte
71. PricewaterhouseCoopers
72. McCormick and Company
73. American Express
74. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
75. Perkins Coie
76. Balfour Beatty Construction
77. Baker Donelson
78. Mattel
79. Meridian Health
80. Build-A-Bear Workshop
81. Atlantic Health
82. Marriott International
83. S. C. Johnson & Son
84. Accenture
85. Arkansas Children’s Hospital
86. Publix Super Markets
87. National Instruments
88. KPMG
89. Bright Horizons
90. General Mills
91. FedEx
92. Gilbane
93. Starbucks Coffee
94. Intuit
95. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
96. LifeBridge Health
97. Herman Miller
98. Intel
99. Winchester Hospital
100. Colgate-Palmolive

References:

• http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/full_list/
• http://blogs.cisco.com/news/comments/cisco_fortune_2010/

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2010. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Business, Fortune, Work

Cisco will award two first-place prizes of Christmas dinners over TelePresence, 10 second-place prizes of a TelePresence meeting and 20 third-place prizes of Flip MinoTM cameras to the person with the entry that best illustrates the importance of connections with family and friends at Christmas.

Cisco TelePresence creates a live face-to-face experience with high-quality video and spatial audio technology that makes it feel as if you’re in the same room when in reality you may be thousands of kilometres away!  The Cisco “Christmas Connections” Contest is designed to connect friends and families living around the world over Christmas via Cisco TelePresence.

The deadline for entries is midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Dec. 6, 2009. For official terms and conditions the Cisco “Christmas Connections” Contest, please visit: www.cisco.com/connect.

References:

• http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_112509.html
• http://www.cisco.com/connect

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Event, Video

You manage your business as it evolves from the stone age of dial-up, through the broadband and mobile connected eras, and into the dawning of the medianet age. Learn how to transform your community and explore the products and solutions that will help you provide a migration path from dial up, broadband and mobile services into the medianet age.

MyPlanNet was released on Oct. 5 at an International Telecommunication Union in Geneva, Switzerland, and is the product of an internal innovation contest at Cisco.

Liu, who is a senior marketing manager, says the game was a side project of his for over a year. He was looking for a way to engage customers with marketing and thought his game would target the intellectual side of issues by “introducing these complex topics in a more fun way than you would get from” reading white papers.

Liu calls myPlanNet an educational tool that puts a “human touch” on evolving technology challenges and also helps to place them within a broader context. The game does simulate historic timeline contexts and how “technology is needed to deploy advance services as your community evolves,” said Liu.

The game is free, but works only on Windows platform (x32 and x64 system). To download it go to http://www.cisco.com/go/myplannet/.

1. After you click on “Download Game”, you will be prompted for login (if not already logged into cisco.com). New users without Cisco login can get one by clicking on the “register now” option.
2. After you accept the end-user license agreement, you will be prompted with a download box.  Choose “Save File”.  Personally, I prefer to just place it on my desktop so I can easily find it.
3. Once the file is saved to your desktop, unzip it and select “extract all”. Again, I prefer to just extract it to my desktop.
4. The game will appear on your desktop in a folder titled “mpn_final_Gold”.  Open that folder and click on the myPlanNet.exe file to get started!
5. Enjoy!

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Game, Software, Video

On 13 October 2009, Cisco and Starent Networks announced a definitive agreement for Cisco to acquire Starent Networks. Starent Networks is a leading supplier of IP-based mobile infrastructure solutions targeting mobile and converged carriers. The Mobile Internet is at an inflection point as IP-enabled Smartphones and other connected mobile devices gain rapid acceptance. Service Providers have been actively investing in this market as global mobile data traffic is expected to more than double every year through 2013, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay $35 per share in cash in exchange for each share of Starent Networks and assume outstanding equity awards for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.9 billion. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of calendar year 2010; however, the close date is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory reviews. Cisco expects the acquisition to be dilutive to non-GAAP earnings in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 and accretive to non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2012.

“We are very pleased that Starent Networks will be joining the Cisco team, and we believe their products and engineering talent will greatly benefit our Service Provider customers as they build out their Mobile Internet offerings,” said John Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Cisco and Starent Networks share a common vision and bring complementary technologies designed to accelerate the transition to the Mobile Internet, where the network is the platform for Service Providers to launch, deliver and monetize the next generation of mobile multimedia applications and services,” said Pankaj Patel, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Service Provider Business.

“Combining Cisco’s strength in Video and IP with Starent Networks’ leading mobile infrastructure solutions, creates a compelling portfolio of products that provides an integrated architecture to offer rich, quality multimedia experiences to mobile subscribers on 3G and 4G networks,” said Starent Networks President and Chief Executive Officer Ashraf Dahod.

Starent Networks’ mobile infrastructure solutions play an important role in enabling Service Providers to scale their mobile infrastructure and monetize their investments via differentiated experiences. The company provides the multimedia intelligence, core network functions and services to manage access from any 2.5G, 3G, and 4G radio network to a mobile operator’s packet core network. Starent Networks’ access-independent technology is deployed in CDMA2000 (1X, EV-DO), UMTS/HSPA and WiMax networks.

Starent Networks was founded in 2000 and completed its initial public offering in 2007. The company is based in Tewksbury, Mass. and has approximately 1,000 employees worldwide. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, Starent Networks reported revenue of $254.1 million, up 74 percent from the prior year.

References: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_101309.html

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Starent Networks

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all the outstanding shares of TANDBERG for 153.5 Norwegian Kroner per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3.0 billion.  This represents an 11.0% premium to the previous day closing price of TANDBERG’s stock, and a 25.2% premium to the 3-month volume weighted average closing price for TANDBERG’s stock.  The proposal was recommended unanimously by TANDBERG’s board of directors.

The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of calendar year 2010; however, the close date is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review in the United States and elsewhere.  Cisco expects the acquisition to be accretive to Cisco’s non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2011.

Highlights:

• Cisco’s collaboration vision is to enable a sustainable, new level of enterprise productivity, agility and innovation by transforming the way people interact, share knowledge and deliver productive outcomes within and across organizations.
• TelePresence and high-quality video have redefined how users communicate through easy-to-use, immersive, high-quality video experiences and are becoming a larger segment of the broader collaboration market.
• TANDBERG’s leading video endpoints and network infrastructure solution will be integrated into Cisco’s world-class collaboration architecture. 
• This will enable intercompany and multi-vendor interoperability and ease of use across the full product portfolio – from desktop to immersive, multi-screen TelePresence.  This interoperability will benefit Cisco’s customers, but also competitors and partners by accelerating customer interest in video collaboration globally.
• Cisco continues to invest in the European market as a center of innovation across all market segments, and will continue to drive global growth by positioning TANDBERG’s Norway operations as a European center of video excellence alongside our Service Provider video team in Kortrijk, Belgium.
• TANDBERG’s 1,500 employees globally, with innovation centers in Norway and the United Kingdom, will be extremely important as Cisco’s team continues to drive video innovation and growth.
• Upon completion of the transaction, TANDBERG’s CEO Fredrik Halvorsen will lead the new TelePresence Technology Group, reporting to Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group.

References: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_093009.html

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Tandberg, Video

“In response to the growing demand for IT professionals who can design, manage, and maintain converged technologies across global network infrastructures, Cisco announced the release of four new certifications at the Cisco Live! show, held this week in San Francisco, CA.

Cisco Certified Architect, CCNP Wireless, and two new Cisco Datacenter Unified Computing Specialists reinforce Cisco’s commitment developing state of the art, technology driven, role based certifications that meet the demands of today’s network professional.”

See you below the characteristics:

• Cisco Certified Architect (Available January, 2010): Cisco Certified Architect is highest level of accreditation achievable within the Cisco Career Certification program. It is the pinnacle for individuals wishing to show their formal validation of both design and IT skills in Cisco technologies and infrastructure.
• CCNP Wireless (Available July 24th, 2009): Built on the growing need for professionals responsible for the design, implementation, security, and operation of wireless networks and mobility infrastructures, CCNP Wireless certification recognizes the critical importance of professionals who support and manage Cisco wireless LANs and networks.
• DC Unified Computing Design Specialist: It is designed to test students knowledge of the fundamentals of the Cisco Unified Compute System and their ability to implement a virtualized Data Center environment. In addition the student also tested on how to implement the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) in an enterprise data center routing and switching infrastructure with the next-generation Cisco Nexus product family.
• DC Unified Computing Support Specialist: It validates an engineer’s ability to design scalable, reliable, and intelligent Data Center Virtualization solutions based on the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) along with other Cisco Data Center products, server virtualization software, and server operating systems.

References:

• https://cisco/…/cisco_certified_architect
• https://cisco/…/ccnp_wireless
• https://cisco/…/unified_computing_support
• https://cisco/…/data_center/unified_computing_design

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Business, Certifications

“Cisco believes the network has become the logical platform to manage and maintain mission-critical applications,” said Gary Moore, senior vice president of Advanced Services at Cisco.  “With the acquisition of Tidal Software, Cisco will accelerate its ability to help customers optimize the performance of their business applications and automate operational best practices in real time, which will lead to significantly reduced operational costs.”

Tidal Software’s intelligent solutions will bolster Cisco’s data center strategy by providing timely, accurate and cost-efficient management and automation of application performance across entire business operations, from the server through the network to the desktop.  The acquisition will also create significant opportunities for Cisco and its partners through the delivery of partner-led services, leveraging Cisco’s application management capabilities.

Upon the close of the acquisition, the Tidal Software team will become part of the Cisco Advanced Services organization. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2009. The acquisition will be accounted for in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Cisco will pay approximately $105 million in cash and retention-based incentives.

References: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_040909.html

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Tidal Software

Cisco Live is Cisco’s annual IT and communications conference and this year is the 20th Anniversary of the Cisco Networkers program.

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of Networkers, which has grown into Cisco Live, our annual IT and communications conference. Much has changed since that first conference in 1989. But one thing remains as true today as it was then: knowledge is power. That simple phrase is the perfect theme for Cisco Live 2009. Innovative, creative, and knowledgeable people and businesses will always have a powerful competitive edge. In a challenging economy, it’s even more vital to hone the skills that can help you weather today’s uncertainties and prepare for new opportunities in the future.

We realize the value of your time and have designed this year’s conference to be the most relevant and worthwhile event you will attend this year. Our curriculum of more than 400 sessions is organized by functional tracks, so you can focus on the technical training, certification programs, and education most relevant to your needs, or you can expand your knowledge base by exploring new and emerging technologies.

The reasons that made Networkers a smart idea in 1989 hold strong for Cisco Live 2009. The more you know, the more powerful and successful you and your company will be, today and in the future. Cisco Live isn’t just a wise investment, it also promises to be a lot of fun. We’re excited about hosting this year’s event right in our backyard. I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco.” said John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco.

Program Highlights

John Chambers Keynote: Hear directly from Cisco’s Chairman and CEO about the company’s vision for a new era of networking solutions and the ways in which information technology can help companies survive and thrive in a challenging economic climate.

Networkers Technical Program: Topics at the Networkers Technical Program range from security to mobility to unified communications and collaboration. The information, training, and certification opportunities in this program can help IT professionals at all experience levels and specializations hone their skills and add value to their organizations.

Super Sessions: Don’t miss these one-of-a-kind sessions on the ideas shaping today’s business and technology climate. You’ll gain the broader perspective from Cisco partners and customers that can help you better understand the impact of emerging trends on your own business.

IT Management Program: The business of IT continually evolves as IT managers strive to complete a growing number of projects with limited resources. The IT Management Program provides broad overviews of current and emerging technologies, including discussions of the management implications of new solutions, suggestions on best practices, and insight into managing change and market transitions.

Developer Services Program: Today’s networks do more than help organizations share data. Voice, video, and mobility applications are now critical to the ways businesses communicate and collaborate. Take an in-depth look at the next generation of network applications and the way they support new business methods and paradigms.

Ask-the-Expert Panels, Meet the Engineer, and Technology Solutions Clinics: Want to hear the latest on Cisco® solutions directly from the source? You’ll have several opportunities to pick the brains of Cisco’s top engineering talent and find out the how and why behind Cisco technologies.

World of Solutions: The innovation and creativity of more than 140 Cisco partners is on display at the World of Solutions. Here’s your chance to explore solutions from Cisco’s partner ecosystem and tap into the expertise and insight of Cisco representatives.

Service Provider Program: Networks are the fabric that knits businesses together. This new program addresses the unique concerns of service providers and the technologies they rely on that enable their clients to communicate, collaborate, and innovate.

Social Events: You’ve heard the age-old wisdom about all work and no play. Give your brain a break by attending Monday’s 20th Anniversary Welcome reception, Tuesday’s World of Solutions reception, Wednesday’s Customer Appreciation Event—and watch for the networking opportunities throughout the week.

Events and Activities

Cisco Challenge: Think you’re the ultimate network expert? Now you can prove it. Put your individual knowledge to the test for a chance to win great prizes, or choose sides and join the team competition.

Cisco Booth: Cisco experts will be on hand to answer your questions and share their insights on the latest networking trends and technologies.

Ask-the-Expert Panels: Join the interactive discussions with Cisco’s panel of experts in a lively group setting.

Cisco TelePresence: Encounter the next level of collaboration with a realistic, “in-person” experience that helps organizations all over the world do business faster, better and more cost-effectively.

Solutions Theater, Cisco Booth: See live demonstrations of Cisco and partner solutions that are ready to improve the way you do business today. Presentations run throughout the day, so visit the Cisco booth for the latest schedule.

Cisco Powered Partner Pavilion: Want the latest networking capabilities at a lower cost? See how service providers – including members of the Cisco Powered Program – can help you use your IT investment more strategically.

Meet the Engineer: Schedule some quality one-on-one time with a Cisco engineer, Cisco Fellow, or senior Cisco development engineer to explore specific solutions to your unique challenges.

Technical Solutions Clinic: Drop by for an informal whiteboard discussion with Cisco technology experts on network implementations, applications, solutions integration, and more.

Passport Program: Sharpen your knowledge about solutions from Cisco Partners—and earn a chance to win. You’ll accrue points every time you have your badge scanned at a partner booth in the World of Solutions. You can also earn extra points for completing session evaluations and activating your Cisco Live Virtual account.

More info on http://www.cisco-live.com

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Business, Event

“The acquisition of Pure Digital is key to Cisco’s strategy to expand our momentum in the media-enabled home and to capture the consumer market transition to visual networking,” said Ned Hooper, senior vice president of Cisco’s Corporate Development and Consumer Groups. “Pure Digital has revolutionized the way people capture and share video with Flip Video. This acquisition will take Cisco’s consumer business to the next level as the company develops new video capabilities and drives the next generation of entertainment and communication experiences.”

Pure Digital’s Flip Video has sold more than 2 million units and quickly demonstrated market appeal in the United States by making video simple, accessible and fun. All Flip Video products come equipped with FlipShare, a best-in-class software that allows users to easily organize and edit videos and then share them instantly on YouTube, MySpace and other popular sharing Web sites.

“Flip Video puts the power to instantly capture, edit and share video into the hands of everyday consumers,” said Jonathan Kaplan, chairman and CEO of Pure Digital. “By combining forces with Cisco, we join a company that shares our passion for video and whose global scale and tremendous technology expertise we expect will enable us to quickly expand and enrich the Flip Video experience.”

Upon the close of the acquisition, the Pure Digital team will become part of Cisco’s Consumer Business Group, which includes Linksys® by Cisco® home networking, audio and media-storage products. Kaplan will become general manager of the combined organization, reporting to Hooper.

The Pure Digital acquisition exemplifies Cisco’s “build, buy and partner” innovation strategy to move quickly into new markets and capture key market transitions. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $590 million in stock in exchange for all shares of Pure Digital. In addition, Cisco will provide up to $15 million in retention-based equity incentives for continuing employees. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2009. The acquisition will be accounted for in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

What are Flip Video camcorders?
Flip Video camcorders are easy-to-use and affordable devices with on-board software to enable editing, organizing, and video publishing through AOL, YouTube, MySpace, and other popular video sharing sites. Earlier this month Pure Digital introduced the Flip Video™ Ultra Series, its next-generation line of compact, high quality, slim-sized digital camcorders.

References:

• http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_031909.html
• http://www.theflip.com/

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Business, Pure Digital Technologies

As show in this figure, the PPDIOO lifecycle phases are separate, yet closely related.

Why use the PPDIOO model?

• Lowering the total cost of network ownership: Companies try to lower the total cost of network ownership while they add new technologies to an existing network, procure equipment, train staff, manage network performance, and maintain the network.
• Improving business agility: Business agility can be described as an organization’s ability to respond rapidly to changing business or market conditions and adapt to the changing demands of its customers and the business environment. “In the long term,” industry analyst Gartner writes, “perhaps the most important role for business leaders is to identify the agenda for agility and to prepare the organization to face threats.”
• Speeding access to applications and services: Speeding access to applications and services helps enable business agility. For example, an IP Communications system could be outfitted with a customer relationship application that enables incoming calls to automatically trigger the display of customer account information and contact history, providing staff with the information they need to respond quickly and effectively.
• Increasing availability: Downtime can adversely affect revenue and can reduce profitability through costs associated with the network staff having to troubleshoot and function in a reactive mode. High availability depends on carefully planned redundancy, sound security, and scalability and also requires diligence throughout the network lifecycle. Availability targets are influenced by business goals. Targets are established early in the network lifecycle and achieved throughout it: a smooth, well-planned deployment helps minimize risk of downtime, and sound planning for day-to-day operations helps speed problem resolution.

PPDIOO phases:

• Prepare phase: Business agility starts with preparation: anticipating the broad vision, requirements, and technologies needed to build and sustain a competitive advantage. In the prepare phase, a company determines a business case and financial rationale to support the adoption of new technology. By carefully anticipating future needs and developing both a technology strategy and a high-level architecture to meet those needs, a business is better equipped to contain costs during deployment and operations.
• Plan phase: Successful technology deployment depends on an accurate assessment of a company’s current network, security state, and overall readiness to support the proposed solution. In the plan phase, a company ascertains whether it has adequate resources to manage a technology deployment project to completion. To evaluate and improve network security, a company tests its network for vulnerability to intruders and outside networks. The company then develops a detailed project plan to identify resources, potential difficulties, individual responsibilities, and critical tasks necessary to deliver the final project on time and on budget.
• Design phase: Developing a detailed design is essential to reducing risk, delays, and the total cost of network deployments. A design aligned with business goals and technical requirements can improve network performance while supporting high availability, reliability, security, and scalability. Day-to-day operations and network management processes need to be anticipated, and, when necessary, custom applications are created to integrate new systems into existing infrastructure. The design phase can also guide and accelerate successful implementation with a plan to stage, configure, test, and validate network operations.
• Implement phase: A network is essential to any successful organization, and it must deliver vital services without disruption. In the implement phase, a company works to integrate devices and new capabilities in accordance with the design—without compromising network availability or performance. After identifying and resolving potential problems, the company attempts to speed return on investment with an efficient migration and successful implementation—including installing, configuring, integrating, testing, and commissioning all systems. After network operation is validated, an organization can begin expanding and improving IT staff skills to further increase productivity and reduce system downtime.
• Operate phase: Network operations represent a significant portion of IT budgets, so it’s important to be able to reduce operating expenses while continually enhancing performance. Throughout the operate phase, a company proactively monitors the health and vital signs of the network to improve service quality; reduce disruptions; mitigate outages; and maintain high availability, reliability, and security. By providing an efficient framework and operational tools to respond to problems, a company can avoid costly downtime and business interruption. Expert operations also allow an organization to accommodate upgrades, moves, additions, and changes while effectively reducing operating costs.
• Optimize phase: A good business never stops looking for a competitive advantage. That is why continuous improvement is a mainstay of the network lifecycle. In the optimize phase, a company is continually looking for ways to achieve operational excellence through improved performance, expanded services, and periodic reassessments of network value. Have business goals or technical requirements changed? Is a new capability or enhanced performance recommended? As an organization looks to optimize its network and prepares to adapt to changing needs, the lifecycle begins anew—continually evolving the network and improving results.

References:

• http://www.cisco.com/…/LifecycleServicesWhitePaper.pdf
• http://www.cisco.com/…/ps6890/serv_category_home.html
• http://www.cisco.com/…/services/lifecycle/index.html

© Fabio Semperboni for CiscoZine, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Business, Design, PPDIOO