Even with his glass “overflowing,” Cisco Insider Rob Taylor finds time to embrace new experiences and opportunities for learning, so he can serve his customers more effectively.

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Cisco’s advocacy community, Cisco Insider Advocates, brings our customers together and provides a way for them to make powerful connections, expand their professional and personal networks, and learn from top experts in their field. One of our goals with our advocacy community is to deepen relationships with our customers. Our Q&A series allows us to shine a spotlight on some of our most passionate advocates as we learn more about their stories and backgrounds.

Today, we have one of the friendliest faces in the community joining us for a chat. I’m excited to welcome Rob Taylor from Prosperity 24/7.

Welcome, Rob! It’s so great to talk with you today. Let’s kick things off by learning a little bit about who you are.

I live in the beautiful island of Jersey, Channel Islands. It’s the southernmost gem in the English Channel’s crown, nestled just 19 km west of the Cotentin peninsula of France.

I’m married with two grown children, and my family is everything to me. We’re all about those family holidays and spontaneous adventures—the more active, the better!

I’m not a pro, but you’ll often catch me on the padel tennis court or trying my luck at badminton. Let’s just say my skills are a work in progress, but it’s all about the fun, right?

One thing you can count on with me is my glass is forever half full. I believe in making the most out of every moment. So, here’s to embracing life’s twists and turns with a grin and brightening each day with a smile!

Where did you start your career in IT? And, what professional decision or opportunity helped lead you to your current role?

I was introduced to IT in 2001, when traditional business telephone systems (PABXs) began transitioning toward IP telephony. I was a fish out of the water; just four years prior, I was a budding electrician, moving from apprentice to electrician, at an offshoot of Jersey Electricity Company (JEC).

Then, JEC created a small splinter company named Jersey Electricity Telecommunications; I was selected to retrain as a telephone systems engineer. During my time at JET, I took on many responsibilities, gaining experience across sales, procurement, accounting, and eventually, management. It was the most challenging and fun time of my career at that point.

Five years later, I was offered a senior engineering position with Jersey Telecom. Within the year, I was appointed as senior account manager for corporate businesses. Unfortunately, after four years, I realized I was losing my strengths as an engineer, and especially in staying current on technology and tools, which was my passion.

Fate stepped in, and I was introduced to the world of Cisco by a couple legendary consultants. These consultants became great friends, and I have the pleasure of working in partnership with one of them to this day. Some of you may have heard of him, CIA Rockstar Legend Simon Watkins. (Read more about Simon in this Cisco Insider Advocates Q&A!)

Rob Taylor (center) with his fellow Cisco Insider Advocates at Cisco Live Amsterdam 2024.

How has partnering with Cisco helped you in your role?

Partnering with Cisco has become the greatest game changer in my career to date, enabling me to upskill and, even better, to leverage experiences in engineering, sales, marketing, and procurement to become one of just a few experts within the Channel Islands to deliver a compelling value to service providers and digital integrators alike. By dedicating hours of studying and self-development, I was able to begin deploying and designing robust network solutions for businesses throughout the Channel Islands. All credit to Cisco and their pre-sales and technical specialists who I have worked with on the more advanced solutions, just one of the many “olive branches” Cisco offers to support its partners.

Fast forward a decade, and I’m now jointly heading up the network solutions team within an amazing digital integrations business, Prosperity 24/7, a Premier Integrator for Cisco. We now hold two Cisco specialisations: the Networking Specialisation and the Environmental Sustainability Specialisation. We are especially proud of the latter since sustainability plays a very important role within our business.

Prosperity 24/7 have a dedicated Environment & Sustainability focus team that works toward reducing the impact businesses have on the environment. We partner with local businesses that are aligned and dedicated to reducing unnecessary waste and preserving our planet’s resources to achieve this goal. It is fair to say that nearly all reputable businesses prefer to partner with organizations working toward a zero emissions baseline and as such, new opportunities and lines of revenue have opened. An example is when a business relocates to new premises; Prosperity 23/7 takes care of their old premises by managing the recycling and repurposing of their old network infrastructure, from the racks through to the users desks, computers, and monitors.

Let’s move on to our customer advocacy community. It looks like you recently joined the program and are already climbing up in the ranks as an Advocate Rising Star. How would you describe Cisco Insider Advocates to those who aren’t familiar with it?

I joined Cisco Insider Advocates in 2023. I immediately saw the value in this community and how, through gamification, I could enjoy learning about new products and services that provoke constructive conversations with clients, while building points to redeem on future purchases through the Cisco Store. Joining and playing an active role within CIA really is a win-win situation, and I genuinely recommend everyone join.

What made you want to join, and how has being a part of Cisco Insider Advocates impacted you both professionally and personally?

Over the past couple of years, a few colleagues and friends joined the community and were clearly enjoying the experience and the plentiful challenges they participated in. Not least, they enjoyed the challenge of rising through the ranks together.

After I joined the community, I too began taking part in the challenges and found many of them to be both inspiring and insightful. Meeting a few of the CIA members at Cisco Live brought an immediate connection with them, especially when we were discussing our shared approaches to technology and developing business. I formed new and valued friendships, and I’m looking forward to the next time we meet, whether that’s at another Cisco Live or when we visit each other’s country.

On a professional level, Cisco Insider Advocates is proving to be the perfect destination for self-development and encouragement to step outside of your comfort zone. An amazing team supports Cisco Insider Advocates, and they’re excited to assist and encourage advocates to develop themselves and in turn, their careers. To reach the higher ranks, advocates can complete challenges that can involve writing online reviews, speaking at a Cisco event, etc. These may be out of the ordinary for many engineers and consultants; however, with Cisco Insider, you’re given the opportunity to excel and grow your value at your own pace. Many organizations see these newfound skills as positive attributes and justification for a potential salary boost, or the reason to choose one candidate over another.

Let’s move on to Cisco Live 2024 Amsterdam held this past February. You met some of your peers from the community and members of Cisco’s Customer Marketing team for the first time! What did you enjoy most about meeting everyone at Cisco Live this year?  

Cisco Live 2024 in Amsterdam was nothing short of amazing. Meeting peers from within the community felt like I was seeing old friends that I hadn’t yet met in person. What a great bunch they were!

Even though we’re new friends, living in disparate jurisdictions, we could collaborate and share ideas and experiences with each other. It’s safe to say that the Insider community has enabled like-minded experts, ordinary guys who share a thirst for life, to connect and make a positive difference.

I will be staying in touch, and we’re looking forward to the next time we reconnect in person. Cisco Live 2025, here we come!

During the conference, we offered a lot of fun activities at the Cisco Insider booth. Among them, which was your favorite and why?

There was a plethora of fun activities available during Cisco Live 2024, all of which were truly great! What stands out for me most was the panel session (and wine tasting!) held in the booth. The event featured one of the world’s Masters of Wine, of which there are less than 500 in total. We all learned a great deal and enjoyed the newfound taste explosions during the wine sampling (the best bit).

My thanks to all the team for their work and effort in making the whole experience memorable.

Before I let you go, I’ve saved the best questions for last! Do you have any advice for anyone attending Cisco Live for the first time? What are your best tips to them to help them prepare, both before and during the conference? 

Make sure to join the Cisco Insider Advocacy community and climb those ranks.
Be sure to book Cisco Live early and begin scheduling your events before they fill up.
Make sure to give yourself time in between sessions to recoup—they’re going to be long days!
Take advantage of the free Cisco exam and begin preparing as early as you can.
Take the time to socialise with like-minded friends that you simply haven’t met yet.
Choose your hotel and location wisely.

       …and we’d love to finish with three things you can’t live without?

That’s easy (but it’s going to sound very boring!)

No.1 My family & friends (cheating here)

No.2 My health

No.3 My zest for life—adventures, fun, moral compass, and spontaneity

It’s been a pleasure to chat with you, Rob! Thank you for being a valued Cisco Insider and for joining us!

Read more advocate interviews.

You might enjoy this interview with Wouter Hindriks.

Join us!

For our customers who have already joined our Cisco Insider Advocates community, say hello to Rob if you haven’t met yet. And if you’re a Cisco customer but aren’t a community member, consider joining. You’ll be able to:

Connect with peers in a gamified, online community
Have an opportunity to meet with Cisco’s executives
Share your feedback, questions, and best practices
Get access to ‘insider’ content and resources
Grow your professional and personal brand
Amplify your company’s success story with Cisco technology

Ready to get started?

Head over to the Cisco Insider Advocates community and say hello!

(Requires registration / login)

"}]]  Even with his glass “overflowing,” Cisco Insider Rob Taylor finds time to embrace new experiences and opportunities for learning, so he can serve his customers more effectively.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

To assist you in this journey at Cisco Live, and beyond, is the Partner Launch Experience. This curated launch experience takes you through all the exciting announcements.

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Being in the technology industry means we’ve all had a front-row seat to witness tectonic shifts such as the inception of the internet and now Cisco will impact that level of change again. This will happen with Cisco-driven Artificial Intelligence, which will be on full display at Cisco Live in Las Vegas!

To assist you in this journey at Cisco Live, and beyond, is the Partner Launch Experience. This curated launch experience takes you through all the exciting announcements. You should consider four big topics, whether participating in Cisco Live or using the Partner Launch Experience: Cisco Networking Cloud, Cisco and Splunk, Cisco-Partner AI Opportunity, and Cisco Hypershield.

The Network Experience with Cisco Networking Cloud

Cisco Networking Cloud empowers you to provide solutions and derive actionable insights for your customers. It seamlessly integrates data, AI, security, control, and infrastructure across owned and unowned parts of the global area network to deliver:

Simplified AI-Native operations: Efficiently scale support and drive business resilience by unifying and automating operations.
Digital Experience Assurance: Provide AI insights, recommendations, and automated operations, all aimed at delivering flawless digital experiences by leveraging device and telemetry data from the entire digital infrastructure.
End-to-end Secure Networking: Ensure consistent policy enforcement and automatic security measures by integrating networking and security.

More details about new networking technology introductions can be found in the Global Launch Hub.

Cisco and Splunk

Combines industry-leading network data with the industry’s best security and observability solutions to create a market-defining category.

The acquisition of Splunk will enable Cisco to provide even more value to our customers and contribute to greater profitability and growth for you. As a Cisco partner, you can capture new, high-value, mission-critical service revenue by designing, deploying, upgrading, and managing Splunk technology with your differentiated services. You can add your unique value by building on the open architecture of Splunk and Cisco, creating additional revenue by developing and licensing innovative new applications.

Integration has already started with the RSA announcement of Cisco XDR and Splunk SIEM. I encourage you to learn more about the exciting Cisco and Splunk developments at Cisco Live and on the Partner Launch Experience.

Cisco Partner AI Opportunity

We are all looking forward to capturing the AI opportunity, which is being driven by customers who want automation and need infrastructure to power data models.

Cisco will be your partner in understanding these opportunities to power AI applications and workflows while practicing responsible AI governance. At the core is a networking and cloud infrastructure that will become your AI Data Center fabric – the same core capabilities you have trusted for years and will now scale to meet all your customer’s AI needs. To get started, partners can explore the AI Fundamentals training to understand Cisco’s AI strategy.

We were proud to learn that CRN recently recognized Cisco as a top 25 contributor to AI innovation.

Cisco Hypershield

Cisco Hypershield revolutionizes security across both on-premises and cloud environments, empowering organizations to protect modern applications more effectively. This groundbreaking product features a new distributed architecture integrating network and workload enforcement points under a unified management system. Software and policy updates can be completed confidently using our dual dataplane approach, enabling safe testing on live traffic without risking your operations. Simply put, Cisco Hypershield is a truly distributed, revolutionary, AI-native first-generation platform that places security where needed: in every software component of every application running on your network, server, and public or private cloud deployments.

In addition, there are plenty of other relevant topics and announcements to explore at Cisco Live and on the Partner Launch Experience.

We all can go on this journey together. To carve out our place in what will certainly be history-making. Cisco and our partners are truly making this a Better Together moment!

Visit the Cisco Partner Launch Experience today!

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

Cisco Partners Facebook  |  @CiscoPartners X/Twitter  |  Cisco Partners LinkedIn

"}]]  To assist you in this journey at Cisco Live, and beyond, is the Partner Launch Experience. This curated launch experience takes you through all the exciting announcements.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Get ready to go beyond and explore new paths to success with partner managed-ready solutions designed to enable greater efficiency, operational scale, innovation, and open new market opportunities!

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Partners, we are counting down the days to Cisco Live Las Vegas. Get ready to go beyond and explore new paths to success with partner managed-ready solutions designed to enable greater efficiency, operational scale, innovation, and open new market opportunities!

There’s no denying that IT managed services are being embraced across businesses of all sizes as a path to achieve business goals.  As technologies becomes increasingly complex and the lines between siloed architectures become blurred, companies are progressively leveraging managed services to increase their agility, deliver transformational capabilities, and accelerate their growth.

In the Americas alone, the opportunity for partners is projected to be $158B by 2027 across both products and services. Partner managed services represent a significant growth opportunity and route to market for Cisco and our partners, and as the demand for cross-architectural and cloud-delivered solutions accelerates, growth will continue.

Additionally, as AI adoption continues to shift the technology landscape, even more opportunities are emerging.  In Cisco’s AI readiness index, 97% of organizations say the urgency to deploy AI-powered solutions has increased in their company within the past six months, yet 86% say they are not fully prepared to leverage AI and AI-powered technologies to their fullest potential. In this era of Artificial Intelligence, Managed Service Providers will play an outsized role in helping organizations realize the innovation they seek at scale.

AI enabled Managed Service Providers (MSP) are the future

As more organizations look for ways to harness AI, Cisco is already establishing AI-driven solutions for Managed Service Provider Partners.  Our platform-based approach and commitment to responsible AI will help you reshape your operations and unlock new experiences and revenue streams for you and your customers while mitigating the unique risks that AI-based technologies may bring.

Tap into the power of AI to maximize operational efficiencies, from automation to augmentation and AI-driven assistance. This includes solution enhancements and new MSP tools to help you gain even greater date insights and operational efficiency.
Transform customer experiences with Cisco products that integrate AI to deliver new experiences like Webex background noise removal and AI-generated transcripts and summaries to boost employee productivity.
Leverage Cisco’s compute and networking platform to power massive AI workloads and create new managed services opportunities to drive revenue streams with Cisco AI ready infrastructure.

At Cisco Live this year, we’re bringing expanded tools, resources, and new insights, with a focus on AI innovation, secure networking, and solutions to enable the business outcomes important to your customers and your organization.

We’ve got a week packed with sessions,  technical demos, workshops, and networking opportunities to explore how Cisco can help you evolve your managed service business and address new and expanding opportunities. Here are highlights of where you can engage with us to maximize your experience:

Sessions you won’t want to miss

Join Cisco solution engineers, architects, and managed services experts to explore new managed campus and secure connectivity solutions in breakouts and product strategy overview sessions.

On Monday June 3 from 3:30-4pm in the world of solutions, add PSOGEN-1033 Unlock Business Outcomes from Connectivity with a Private 5G solution to your schedule and explore how Managed Services Partners are helping vertical industry enterprises, such as Hospitality, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Warehouse/Logistics, realize the potential of IoT solutions and deliver new business results with Private 5G connectivity.

On Wednesday June 5, from 10:30-11:30am, register to attend BRKGEN-1012 Fostering Sustainable Campus Communities with Cisco Catalyst Center and Smart Building Solutions and explore how return to office and smart building solutions can help deliver cost savings, increase occupant comfort, and create a more sustainable working environment.

And later on Wednesday from 12:30-1pm in the World of Solutions check out PSOGEN-1044 How to Overcome Cost Complexity while embracing Connectivity and Sustainability, to learn how partners like Logicalis are integrating innovative technology, proactive risk management, and sustainable practices to grow and manage customer business environments.

AI driven outcomes, built for MSPs

Register now to join sessions in the new Cisco Live AI Hub where Cisco solution engineering leads will explore opportunities to accelerate your AI transformation, increase MSP operational efficiency and support enterprise innovation.

On Monday June 3rd from 1:30-2pm catch AIHUB-1006 Unlock the future: Leveraging Generative AIOPS for Enterprise Innovation and Performance where our experts will demonstrate a live MSP bot powered by GPT-4, that showcases AIOps and GenAI for interactive customer engagement, service assurance, and exceptional customer experiences. This session will also feature special guest Gayathiri Srivinasian, practice lead at HCLtech to showcase how partners are delivering expanded use cases with Cisco AI enabled platforms.

On Tuesday June 4th from 12:45-1:15pm, join AIHub-1012 Bring Your Own AI or Build Your Own AI (BYOAI) with Cisco Partner Managed Service Providers to explore the AI Infrastructure as-a-service model with the performance and security needed to grow your business and meet growing customer demand.

DevNet workshops to guide cross-platform success

Register for hands-on technical  sessions to learn how you can use data and analytics in new ways to optimize your operations and deepen your understanding of observability capabilities.

June 4 10:00-10:45am DEVWKS-2048 Cross Platform Analytics for Monitoring and Observability
June 5 10:00-10:45 DEVWKS-2991 Day2 Automated Dashboard for Multidomain Monitoring and Observability
June 6 9:00-9:45 am DEVNET-1116 Cisco Cloud Observability API: An introduction for beginners

Stay ahead of the curve: discover the latest in partner managed services at Cisco Live

Explore what’s possible in the Partner Managed Services Booth #4713 in the World of Solutions where technical and business experts will share our latest additions to managed ready offers and resources to help you deliver successful customer outcomes.

See a demo of innovative managed ready offers ready to customize and take to market and attend daily scheduled whiteboard sessions to get a deeper understanding of our managed ready offers.

Let’s redefine what is possible, and the business outcomes customers can achieve.

Let’s #GoManaged!

Register today!
Join us at Cisco Live in Las Vegas June 2-6, 2024 in person or watch the global broadcast!

Additional resources:

Infographic: AI enabled MSPs are the future: Transform Operations and Create New Revenue Streams
Partner Launch Experience
Partner Managed Services at Cisco Live

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

Cisco Partners Facebook  |  @CiscoPartners X/Twitter  |  Cisco Partners LinkedIn

"}]]  Get ready to go beyond and explore new paths to success with partner managed-ready solutions designed to enable greater efficiency, operational scale, innovation, and open new market opportunities!  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco’s advocacy community, Cisco Insider, brings our customers together and provides a way for them to make powerful connections, expand their professional and personal networks, and learn from top experts in the field. One of our goals is to deepen our relationships with our customers. Our Q&A series allows us to shine a spotlight on […]

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Cisco’s advocacy community, Cisco Insider, brings our customers together and provides a way for them to make powerful connections, expand their professional and personal networks, and learn from top experts in the field. One of our goals is to deepen our relationships with our customers. Our Q&A series allows us to shine a spotlight on some of our most passionate advocates as we learn about their backgrounds.

Today we welcome Scott Sardella, IT Help Desk Manager at Cardiovascular Institute of the South.

Scott is a member of Cisco Insider Advocates, Webex Insiders, and he won tickets to see Taylor Swift through our Cisco Live competition!

Welcome Scott! Thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about your career journey so far and what inspired you to take on your role at Cardiovascular Institute of the South?

Thank you for having me! My early days were spent racing motorcycles until an accident at 18 made me pivot to a serious career in IT. I was attracted to technology because of my love for learning new things and the constant challenges it presents. My entry to the healthcare sector was driven by a powerful incentive; the ability to enable people to do their jobs effectively means we’re contributing to saving lives, which is incredibly fulfilling for me. I joined the Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) during a significant growth phase about nine years ago from about 400 to 1300 employees. Being a part of that expansion has been an incredible experience. Over the past two to three years, I’ve transitioned into a leadership role as a team lead, overseeing all of our support staff. I’m passionate about mentoring the individuals on my team and helping them grow into skilled professionals, much like I was earlier in my career. When I began at CIS, we were just starting to implement new electronic medical records. Now, every aspect of our records is fully electronic, and the growth has been exponential. It’s thrilling to be a part of the innovations CIS is undertaking. We pride ourselves on technological superiority, and I can confidently say that no other cardiology practice that I’m aware of matches our level of IT sophistication.

What does your day-to-day look like, what kinds of things are you thinking about the most?

My daily routine is quite dynamic. Ensuring that our company operates without a hitch is my top priority. However, what’s truly important to me is that our help desk and all our support staff are well-equipped. As with any IT role, my day-to-day responsibilities can vary greatly, but the ultimate goal is always to keep everyone satisfied and productive. Right now, I’m actively involved in expanding a few of our sister organizations which I wouldn’t be able to do without the solid support of my team. Their ability to grasp new challenges and run with them makes my job so much easier. I hold profound respect and trust for each member of our team, both my superiors and subordinates. It’s their hard work and understanding that allows me to focus on the broader aspects of our operations and I am beyond grateful for every single one of them.

Can you share a particularly memorable challenge you’ve faced in your role and how you overcame it?

Certainly, it’s quite timely that you bring this up. We’re currently deeply immersed in deploying Webex throughout our organization. On the surface, rolling out Webex may seem straightforward from an IT perspective, but the real challenge lies in educating users. Ensuring that everyone understands the full range of tools available to them and how to utilize these tools effectively has been a task of considerable scale, particularly when you’re aiming to reach 1300 individuals. We aimed to complete the Webex rollout to the entire company within an 8 week timeframe with training workshops included. It’s been a rapid deployment, and thankfully, we have a fantastic team. The support from Cisco TAC has been invaluable, and our account manager, Mark Rittiner, has been instrumental in connecting me with the right people to make this happen.

What are the strategic benefits you see transitioning to cloud calling, and how do you believe it aligns with the Institute’s future?

This might be the easiest questions in the world! Back in the day, the idea of relying on cloud-based solutions was daunting. There was a widespread uncertainty and lack of trust surrounding data security, regardless of vendor. Thankfully, Cisco has done a stellar job in this regard, and the entire perspective on cloud solutions has shifted. As our Institute continues to grow, adopting cloud-based technology seems not just a choice but an inevitability. The simplicity and accessibility of cloud solutions are unmatched – you can troubleshoot and manage systems from anywhere. Everything is unified particularly with tools like the Webex Control Hub, which I find extremely user-friendly. Plus, the ability to have your calling services and associated features follow you seamlessly across different devices and platforms is an incredible advantage that aligns perfectly with our institute’s direction towards innovation and efficiency.

How does the implementation of Cisco Meraki solutions fit into your vision for the institute’s growth?

I’ve been an avid fan of Meraki for quite some time now. Just like with Webex, Meraki offers us a unified dashboard that simplifies management across the board, allowing us to perform a multitude of tasks from a single interface. It’s a game-changer compared to juggling multiple systems at once. We introduced Meraki at CIS back in 2020. When the pandemic hit, we had to swiftly transition to a work-from-home model to keep operations running smoothly, just like everyone else. We opted for the Z3 and Z4 devices and have since deployed over a hundred of them, creating a seamless work environment for our staff, including our IT team. Currently, we’re experimenting with Meraki wireless solutions, and the experience has been very positive. The goal is to streamline our tech stack, and with Meraki and the Webex Control Hub, we’re able to manager so much with just a couple of interfaces. We recently started to implement Meraki WiFi, and the feedback from end users has been amazing.

In an industry with traditionally tight budgetary frameworks. what are your top strategies for doing more with less, and how do you prioritize investments in technology?

That’s an excellent questions because as we expand, the costs associated with growing our systems, teams, and all related elements can be quite significant as you can imagine. Our primary focus is always doing what’s right for the organization. Security is our top priority, especially as the cybersecurity landscape becomes increasingly daunting. That’s why we have our awesome Cybersecurity Analyst Wesley diligently monitoring our systems. When it comes to budgeting, we’re meticulous with planning. We trial and test thoroughly to determine which solutions will genuinely meet our needs. With so many options available for every problem, we can’t rush these decisions. The process can be more time-consuming than some might prefer, but it’s critical to ensure we’re making the right choices. Convincing leadership and finance teams to invest a significant amount of money in technology is never straightforward. My approach is rooted in collaboration and communication. I believe in working together and maintaining an open dialogue throughout the process. If there’s a difference of opinion, then it’s a matter of discussing those differences and reaching a consensus on whether and how to implement changes.

How do you stay informed about the latest technologies and trends in healthcare IT?

First off, like any IT professional, I’ve got quite a bit of a nerdy streak. I’m always eager to learn about new advancements, so I spend a fair amount of time researching and I’m subscribed to various newsletters. I’m also active in several different groups. One of the groups I’m privileged to be a part of for five years is Infragard, which is essentially a unique partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and individuals in the private sector. Then there’s my involvement in Cisco Insider Advocates and Webex Insiders. Being a Cisco Insider has been incredible advantageous because it means I’m often privy to new developments before the general public. It’s great to have a heads-up on what’s on the horizon with Cisco and the broader tech world, and how it all might fit together. Cisco Insider has provided me with a platform for limitless learning, and they manage to make it engaging and fun. Having a community of like-minded individuals to discuss and exchange ideas with is sometimes more helpful than talking to salespeople about their products. It’s invaluable to be able to ask someone about their experience first-hand – to understand why they made a certain shift, what the transition was like, and what it’s done for their organization.

You’re one of our Cisco Insider Advocate “Rockstars!” What made you want to join, and how has being a part of the community impacted you both professionally and personally?

On a personal level, I’ve met some of the most incredible people through this community – individuals from all over the globe who think like I do. The relationships I’ve formed extend beyond just community members; I’ve also gotten to know some of the admins who run the Cisco Insider program. When I lost my father, who was not only the Director of IT at Terrebonne General for over 30 years but also my best friend and mentor, the Cisco Insider team showed me and my father an incredible amount of love and support. That period was tough for me, and their care meant the world. It’s shown me that this group values its members and upholds the core values the promote, which aligns with how I approach life and work.

Congratulation on winning Taylor Swift tickets through our Cisco Live competition! Are you a self-proclaimed Swiftie or what motivated you to enter the competition?

Honestly, it’s quite funny – I wasn’t a Swiftie when I entered the competition. I threw my hat in the ring simply because I thought, why not? I’ve never won anything significant in my life, and I knew my wife is a huge Taylor Swift fan. The tickets ended up being an incredible surprise because the concert fell on the weekend of my wife’s birthday, so it turned into a special birthday weekend trip for the two of us.

And let me tell you, after the concert, I’ve definitely become a Swiftie! Taylor Swift knows exactly how to captivate an audience and make sure everyone has a fantastic time. The concert, combined with the cutting-edge technology at Levi’s Stadium, was just the coolest thing ever. Cisco has been a constant presence in my professional life for many years. I’ve worked with Cisco solutions my entire career, and my previous job was also in a heavy Cisco environment. But Cisco has also made a significant impact on my personal life by offering opportunities like this one. This isn’t something you see from every company. It was, hands down, the most incredible experience for her – her first concert ever! We set the bar incredibly high, and I’m not sure how I’ll ever top that, but thanks to Cisco, we provided a birthday experience for my wife that she will remember forever.

Lastly, what advice would you give to other IT professionals?

If I were to offer advice to fellow IT professionals, it would be to start by keeping an open mind. It’s easy in IT to become set in our ways, but it’s crucial to consider the thoughts and feelings of others. Regardless of our role in IT, our core responsibility is to support people. From the highest to the lowest level within the IT hierarchy, our purpose is to enable and assist others. We need to understand the challenges our users face so that we can offer the best support possible. I would also stress the importance of staying current with industry developments. If you’re involved with Cisco, for instance, I’d highly recommend joining the Cisco Insider community. It’s a program that rewards you for learning and provides you with the tools and knowledge to stay informed about what’s out there and how it works. Staying connected is key. And lastly, never lose sight of the ultimate objective in healthcare IT. At the end of the day, our job is to ensure the well-being of others. We may not be on the front lines of patient care, but out role is to facilitate the work of those who are, ensuring that people can lead happy, healthy, lives.

Read more advocate interviews

You might enjoy this interview with Cisco Insider Wouter Hindricks.

Join us!

For our customers who have already joined our Cisco Insider Advocates community, say hello to Tim if you haven’t met yet. And if you’re a Cisco customer but aren’t a community member, consider joining. You’ll be able to:

Connect with peers in a gamified, online community
Have an opportunity to meet with Cisco’s executives
Share your feedback, questions, and best practices
Get access to ‘insider’ content and resources
Grow your professional and personal brand
Amplify your company’s success story with Cisco technology

Ready to get started?

Head over to the Cisco Insider Advocates Community and say hello!

(Requires registration / login)

"}]]  Cisco’s advocacy community, Cisco Insider, brings our customers together and provides a way for them to make powerful connections, expand their professional and personal networks, and learn from top experts in the field. One of our goals is to deepen our relationships with our customers. Our Q&A series allows us to shine a spotlight on  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco’s Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer outlines Cisco’s work to champion inclusive futures, promote positive engagement in democratic processes, and advocate for tech policies that will power global progress.

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Cisco’s Purpose — to Power an Inclusive Future for All — extends beyond connecting people. It ensures that those connections are meaningful and secure – and it empowers every individual to participate in the fabric of their communities, including elections. In this “year of the global election,” Cisco’s integral role in enabling an informed and empowered society has never been more important.

With a historic number of elections this year—including the expansive multi-week process in India, the presidential elections in the U.S. and Mexico, and the collective voice of 27 nations participating in the European Parliament elections taking place June 6 to 9—our positive impact and that of technology on democratic processes is more pronounced than ever.

Time to Vote

And of course, that starts with us. At Cisco, we believe in the criticality of civic engagement and democratic processes. We are committed to fostering a culture that respects and encourages the active involvement of all employees in civic duties, including voting.

This year, for the first time, Cisco has teamed up with the European Parliament for their “Use Your Vote” campaign to encourage citizens to exercise their civic duty. Our partnership with the EU reflects who we as a company have always been. For example, Cisco offers employees paid time off to vote in elections. Our vision extends beyond the polling station as we think critically about and advocate for the policies that help us fulfill our purpose.

Ten Tech Policies to Power the Future

Cisco’s “Ten Tech Policies to Power the Future” is a call to action for policymakers, industry leaders, and communities to collaborate on using tech as a force for good, safeguarding our shared digital landscape, and fostering an environment where everyone can participate fully in our digital society. Covering everything from AI and cybersecurity, workforce and talent development, connectivity, trade, and sustainability — our brand-new microsite demonstrates the importance of each of these areas and a subset of our specific policy goals.

These interconnected policies contribute to a resilient, informed, and proactive world. While there is still work to do, we are committed to progress. Evidenced by our global IT skills-to-jobs Networking Academy program, connectivity initiatives, and the recent launch of Cisco Hypershield, we are as committed to promoting digital literacy as we are to global internet access and advancing the state of cybersecurity. Our work advances the goal that all individuals have the right tools and knowledge to make informed decisions and participate in the 21st-century digital economy.

Shared Responsibilities: Bolstering Election Security

As the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible, we aim to provide safe platforms that enable society to function and flourish. In the context of elections, we enable the functionality of democratic systems across the globe—whether it’s securing critical infrastructure or providing connectivity that helps voters make informed decisions.

We all have a role to play in ensuring our elections are secure, safe, and free of mis/disinformation, and there are shared responsibilities to ensure the resilience of democratic processes and protect the integrity of our elections. This includes actions we as voters can take to keep ourselves protected — such as practicing good information hygiene. Separately, the public and private sectors must partner to invest in network resilience, facilitate information sharing, and synchronize efforts to address cyber challenges like election security.

Technology for Good

As we approach global democratic milestones, including the European Parliament elections in just a few days, let’s embrace the power of technology to foster a well-informed electorate and secure the foundation of our democratic institutions. After all, technology reflects our values, commitment to progress, and unwavering belief in the power of human potential.

And most importantly, let’s move forward with empathy and purpose—using technology to connect us and protect the integrity of every voice in our society. Together, we set the standard for a future where technology truly is a champion for the people and the democracies they build.

"}]]  Cisco’s Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer outlines Cisco’s work to champion inclusive futures, promote positive engagement in democratic processes, and advocate for tech policies that will power global progress.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

In 2024, voters in more than 60 countries—representing 4 billion people—will cast ballots. Some of the elections are far-reaching—such as the upcoming European Parliament elections, which will span 27 countries from June 6 to 9. This year, for the first time, Cisco has teamed up with the European Parliament for their “Use Your Vote” campaign to […]

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In 2024, voters in more than 60 countries—representing 4 billion people—will cast ballots. Some of the elections are far-reaching—such as the upcoming European Parliamentary elections, which will span 27 countries from June 6 to 9. This year, for the first time, Cisco has teamed up with the European Parliament for their “Use Your Vote” campaign to encourage citizens to exercise their civic duty. In an era where digital threats are increasingly sophisticated, ensuring secure and trustworthy elections requires a collective effort from all stakeholders—companies, governments, and voters alike. Each group plays a critical role in bolstering cybersecurity and safeguarding the democratic process.  

Tech advancements and public-private collaboration will make election systems more secure than ever before.

Looking at election integrity and thinking about how we secure public trust and confidence in our democratic system, there is a theme we are seeing emerge in democracies across the globe: cyber adversaries are innovating, and there are concerted campaigns by malicious actors to erode trust in the process.  

Even as we harness the power of new technologies such as AI to bolster cybersecurity, malicious actors are trying to find ways to tip the scale in their favor. As a result, governments must secure elections as best as possible by prioritizing cybersecurity and implementing comprehensive solutions. This includes replacing equipment that is too antiquated to secure, investing in network resilience, adopting zero-trust architectures, allocating adequate funding to enhance cybersecurity infrastructure, and, where appropriate, shifting to cloud-based IT solutions 

While some aspects of election systems may deliberately not be networked, like voting machines, election infrastructure extends far beyond the voting booth. It can include endpoints, applications, data and users at the network’s edge and in polling stations as well as networks and information systems of electoral officials and agencies with oversight responsibilities for elections. It’s a lot of moving parts that need to be protected against cyberattacks—from election volunteers using their own smart devices to the email, control systems, and electoral registers overseen by authorities. Advanced cybersecurity controls must be integrated into the election infrastructure itself, not bolted on later.  

Information sharing related to cybersecurity risks and incidents is playing a valuable role in our collective cyber resilience, and governments globally are exploring how to tear down silos in a way that embraces collaboration. For example, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency created the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), which includes a host of private sector cyber players like Cisco and Splunk. The JCDC facilitates information sharing and synchronized efforts to address many cyber challenges, including election security. These public-private partnerships can enable faster responses to emerging threats and improve the overall resilience of election systems. 

Voters must prioritize information hygiene.

Election officials worldwide are putting recommendations into practice to counter mis/disinformation and better ensure the integrity and fairness of our electoral contests. But voters themselves are also a crucial link in the chain of election security. While companies and governments play significant roles, individual vigilance and proactive measures by voters can have a substantial and positive impact.  

In addition to informed participation and engaging in the democratic process, voters in today’s social media-driven world, must also practice information hygiene to help prevent and reduce the spread of mis/disinformation. Fortunately, there are resources to help voters identify and avoid disinformation campaigns.  For example, Cisco’s Talos Intelligence Group—one of the world’s largest commercial threat intelligence teams—has established a checklist before clicking “share.” And looking to the upcoming EU elections, the European Parliament also has voter resources dedicated to combatting disinformation. 

A Unified Approach.

Election security is not the sole responsibility of any one group. Instead, it demands a unified, multi-faceted approach where industry, governments, civil society, and voters play their part—through technological innovation, regulatory enforcement, informed participation, and collaboration. This collective effort is crucial for mitigating risks, ensuring the resilience of democratic processes, and protecting the integrity of our elections.  

"}]]  In 2024, voters in more than 60 countries—representing 4 billion people—will cast ballots. Some of the elections are far-reaching—such as the upcoming European Parliament elections, which will span 27 countries from June 6 to 9. This year, for the first time, Cisco has teamed up with the European Parliament for their “Use Your Vote” campaign to  Read More Cisco Blogs 

We’re thrilled to welcome you to Cisco Live 2024, taking place in Las Vegas from June 2-6, or join us virtually for free! Collaborate with experts and discuss cutting edge trends within manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas, mining, and transportation. Network with thought leaders and gain forward-thinking insights driving your sector forward.

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We’re thrilled to welcome you to Cisco Live 2024, taking place in Las Vegas from June 2-6, or join us virtually for free! Collaborate with experts and discuss cutting edge trends within manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas, mining, and transportation. Network with thought leaders and gain forward-thinking insights driving your sector forward.

Get started with a full list of industry sessions and activities

Join the leading minds in IT and learn about cutting-edge practices driving innovation in manufacturing, oil & gas, mining, transportation, and utilities industries at Cisco Live. Immerse yourself in a series of in-depth workshops and on-demand content, highlighting the developments of AI, sustainability, and security across industrial industries. Maximize your experience at Cisco Live with a lineup of industry sessions and activities.

Check out the sessions and activities and plan your experience:

Industrials at Cisco Live 2024

We’ll be featuring a varied lineup of customers and partners, as well as our own subject matter experts, at Cisco Live, each sharing insights on key industry topic. Make sure to visit our webpage to learn more about key sessions, networking opportunities, and customer recognition programs we have lined up. Take a sneak peek below at some of the key partners and subject matter experts you’ll have the chance to connect and learn from at Cisco Live. They will be covering a variety of important topics related to our focus set of verticals within the industrials.

Manufacturing: Powering Smarter Manufacturing

Step into the world of seamless industrial connectivity and smart factory expertise at Cisco Live. Experience how mobile assets can be integrated into networks for new levels of connectivity and control through IoT solutions, and how this paves the way for smarter, more secure factory operations. We’ll connect the dots between robust IoT applications and the strategic insights of Industry 4.0, offering a comprehensive blueprint for the modern manufacturing landscape.

Transform your manufacturing strategy and embrace the digital transformation with us at Cisco Live.

Oil and Gas/Mining: AI’s Future Impact on Oil, Gas, and Mining

Uncover the role of AI in revolutionizing the oil & gas and mining sectors at Cisco Live. With a focus on enhancing asset visibility, network, and automated security, the integration of Cisco’s data analytics and AI is setting new standards for operational efficiency and resilience.

Join us to learn more about the pivotal role AI plays in the future of oil & gas and mining, and how Cisco’s solutions are leading the charge towards a smarter, more secure infrastructure.

Transportation: Reinventing Transportation Security

The future towards safer, smarter transportation is paved with strategic innovation and steadfast cybersecurity. Sessions led by top experts will expand on the adoption of cutting-edge network designs and security measures that address the urgent cyber threats identified by national security agencies. Bridging the gap between current challenges and future of infrastructure, these discussions will provide insights into infrastructural developments and concepts to enhance security resilience.

Join the movement in redefining transportation and discover how the fusion of technology and safety are shaping the future of transportation.

Utilities: Innovating Renewable Energy with AI

The journey towards a future of renewable energy is anchored by bold innovations and the strategic implementation of technology. Join industry experts at Cisco Live to learn about the transformative impact of Cisco’s AI and secure networking in promoting renewable energy initiatives. Gain insights from the forefront of innovation and learn from success stories like Scottish Wind Power.

Register now to discover how Cisco’s technological advancements are redefining the renewable energy movement: Accelerating Renewable Energy Deployment at Scale.

Let’s continue the conversation… We can’t wait to connect with you in person in Las Vegas or virtually!

For insights into the transformative use cases and architectures shaping your industry’s landscape, browse through the

Cisco Portfolio Explorer

"}]]  We’re thrilled to welcome you to Cisco Live 2024, taking place in Las Vegas from June 2-6, or join us virtually for free! Collaborate with experts and discuss cutting edge trends within manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas, mining, and transportation. Network with thought leaders and gain forward-thinking insights driving your sector forward.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco introduces its first 5G Standalone (SA) fixed wireless access devices, the Meraki MG52 and MG52E. Powered by the Cisco secure networking platform, these devices help businesses scale robust, always-on, 5G-connected experiences to more people and places — without compromising scale and performance.

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5G fixed wireless access (FWA) is transforming the way businesses connect to the global network, especially in areas where fiber is not available. Market analysis from Wells Fargo recently indicated that nearly all net-new broadband accounts in the United States are FWA. Despite this demand, FWA point solutions inhibit the scale potential of FWA when expanding to multiple locations.

Businesses need a better way to implement 5G FWA across their growing branch footprints.

Accelerating time-to-market with cloud management

Cisco is pleased to introduce its first 5G standalone (SA) cloud-managed FWA devices, the Meraki MG52 and MG52E cellular gateways, to accelerate the way businesses open and connect branches. Managed through the Cisco Networking Cloud, these devices help businesses scale robust, always-on, 5G-connected experiences to more people and places without compromising scale and performance.

For branch-based businesses and organizations with remote operations, the MG52 and MG52E deliver:

Faster “day zero” operations by enabling businesses to purchase and activate AT&T data plans with an integrated complimentary introductory period directly from the Cisco Meraki dashboard
Lower operating expenditures by enabling businesses to streamline deployment with instant-on provisioning via Cisco IoT Control Center and Meraki
Higher return on investment by ensuring long-term compatibility with multigeneration cellular service (4G, 5G NSA, 5G SA) and reducing upgrade costs with future-ready 5G SA

Simplifying the 5G journey

Businesses often suffer from delayed time to market due to long lead times associated with disjointed processes and multivendor complexities in opening and connecting branches. AT&T and Cisco saw an opportunity to reach customers more quickly with a jointly developed, innovative, out-of-the-box experience, offering a deep integration with AT&T Wireless WAN services to help businesses get started even faster.

Businesses can now immediately connect full-stack, secure Cisco SD-Branch and SD-Campus networks with 5G FWA at all their branches—up to thousands at once. AT&T enables business IT leaders to prepurchase FWA data plans directly from the Meraki dashboard to leverage cloud-managed eSIM on the MG52 and MG52E.

“Together with Cisco, we are making it faster and easier than ever for companies to reimagine their networks and conduct business with next-level connectivity,” said Mike Troiano, Senior Vice President, Product and Pricing, AT&T Business. “This offer is yet another way we are demonstrating our commitment to simplifying business challenges and enhancing the end-user experience.”

Consistent, unwavering, robust performance

5G FWA is often the best choice for WAN when a business needs to immediately connect a site with minimal downtime, provide connectivity diversity and redundancy, or conduct a large branch deployment. It is also the best WAN choice for:

Rural and remote regions where wired WAN can take over nine months to deploy
Single-occupancy real estate where a wired WAN connection doesn’t exist
Space-constrained locations where a WAN gateway must be deployed in small, tight spots
Pop-up sites where a wired WAN is implausible to deploy
Nonconventional locations such as basements or rooftops too far from wired WAN

Discreet, versatile, pervasive connectivity

The MG52 and MG52E enable businesses to open branches immediately, boost network resiliency, and increase ROI on FWA investments. Multisite, branch-based verticals, such as retail, food services, hospitality, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and supply chain, transportation, logistics, and more, can expand their charters and offer services to new customers in new markets. Well-orchestrated deployments can also offer greater business agility, getting to market faster with same-day, full-stack SD-Branch and SD-Campus connectivity with Cisco Meraki or Cisco Catalyst networks.

Intuitive, streamlined, scalable management

Wired remains a highly reliable and fast-performing WAN option for businesses. For most use cases, FWA offers a strong complement to wired WAN, particularly when using SD-WAN, SD-Routing, or routing to take advantage of Cisco traffic orchestration features such as load balancing, traffic shaping, uplink selection, and more.

Businesses can extend secure connected experiences everywhere using Cisco Talos-powered cybersecurity capabilities—firewall policies, content filtering, intrusion detection and prevention (IDS and IPS), advanced malware protection (AMP), and more—using both wired WAN and FWA.

Partnering with telecommunications industry leaders

For businesses looking to partner with a managed service provider, Cisco is teaming up with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Business to provide robust, reliable, same-day cloud-managed 5G FWA by offering the MG52 and MG52E as a fully managed solution.

T-Mobile is teaming up with Cisco to enhance its Connected Workplace offering by making the MG52 and MG52E available as part of its fully managed, end-to-end 5G FWA solution.

“When we launched Connected Workplace earlier this year, one of our primary objectives was to continually enhance the solution to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Chris Melus, VP of Product Management, T-Mobile for Business. “The addition of the MG52 and MG52E means our customers have a 5G SA gateway that leverages the full power of T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G SA network. It also gives them more choice when it comes to optimizing their networking infrastructure, reducing IT workload and enhancing operational efficiency.”

Verizon Business and Cisco are partnering to offer businesses full-stack, cloud-managed, scalable networking with Verizon 5G FWA built around the flagship MG52 and MG52E FWA devices.

“Businesses need an easy, powerful, and scalable way to deploy high-performance 5G fixed wireless access,” said Debika Bhattacharya, Chief Technology Solutions Officer, Verizon Business. “We’re proud to partner with Cisco to bring businesses reliable 5G connectivity with an emphasis on simplicity, optionality, and capability.”

Business continuity starts now

Together with cloud-managed eSIM integration with AT&T, the MG52 and MG52E offer many new capabilities to elevate the way branch-based businesses get connected and serve their customers. With same-day connectivity, the flexibility to be deployed anywhere, and robust, reliable performance, IT teams can help drive their organizations forward with greater ease and success.

See for yourself how branch-based businesses can scale faster and deliver rich experiences for their customers with 

Meraki MG52 and MG52E

Cloud-Managed Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Devices.

"}]]  Cisco introduces its first 5G Standalone (SA) fixed wireless access devices, the Meraki MG52 and MG52E. Powered by the Cisco secure networking platform, these devices help businesses scale robust, always-on, 5G-connected experiences to more people and places — without compromising scale and performance.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco Meraki security provides intuitive, cost-effective ways to keep businesses protected.

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Join us as we dive deeper into Cisco and Cisco partner technology deployed at the Cisco Store! We asked Chris Weber (Senior Product Manager, Meraki MX security and SD-WAN) and Imran Idrees (Senior Product Marketing Manager, Cisco security and SD-WAN) to discuss how Cisco Meraki security allows businesses to stay ahead of the latest threats while reducing both cost and complexity.

How does Cisco Meraki security improve a retailer’s and shopper’s in-store and/or virtual shopping experience? What problem are they solving?

In cybersecurity, the quicker you can protect against a threat, the more you minimize adverse impact; or better yet, avoid any disruption at all. However, one of the security challenges facing retailers is a complex and fragmented architecture. A collection of complex security technologies that have built up over time and are separate from networking technologies can lead to slow responses to the latest threats and are prone to human error, as it can require specialist talent to manage. Meraki MX overcomes this by taking a cloud platform approach to deliver the quickest way to protect against the latest threats, while also removing complexity and cost with:

An always-on path for the latest Talos threat intelligence
Easy-to-manage firewalls designed for all IT teams of all skill levels
Intuitive, serverless architecture that elastically scales
Automatic smartphone-like firmware updates for zero-touch protection

Retailers also face various in-store connectivity challenges related to the performance of business-critical payment apps, inventory systems, point-of-sale devices, security cameras and IoT devices, and shoppers’ Wi-Fi and browsing experiences. In addition to powerful protection, Meraki MX solves these challenges in several ways for retailers of all types:

Built-in SD-WAN to automatically optimize WAN experience over all uplinks
Instant access to ThousandEyes for proactive monitoring and visibility into the performance of the WAN to get ahead of possible issues before they impact performance
Models with built-in cellular modems for added redundancy
Part of an integrated SD-Branch management platform with one intuitive UI that also includes:
Intelligent Wi-Fi access points for supreme wireless experience
Enterprise-grade SASE protection for remote users with Cisco Secure Connect – wherever they are
The simplest and most scalable dedicated 5G cellular gateways to supplement wired connectivity or support a cellular only branch
Smart security camera systems and sensors
Mobile device management for point-of-sale devices’ security, tracking, and management

What would you like people to know about Cisco Meraki security when they see it in action at the Cisco Store Tech Lab?

All Cisco security products are powered by Talos and that’s no different for Meraki MX. At its core, Meraki MX has an always-on path to Talos, providing undisputed threat intelligence. Talos is comprised of 250+ of the world’s most sought-after threat researchers and scientists analyzing 625 billion web requests every day – which is approximately more than 70 times the number of Google searches processed every day. They block 20 billion threats daily, 20 times more than any other vendor.

Meraki MX is a full-fledged next-generation firewall that is easy to deploy and scale. All the latest intelligence from Talos is automatically distributed to millions of Meraki MXs across hundreds of thousands of customers on the Meraki platform to block 98% of all malware – that’s 25% more than the industry average.

How do you envision Cisco Meraki security being used in retail environments in the future?

There’s a well-known saying in cybersecurity – the only certainty is change. From the moment a new threat is discovered by Talos, it takes less than 10 minutes for every Meraki MX customer to automatically be protected using zero infosec resources.

Additionally, one of the advantages of building Cisco Meraki security on a cloud native platform is that it’s designed for change. As the security landscape and threats inevitably change, Meraki security can easily adapt to keep retailers’ stores, assets, and customers protected.

For example, as the latest threats become ever more sophisticated, acting across multiple vectors, Cisco Meraki security is integrating with Cisco XDR. This will allow retailers to quickly thwart sophisticated multi-vector attacks, with machine learning rapidly correlating and contextualizing mountains of network-wide telemetry data and AI instantly suggesting remediation.

Moreover, with hybrid work and users being more distributed than ever, the Cisco Meraki platform added Cisco Secure Connect to protect users wherever they are.

What do you think will be a priority for shoppers in the next 5 years?

Definitely experiences – especially ones that add convenience through a personalized shopping experience. This includes thoughtful and well-timed suggestions, continuity in online and in-store shopping as well as shipping, and more.

Likewise, what do you think will be a priority for retailers in the next 5 years?

For retailers, cybersecurity protection will be a priority as threats inevitably increase and become more sophisticated. Ongoing digital transformation and simplification to remain competitive will continue to drive the importance of high-performance connectivity, as well as continued data and analytics – businesses must know their customers above all!

Interested in learning more about Cisco Meraki Security? Visit our page or request a demo now.

"}]]  Cisco Meraki security provides intuitive, cost-effective ways to keep businesses protected.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Introduction to Cisco FTDv partnership with Megaport. Learn how organisations can solve their last-mile network security puzzle with ease.

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Business critical data can originate from diverse sources ranging from multiple public clouds, private clouds, and internal servers to a remote employee’s device. Securing each data entity individually is time consuming and challenging due to lack of compliance between all the data points. With the increase in such use cases, you must be able to deploy the firewall quickly and securely at your network edge in a way that provides scalability and flexibility.

Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE) is an on-demand Network Function Virtualization (NFV) service on Megaport’s Software Defined Network (SDN), with a global reach of more than 280 cloud on-ramps and more than 850 data centers. MVE enables you to secure low latency branch-to-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and branch-to-branch connectivity over a global private network. From the Megaport portal, you can deploy SD-WAN gateways, virtual routers, transit gateways, and virtual firewalls at the network edge.

Deploying Threat Defense Virtual on MVE enables you to create a security service chain in your hybrid and multi-cloud workflows; and deploy a single point solution for personal devices, data centers, and the closest availability zones of your cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and GCP. This integration reduces data transit over potentially insecure networks and allows you to seamlessly implement your security solution without worrying about problems with robustness and scalability.

Benefits of Integrating Threat Defense Virtual with Megaport 

Low Latency: Having the firewall deployed close to your network’s edge ensures optimal data transmission performance and low network latency.
Ease of management: Instead of managing multiple firewalls present at different locations (public and private clouds, data centers, and so on), you can manage one firewall with an FDM, FMC, or SaaS-based Cisco Defense Orchestrator.
Reduced skill gap: You need separate skill sets to secure all the different public clouds and private data centers. Using Cisco Threat Defense Virtual on Megaport Virtual Edge reduces that skill gap and makes security operations easier.
Increased security: Cisco Threat Defense Virtual provides an unmatched level of threat intelligence. Combining it with Megaport’s end-to-end private global network ensures a robust network architecture.

Use Cases

Cisco Threat Defense Virtual deployed on Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE) can be used for scenarios ranging from securing traffic from your data center to a multicloud architecture to securing traffic transiting between multiple public clouds. You can create up to 25 virtual connections from an MVE to connect to your chosen environments.

Multicloud Deployment

Deploying the Cisco Threat Defense Virtual on MVE enables you to securely route all traffic through the Threat Defense Virtual instead of dealing with the complex task of creating a dedicated security solution for each individual cloud provider. It not only acts as a single-point solution but also addresses gaps in interoperability and user skill between multiple public cloud platforms. Megaport’s integration with major cloud service providers makes it easy to build a robust multicloud architecture over its global private network

Hybrid Cloud Deployment

Similar to multicloud architecture, your organization can also deploy the Cisco Threat Defense Virtual on MVE to ensure that the traffic between your private data center and cloud architecture is secure. With the help of Megaport’s global network, you can deploy the Threat Defense Virtual in a location that is geographically closer to your HQ, resulting in high performance and low latency.

Additional Resources

Megaport Portal

Cisco Secure Firewall

Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual

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"}]]  Introduction to Cisco FTDv partnership with Megaport. Learn how organisations can solve their last-mile network security puzzle with ease.  Read More Cisco Blogs