In the evolving landscape of technology, businesses are navigating through an increasingly complex environment. With a surge in hybrid work, increasing focus on digital experiences, rapid migration… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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In the evolving landscape of technology, businesses are navigating through an increasingly complex environment. With a surge in hybrid work, increasing focus on digital experiences, rapid migration to the cloud, and the pervasive influence of IoT, the list of factors contributing to this complexity is ever-growing. As operations in networking, data centers, cloud, and security converge, the need for uninterrupted connections for users, devices, and applications has become a paramount expectation.

At the heart of this intricate web lies the essential concept of secure connections—a universal expectation for everyone, to everything, from everywhere. In the following three-part blog series, we delve into how businesses are leveraging Cisco solutions to simplify operations through a platform approach. This approach converges key capabilities, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automation, common policy, data, and APIs, onto unified platforms, thereby easing IT management.

In this first installation, our focus is on the cloud operating model and how Cisco platforms, including Meraki, Intersight, and Catalyst WAN, deliver the crucial capabilities needed for a smooth transition to this model.

The future of streamlined, secure, and efficient IT operations management

Cisco Networking Cloud represents our vision of a unified platform designed to provide a more streamlined, secure, and reliable IT experience. It encapsulates all the key principles that support the cloud operating model.

At their core, solutions that simplify operations are about taking a platform approach. This method converges and automates network and data center infrastructure management, as well as provider connectivity, ultimately delivering simplified operations in line with Cisco Networking Cloud. In essence, the cloud operating model is a set of guiding principles for effective IT operations management.

Through converged platforms, Cisco significantly untangles the knot of management tools, providing an integrated system of hardware, software, policy, APIs, and data that support common policy, AI-driven automation, improved security, and end-to-end assurance. This unified approach overcomes the operational disconnect often caused by an overload of management tools. It makes enterprise and industrial network management, provider connectivity, and data center infrastructure management easier and more efficient.

Simplifying policy management and enhancing security

Because non-compliant configurations can account for a majority of security breaches, driving a common policy across the entire platform for consistent compliance is imperative. And Cisco platforms simplify policy definition and activation, enabling you to define a policy once and propagate it across the platform, easing the burden of configuration and confirmation. The result? Greater consistency of experience, reduced management overhead, and fewer potential security breaches because of out-of-compliance configurations.

Many use cases can benefit from this unified platform approach, including cloud-managed networking and IoT networking. Transitioning to cloud-managed networking is simpler with the Meraki platform. It offers network management for top-tier Cisco Catalyst switches and Wi-Fi 6 access points through a single, cloud-based platform. The solution is easy to maintain and regularly updated with fresh innovations.

Cisco Meraki and Catalyst platforms streamline traffic management, ensuring policy consistency and simplified management with a single platform. The platform enhances IT capabilities and products such as Identity Services Engine (ISE), and offers extra management features through APIs and partners. Meraki supports indoor IoT monitoring, while Catalyst caters to warehouse and outdoor IoT devices with industrial switches.

Stay tuned as we navigate the complexities of the technological landscape together, simplifying operations with the help of Cisco solutions.

Learn and explore how to leverage Cisco solutions to

simplify your IT operations.

"}]]  The complexity of today’s IT infrastructures makes it difficult to deliver the quality experiences customers expect. Take advantage of Cisco platforms to tame complexity and simplify operations through a platform approach and the application of common policy, AI-driven automation, and end-to-end assurance.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco Live EMEA 2024 is now in the books—what an incredible four days! The atmosphere was alive with the anticipation of the innovation and opportunity that lies ahead of us. Our partners are i… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Cisco Live EMEA 2024 is now in the books—what an incredible four days! The atmosphere was alive with the anticipation of the innovation and opportunity that lies ahead of us. Our partners are introducing new services to the market, customers are ready to double down on digital transformation, and we are continuously strengthening our offerings.

We’re excited about the growth opportunities ahead for Cisco Powered Partner Managed Services, as nearly one in two customers will consume their Cisco technology leveraging a Partner-managed Offer by 2027. The projected total addressable market for Managed Service provides product and services is US$102 billion EMEA market opportunity for our Managed Service Provider Partners. It is a time of expansion for managed services, and our MSPs are at the forefront of driving this transformation. Our Partner managed strategy is centered around delivering three foundational pillars—platform, preference, and performance—that our partners need to succeed.

The EMEA Managed Services Opportunity

There are multiple technology avenues MSPs can take, such as Collaboration, Data Center, Network, Observability, and Security

I thoroughly enjoyed talking with our Provider Partners about their business challenges and how Managed Services is becoming the bridge between our product and technology capabilities and the outcomes and business value that our customers are asking for.

Here’s a recap of three business priorities we heard customers talking about at Cisco Live EMEA and how our provider partners are innovating:

Prioritizing a path to sustainability. Companies are investing in sustainability because they realize it is critical to driving company growth, delivering value to customers, and conserving natural resources. They are focusing on strategies that improve operational efficiency, drive competitive differentiation, and foster innovation and increased revenue. At the same time, customers are faced with increasing reporting and regulatory requirements.Partner Managed Services can help organizations achieve their sustainability goals through initiatives that enable efficient use of hardware, reduction in energy consumption, telemetry on product efficiency to aid in tracking and reporting, and effective disposal of end-of-life equipment.
Securing the network. Today’s customers are seeking more resilient secure networking solutions to fortify their networks amid the growing threat landscape, especially in a hybrid world. In fact, 41 percent of organizations cite securing user access to cloud-based applications and mobile services or cloud-based solutions is their biggest obstacle. Managed services offer a cost-effective and efficient solution.Our platform-based approach simplifies access to telemetry and end-to-end (E2E) services for greater security resiliency. Companies are able to track the performance of cloud-native applications across multicloud and hybrid cloud environments, then prioritize any issues based on business impact.
Continuing the path to transformation. As small business owners continue their digital transformation journey, their priorities mirror those of enterprises. They care about keeping their employees connected and highly productive, securing data from cyber threats, and applying modern technology to create smarter, more automated workspaces.The small business market (SMB) segment is in growth and investment mode when it comes to IT spending and innovation to increase market reach and profitability, and we project a $12 billion EMEA Managed Services opportunity by 2027. The MSP Expressway for SMB helps our partners to pursue the growing SMB market opportunity. Scalable partner-ready offers combine the Cisco cloud platforms for networking, security and collaboration with resources, tools, and best practices to accelerate time to market.

Exciting Partner Announcements

Along with having a chance to speak with customers last week in Amsterdam, I’m also pleased to share some exciting partner announcements from Cisco Live EMEA:

Hitachi Vantara: Together with Hitachi Vantara, we are introducing Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud suite of services that integrates automation solutions and predictive analytics to give organizations a portfolio for advanced infrastructure management, cost efficiency, and operational effectiveness. Learn more about these services in our blog.

Kyndryl: New services introduced include Kyndryl Managed SSE with Cisco Secure Access, a new category of network security services that integrates security into a cloud-delivered service model. Explore the solutions in the press release.

Orange: Orange launched their ‘Secure Industrial LAN’ managed service for industrial organizations. By combining the Cisco Industrial IoT networking portfolio with Cisco Cyber Vision for OT security and resources from Orange Cyberdefense and Orange Business, this service offers a unified solution for customers worldwide. Learn more in our blog.

These are just a few examples of the remarkable innovations our partners are implementing in their managed services businesses.

Want to learn more?

I’m feeling energized after spending time with our Provider Partners and talking about the opportunities ahead and how we can help them to be more successful. To learn more about what we have planned for the year ahead and how we can help you be more successful, explore our Partner Managed Services resources:

Partner Managed Services Cisco.com page

Partner Managed Services SalesConnect hub

Learn more about how you can #GoManaged
by visiting the Cisco Partner Launch Experience

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

"}]]  Cisco Live EMEA 2024 is now in the books—what an incredible four days! The atmosphere was alive with the anticipation of the innovation and opportunity that lies ahead of us. Our partners are introducing new services to the market, customers are ready to double down on digital transformation, and we are continuously strengthening our offerings.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Hello! What a whirlwind. Vibrant, dynamic, alive with energy from customers, partners, and fellow developers alike, the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live EMEA in Amsterdam last week was nothing short of… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Hello! What a whirlwind. Vibrant, dynamic, alive with energy from customers, partners, and fellow developers alike, the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live EMEA in Amsterdam last week was nothing short of incredible. Reflecting on the experience, especially as a first-time attendee, I am left in awe at the strength and authenticity of the community that’s been built and continues to grow, and I’m coming away from the week with a deeper appreciation for DevNet—our people, our community, our partners—and its impact and significance globally. Read on for a few highlights I’d like to share.

Exploring the Wealth of Sessions

Entering the RAI Amsterdam convention center and heading through the World of Solutions towards The Hub where the DevNet Zone is, we were greeted with a plethora of session options. In the DevNet Zone alone, there were over 200 sessions offered, spanning a diverse range of topics and formats that offered a pick-your-own-adventure set of opportunities that allowed attendees to tailor their experience, explore, and learn the content in the way that worked best for them. Whether you preferred hands-on workshops, thought leadership from theater sessions, engaging classrooms, or quick insights from lightning talks, each DevNet session format offered a great learning experience.

Classrooms

Workshops

Theater sessions

Lightning talks

This year, throughout the week, the classrooms and workshops were both completely packed with many that had standing room only. Theater sessions and lightning talks were also abuzz with crowds around topics like security, AI, APIs, observability, Terraform, Ansible, networking, and programmability among many, many others. From seasoned professionals and tech enthusiasts to curious newcomers, there was something for everyone.

If you happened to miss or want to (re-)watch these sessions, catch them here on demand at the Cisco Live Amsterdam site. They’ll be available starting February 23rd!

Engaging through Special Ancillary Activities

In addition to the sessions, our DevNet team also put together a few special activities for attendees to experience.

In the Network Automation Labs hosted by our partner Red Hat, participants took part in proctored workshops to jumpstart their Ansible automation journey. These hands-on labs seemed quite popular given how full they all were.

Hands-on labs

Our Media Zone was popping throughout the week with quality interviews and conversations.

The Media Zone

In our Share Your Experience space, DevNet offered attendees an opportunity to impact development across Cisco’s products by giving them a chance to share real-time feedback through interactive feedback discussions and surveys using design thinking methodologies.

Share your experience space

For a more relaxed, purely-for-fun vibe, we had a fantastic, nerdy time at the Fireballs & Fizz: Tech Trivia Throwdowns

Tech trivia throwdowns

Each of these activities provided unique, valuable opportunities to learn, share, and connect.

Join the DevNet 10th Anniversary Celebration

Amidst the treasure trove of learning and networking opportunities, we also continued the festivities that were kicked off at Cisco Live APJC 2023 in Melbourne by spending some time together celebrating DevNet’s 10th anniversary. The atmosphere was cheerful as attendees connected with one another and reflected on DevNet’s past, present, and future.

If you haven’t done it already… check out DevNet’s 10-year journey, and join us for the virtual 10th Anniversary Celebration event in March!

Celebrating 10 years of DevNet

Reflecting on Insights and Experiences

Suffice to say, Cisco Live EMEA was not just an event, but a celebration of community, collaboration, and growth. From the learning opportunities to the genuine connections, there were meaningful moments, insights, and memories for everyone to take away.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of DevNet’s journey. As we look ahead, let’s continue to build on the momentum and work together to drive innovation and success for our DevNet ecosystem.

If this sounds like your kind of community and experience, come join us at Cisco Live US in Vegas and check out all the developer resources on the DevNet website.

Dive into exclusive learning modules

Continue growing you skills with digital learning opportunities in these key technical spaces:

> Collaboration ​> Data Center> Networking> Security> Full Stack Observability> Service Provider

"}]]  See a photo gallery of highlights from the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live EMEA 2024 in Amsterdam.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Firewall Logs Integration, Expanded Response Management, and Other Enhancements

Secure Network Analytics (SNA) Release 7.5.0 is generally available as of January 22, 2024. All current customers are … Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Firewall Logs Integration, Expanded Response Management, and Other Enhancements

Secure Network Analytics (SNA) Release 7.5.0 is generally available as of January 22, 2024. All current customers are eligible to upgrade and should look at the release notes to better understand the upgrade process and any additional considerations.

SNA is Cisco’s Network Detection and Response solution.  SNA provides enterprise-wide network visibility to detect and respond to threats in real- time. The solution continuously analyzes network activities to create a baseline of normal network behavior. It then uses this baseline, along with non–signature-based advanced analytics that include behavioral modeling and machine learning algorithms, as well as global threat intelligence to identify anomalies and detect and respond to threats in real- time. Secure Network Analytics can quickly and with high confidence detect threats such as Command-and-Control (C&C) attacks, ransomware, Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, illicit cryptomining, unknown malware, and insider threats. With an agentless solution, you get comprehensive threat monitoring across the entire network traffic, even if it’s encrypted.

This release delivers the innovation and usability that customers expect from the platform. By directly integrating firewall logs, improving response management, and updating the platform to meet the latest certification mandates, release 7.5.0 combines essential platform development with new features and enhancements.

Firewall Logs Generate Events in Secure Network Analytics

Given their location at the edge of the network, firewalls see a vast amount of traffic and behaviors that may be indicative of an attack. In this release, Secure Network Analytics can take logs directly from Cisco Firewall Management Center (FMC), Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) and ASA. These logs are converted into a format that looks like NetFlow but does not count against your flows per second (FPS) license. Enabling this configuration gives further insight into your traffic patterns, risks, and the scope of an attack.

New Response Management Actions

Automated responses improve the workflow for Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts and are a core component of our Network Detection and Response solution. By providing flexibility for multiple response actions, SOC analysts can ensure proper action is taken based on a specific alert type. This release adds Central Analytics detections to Response Management workflows, including the ability to deliver email, syslog, threat response, or webhook.

Data Enrichment from Secure Network Analytics to Cisco XDR

With the 7.5.0 release, security events contribute directly into XDR investigations. Also, XDR response actions can now be applied to alerts.

Other Enhancements

Additionally, this release provides improvements to the overall security and usability of the platform. Secure Network Analytics can achieve the certifications required by customers, including DODIN-APL, FIPS 140-3, Level 1, Common Criteria, USGv6, and IPv6 ready Logo. Some of these enhancements include:

TLS 1.3: TLS 1.3 is now supported, and TLS 1.2 is still supported. These protocols should be used for inter-appliance and external TLS connections, and can be configured in SystemConfig to be TLS 1.3 only or both TLS 1.2 and 1.3
Root access restriction: Root access has been removed. TAC will have access for troubleshooting purposes using the Cisco Consent Token mechanism via SystemConfig.
New SystemConfig workflows: New workflows added that non root user sysadmin can action, including Diag Packs, License Reservation, Data Store operations, and more.
MongoDB upgrade: Moved to a version that uses an already available package rather than a custom-built version.

In addition to these enhancements –we have improved certificate rotation and management, IPv6 support, and support for M4, M5, and M6 appliances.

By simplifying workflows, increasing compliance, and expanding detections, Secure Network Analytics Release 7.5.0 continues to prove its value as a central component of your SOC. We encourage you to review the release notes and speak with your local Cisco provider to begin planning your upgrade.

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

Cisco Security Social Channels

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"}]]  Secure Network Analytics (SNA) reached General Availability for our 7.5 release on January 29, 2024. The 7.5 release offers some great new capabilities, but also provides a number of updates under the hood.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

For more than a decade, Cisco has participated at DISTRIBUTECH International, the premier annual event for utilities, technology providers, and industry leaders in the transmission and distribution… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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For more than a decade, Cisco has participated at DISTRIBUTECH International, the premier annual event for utilities, technology providers, and industry leaders in the transmission and distribution sector.

This year, from February 26th to 29th, the event will take place in Orlando, Florida, at the Orange County Convention Center. Cisco eagerly anticipates joining thousands of industry professionals to showcase groundbreaking technologies that empower utility companies in supplying energy to homes and businesses.

With a rich history of deploying utility-specific solutions for over 30 years across the globe, Cisco has played a pivotal role in modernizing networks and addressing challenges faced by utility companies. This year, our focus is on delivering tangible business outcomes, tackling issues arising from evolving energy generation, consumption patterns, service models, and escalating cyber threats.

We invite you to visit booth #1135 where we will showcase the latest Cisco utility solutions, including:

Substation and distribution automation solutions featuring an industry-leading ruggedized routing, switching, and wireless portfolio.
Unified management platforms catering to 5G, Public and Private LTE, FirstNET, mesh, and LoRaWAN.
Cybersecurity capabilities safeguarding both the network and applications in Substation and Distribution deployments.
Technologies automating the interconnection of renewable energy resources and integrating asset and control systems to support reliable and sustainable grid operations.

Discover how our solutions empower utilities and critical infrastructure systems, allowing them to maximize operational value. Through a unified and intelligent platform incorporating a diverse array of technologies, we provide real-time security, heightened control, and enhanced visibility, all aimed at delivering cost savings and increased value for critical infrastructure.

To delve deeper into how Cisco is propelling the energy industry into the future make sure to visit Cisco at booth #1135 this year at DISTRIBUTECH INTERNATIONAL 2024.

Register to attend DISTRIBUTECH as a Cisco guest at this link.

Visit the Cisco for Utilities page to find more information.

"}]]  Join us in Orlando at DISTRIBUTECH 2024, booth #1135, to learn how utilities worldwide are working with Cisco and partners to empower critical infrastructure systems, allowing them to maximize operational value.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

I’m on the heels of another incredible week of Cisco events—this time with our customers and partners at Cisco Live EMEA. My main takeaways for partners: we’re driving new security opportunities for y… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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I’m on the heels of another incredible week of Cisco events—this time with our customers and partners at Cisco Live EMEA. My main takeaways for partners: we’re driving new security opportunities for you and simplified, effective security for all. Let’s dive into it a bit more.

New Security and AI Advancements

It really hit home for me when I heard Jeetu Patel on stage talking about how we’ve had more innovations in Cisco Security in the past year than in the past ten years combined. Talk about momentum!

One of these innovative areas is the introduction of first-of-its-kind Identity Intelligence to help protect against identity-based attacks. After all, threat actors these days are thinking “why hack in, when you can log in?” At #CiscoLiveEMEA we introduced Cisco Identity Intelligence, which is built on a powerful identity graph that pulls data from customers’ existing third-party sources that manage identity and access.  Cisco customers will gain visibility from these insights through their existing Cisco solutions like Duo, Secure Access, and XDR. Cisco Identity Intelligence will be available July 2024.

Cisco is also integrating robust Networking capabilities with Cisco Secure Access at no additional cost. Experience Insights, powered by Cisco ThousandEyes, improves productivity for hybrid workers by quickly revealing connectivity and application issues. Cisco Secure Access also now integrates with Catalyst SD-WAN, for complete Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).

We’re continuing to make AI pervasive across the Cisco Security Cloud to help tip the scales in favor of defenders, including the recently unveiled Cisco AI Assistant for Security. We already launched the AI Assistant for Firewall and have now added additional groundbreaking AI capabilities in Secure Access and Email Threat Detection.

What’s This Mean for Partners?

Last week was just another example of how Cisco Security is committed to helping our partners stay relevant with customers by addressing their most pressing needs.

These new security capabilities will help create customer stickiness, enabling you to land with key products and expand across the portfolio. Plus, the ability to create and deliver your own services will further enhance the customer experience.

We’re keeping partner profitability in mind with all this innovation feeding into Cisco Security Suites, where partners can achieve up to 30% blended margin. Our goal is to simplify ease of doing business with Cisco Security with simple partner offers and programs aimed at maximizing your profitability with front-end discounts and back-end rebates.

The security future is bright together!

Learn more by accessing Cisco Live product announcements
and partner-exclusive content from the event

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

"}]]  I’m on the heels of another incredible week with our customers and partners at Cisco Live EMEA. In this latest blog I’ll recap the new security innovations we announced and my main takeaways for partners.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

This is Part I of a three-blog series on solutions to overcome challenges associated with bridging the digital divide.   

Bridging the digital divide has been a longstanding top priority for c… Read more on Cisco Blogs

​[["value":"

This is Part I of a three-blog series on solutions to overcome challenges associated with bridging the digital divide.   

Bridging the digital divide has been a longstanding top priority for countries globally. According to Broadband Research, in 2023 approximately five billion people (64% of the world’s population) were connected to the internet. That means roughly three billion people do not have the basic digital necessities such as access to data, sharing information, or communicating. In addition, they do not have the same access to educational, employment, and economic opportunities that could improve the quality of their lives through digital connections.

The World Bank has estimated that increasing the percentage of people with internet access to 75% would “boost the developing world’s collective GDP by $2 trillion and create 140 million new jobs.”

The good news is that the public and private sectors have been partnering to help close the digital divide, but as Broadband Research states: “Factors like increased affordability of devices, improved infrastructure and innovative services drive this growth.”

Role of subscriber edge

Accessing the internet requires a subscription to a broadband service from communications service providers (CSPs), using either cable, fiber, DSL, fixed wireless access (FWA), satellite or 4G/5G infrastructure and devices. Subscriber edge is the access point function for subscribers in a service provider network through which they connect to the broadband network for high-speed connectivity, such as accessing the internet.

Subscriber edge can be deployed with other services on the same platform by converging residential and enterprise services using multiservice nodes. Subscriber edge solutions involve managing subscriber sessions, and include functions like IP address management, policy and quality of service (QoS) enforcement, and secure access to the network through authentication and billing.

Shifting application and traffic demands

Traditional approaches for offering broadband services can be revenue-impacting and could affect the quality of experience (QoE) for a broadband user (see Figure 1). For example, with the advancement of applications and evolving transport protocols—such as Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) and Transmission Control Protocol/ Transport Layer Security (TCPLS)—traffic patterns within broadband networks are experiencing a shift away from traditional transport protocols. These new protocols offer greater control to end-user applications, which reduces the dependency on the underlying broadband network and requires relatively simpler QoS models.

This shift is a pivotal opportunity for CSPs to simplify and modernize their complex traditional broadband networks to address higher bandwidth demands, growing user base, increasing video traffic and rising costs. As a result, there is a need to relook at subscriber edge with the overall subscriber services network design, and address important areas such as:

Subscriber anchor point in the network
Selection of subscriber edge devices and architecture
Improve end-user experience and offer new services
Address rising network costs

Figure 1. Traditional broadband centralized architecture 

In Part 2 of this blog series, we will discuss how a new architecture for broadband networks helps CSPs address these challenges. 

Get started today reimagining your

broadband network gateway architecture 

"]]  This first blog in a three-part series discusses trends, challenges, and opportunities with broadband architectures. The subscriber edge is a strategic area of focus for network operators to address technical and business outcomes.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

It happens to everybody. You purchase a new bit of technology, and there are features and functionalities that you just aren’t aware of. There are a million reasons why this might be true—you might be… Read more on Cisco Blogs

​[[{"value":"

It happens to everybody. You purchase a new bit of technology, and there are features and functionalities that you just aren’t aware of. There are a million reasons why this might be true—you might be too busy to dive too deeply into the resource guide or maybe you think you can do fine with just the basics—but these unknown features are waiting for you to unlock them. And once you do, it will make your life better.

If you’re feeling that way about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE); don’t fret, help is on the way!

The great thing about Cisco ISE is that every month, ISE experts spend some time going over those features that you may not know about. All it takes is about an hour of your time to listen to Technical Marketing Engineers (TMEs) and Customer Success (CX) engineers run through the features that will both strengthen your network, save your company some money and—most importantly—save you valuable time. Once you put those Cisco ISE features to work on your network, you’ll be able to devote your efforts to other more important tasks.

This month’s webinar topic is on: Secure RADIUS & TACACS+ to ISE with IPsec Native Tunnels. The live broadcast will be held on Thursday February 22 at 8:00 am PST. But if you aren’t able to experience this live, it will be recorded and made available for you to listen to at your leisure.

What is this all about? Here’s a quick rundown:

RADIUS & TACACS+ were some of the first protocols built for network security and remain relevant nearly 30+ years later. However, their lack of encryption has become a glaring issue as people want to protect their network access control traffic from their branches or even directly from their network access devices over the Internet. We will show you how to use native IPsec tunnels in ISE 3.3 to your Cisco Catalyst network devices to accomplish this.

In addition to learning about the topics during the webinars, you are given the opportunity to ask a panel of experts about ISE.

Register for upcoming ISE webinars including Secure RADIUS & TACACS+ to ISE with IPsec Native Tunnels at https://cs.co/ise-webinars . See the archive of our past webinars on the CiscoISE YouTube Channel: https://cs.co/ise-youtube

If you want to learn more about ISE, check it out on cisco.com.

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

Cisco Security Social Channels

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"}]]  Learn more about RADIUS and TACACS+ with this informative Cisco ISE blog on Feb 22.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Being yourself is something that, for me, is key to being successful. One of the things that I love the most about working at Cisco is that I can be my true self. During the day, I’m a Business O… Read more on Cisco Blogs

​[[{"value":"

Being yourself is something that, for me, is key to being successful. One of the things that I love the most about working at Cisco is that I can be my true self. During the day, I’m a Business Operation Manager and part of the Global Staffing Team, and at night, I’m a hard rock/ metal singer.  

In 2020, during the pandemic, connecting with people was difficult due to all the uncertainty and restrictions to keep us safe, so Gaby Córdova and I came up with an idea to create a singing club to have a safe space to connect and do what we love the most.

At first, we didn’t know if anyone would respond or if people would be interested in joining us. Also, giving singing lessons remotely was a new challenge for us, so we had to adapt our teaching to make sure anyone joining would get all the knowledge possible. Honestly, we didn’t know if it would work.

To our surprise, a lot of people joined the club! People from all around Mexico: Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Puebla, to mention some. We called ourselves the We Are Cisco Singers and gathered virtually for weekly sessions. After some time, we performed two virtual concerts for Cisco employees, family, and friends. We also donated our time for a virtual giveback activity where we sang for children at a telethon during the holidays. It was so heartwarming to use our voices to do something good.

Cisco even created Music Mode in Webex, our collaboration platform, and that was literally music to our ears because we could hear the music and our voices with more clarity, which allowed us to create all the virtual events we did.

Finally, in 2022, all the We Are Cisco Singers were able to meet. We had been connecting and creating amazing things together for one and a half years, but to have the first class in person was wonderful. We were already part of the singing club, but now we are also great friends. We are a Cisco family.

When we first started the We Are Cisco Singers, we wanted to find a connection in a time when that was difficult, have fun, and share our singing knowledge. To our surprise, some of the students shared that because of the singing classes, they have better confidence and more self-esteem and that it’s helped them with communication and better performance at work and in their personal lives. It’s true that you never know how your actions could impact someone, and seeing now how this can also be a wellness space where people can grow, relax, do what they love, and have a good laugh is incredible.

We’ve also gotten the support of Inclusion & Collaboration Mexico and Pavelka, Cisco’s global health and well-being partner, to continue this amazing journey. It has given us great opportunities to do what we love and create new friendships with others we may not interact with during our daily jobs. Last year, we were honored to perform during the CX Mexico All Hands meeting, and this year, we performed during the Mexico All Hands meeting with Cisco’s Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer Fran Katsoudas, in attendance.

Cisco also gave my band and me the opportunity to perform virtually at the SleepOut, an annual Cisco fundraising event, in 2021, and in 2022, we were finally able to be there in person. We also took the stage during the Great Place to Work Mexico celebration (The 6th year we won this award in a row!) and at a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) event for little girls to encourage them to be whatever they want to be and show them that, at Cisco, we have a place for them.

The journey is not over yet. We have more exciting activities planned for next year, like performing for the children of some of Cisco’s registered charitable organizations during Children’s Day and at the next SleepOut event.

Looking back, it’s crazy how one idea, one dream, can change your life. My key message is never to give up on your dreams and always be yourself. When you are your whole self, you open yourself up to connection, and the We Are Cisco Singers gave me connection when I needed it the most. We’ve grown, had fun, become great friends, and are now Cisco family. Cisco is the place where I have felt embraced to be myself more than ever in my whole life, and I would not change it for anything. Every day, I feel empowered to show I am proud to be a Cisconian.

See how our purpose cultivates an environment where we all thrive.

Subscribe to the WeAreCisco Blog.

"}]]  Business Operations Manager Marifer started the We Are Cisco Singers as a way to connect when that was difficult, and it was an idea that changed her life.  Read More Cisco Blogs