The higher education sector has more to gain than most from a new global partnership between Cisco and Microsoft. The partnership – announced at Microsoft’s Ignite Conference at the end of 2022 – enab… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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The higher education sector has more to gain than most from a new global partnership between Cisco and Microsoft. The partnership – announced at Microsoft’s Ignite Conference at the end of 2022 – enables better interoperability between Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams technologies and will redefine how learning environments and meeting spaces are designed, deployed and managed across campuses.

The partnership announcement has been welcomed by many university CIOs who have been grappling with integration and interoperability issues and having multiple and disparate devices to support in meeting rooms and learning spaces. For example, in a single teaching space you might have collaboration platforms managed by IT, audio-visual equipment (mics, projectors and screens) managed by the AV team, environmental sensors (run as part of building management systems) run by facilities (who often own the camera network) and individual pieces of teaching equipment to run by the teaching and learning team.

The combined functionality of Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams means that all of the above features can now be delivered as part of a single solution. The Cisco WiFi points provide environmental sensing and location as standard, Webex room kits provide cameras, mics, projection and screens and will support MS Teams meetings as well as other platforms including Zoom and Google.

True hybrid work and learning is underpinned by secure connectivity, high levels of functionality and rich analytics that allow universities to:

Traditional AV equipment replaced by: new secure IP solutions powered by AI offer native functionality including room kits with built in microphones, cameras, controls, environmental sensors and displays.
Ensure visibility of the full technology stack and better data analytics about utilisation, occupancy and network performance.  Pre-defined API integrations offer instant visibility and control over the hybrid work and learning environment, including providing insights across all facilities, network, workspaces and classrooms. The use of Cisco Spaces allows easy visualisation of data and creates a basis for evidence-based decisions about space design, management and environmental monitoring.
Unify approach to security. Holistic security policy that applies to every facet of the technology stack and provides better protection.

The simplified approach to hybrid learning and work is also more cost effective in the long-run for universities who are grappling with challenging fiscal conditions. Cisco is offering to run proof of concepts with universities to prove the value but also help customers validate the business case for a joint Cisco-Microsoft hybrid work and learning proposition.

Learn more in the ‘Elevating Hybrid Work and Learning in Higher Education: Blueprint for Chief Information Officers’

  True Hybrid Work and Learning is underpinned by secure connectivity, high levels of functionality and rich analytics and is helping drive universities forward in many areas.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

This post was authored by Alice Sanchez, a Customer and Partner Experience software architect and global co-lead of Cisco’s Native American Network (NAN).

Lac Court Oreille Ojibwe University

As I s… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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This post was authored by Alice Sanchez, a Customer and Partner Experience software architect and global co-lead of Cisco’s Native American Network (NAN).

Lac Court Oreille Ojibwe University

As I stood on the campus of Lac Court Oreille Ojibwe University (LCOOU), I was filled with pride to be representing not just Cisco but also the Native/Indigenous community. I was there for the signing of a new partnership to support the university and its students, enabled by Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) and Cisco.

Participating in this event was meaningful to me for two reasons. First, because representation matters. I was representing my heritage—Pomo, Hawaiian, and Choctaw—as well as the broader Native/Indigenous community. Second—and no less important—because of the way Cisco’s investment will benefit Native/Indigenous students.

Expanding to Support Tribal Colleges
In 2021, Cisco announced our partnership with SFI, a nonprofit that supports students attending minority-serving institutions. As part of this partnership, Cisco funded a $50 million endowment for juniors and seniors pursuing STEM education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The funding was part of $150 million commitment to HBCUs through Cisco’s social justice initiative. Our inaugural work with HBCUs created a blueprint that is now expanding to other minority-serving institutions, and LCOOU is the first tribal college beneficiary.

“Bridging the digital divide for Native/Indigenous communities is paramount for

helping them achieve sovereignty for themselves and future generations.”

Supporting Students Beyond Financial Needs
LCOOU now has access to a loan program for juniors and seniors in STEM, but the partnership with LCOOU goes beyond dollars. It also includes technology modernization and access to the Cisco Networking Academy.

Cybersecurity Compliance
Part of the agreement includes ensuring LCOOU can meet important cybersecurity standards.

Cisco partner, Procellis, was engaged to conduct an assessment required by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Colleges and universities must be in compliance with more than 100 security controls to continue receiving federal aid under Title IV. Cisco’s donation of security products and services will help LCOOU achieve and maintain cybersecurity compliance.

For minority-serving institutions like LCOOU, protecting federal funding through technology compliance is critical.

Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco is also working with LCOOU to place a Networking Academy at the university. The university will be able to include Network Academy curriculum in its computer science program. As a result, students can graduate with a degree as well as industry-recognized certification.

Supporting Native/Indigenous Communities
I’m proud of the efforts that Cisco has made not just to listening to Indigenous voices, but also supporting and empowering us. Our work with LCOOU is one example, but there are so many more.

For example, I’m co-lead of our Native American Network (NAN), one of our employee resource organizations. Cisco is the first company I’ve worked at that has a Native American network. We’re a small group—Native Americans make up less than 1% of Cisco’s employee base. NAN gives us a vehicle to celebrate our culture and make contributions to the Native/Indigenous community. We are also able to build bridges between our company and Native communities, many of which do not trust big companies, and can benefit from technology.

I am proud of Cisco’s purpose to power an inclusive future for all and commitment to ensuring minority-serving institutions like LCOOU have access to technology, services and infrastructure. Bridging the digital divide for Native/Indigenous communities is paramount for helping them achieve sovereignty for themselves and future generations.

  In 2021, Cisco announced our partnership with SFI, a nonprofit that supports students attending minority-serving institutions. Our inaugural work with HBCUs created a blueprint that is now expanding to other minority-serving institutions, and LCOOU is the first tribal college beneficiary.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Across the United States, local communities, transportation departments, and transit, port, and turnpike authorities are seeking new and better ways to deliver on their mission-critical objectives to… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Across the United States, local communities, transportation departments, and transit, port, and turnpike authorities are seeking new and better ways to deliver on their mission-critical objectives to provide safe, efficient, and reliable transportation. They are focusing on smart, long-term investments in digital infrastructure to support the future needs of transportation.

At Cisco Live US earlier this year, we hosted an industrial IoT Transportation Leadership Summit, inviting industry leaders to discuss their plans, progress, and the roadblocks they are encountering. In the months since, we’ve continued to reflect on our conversations and are now excited to share some of the lessons learned in Las Vegas.

‘The power of the network’ was front and center for this passionate and vocal group of industry and technology professionals. They shared their successes as well as visions for reducing costs, and improving safety, supply chain, and passenger velocity. Across the board, there is a strong focus on the security posture of digital infrastructure in today’s world of ever more sophisticated and frequent cyber-attacks.

More notable highlights were captured in a panel discussion featuring a representative from each segment of the transportation industry. During this panel, one thing became very clear. Whether running a DOT, a bus fleet, a port or an airport, transportation leaders are grappling with similar challenges:

Tightening security as greater automation and connectivity has expanded their attack surface.
Increasing visibility for monitoring and managing connected devices across vast areas.
Supporting electrification initiatives.
Improving management of existing infrastructure while planning for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles powered by Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS).
Finding people with the right skillsets to support evolving needs.

Another common thread emerged as attendees discussed the role that global brands like Cisco play in serving their customers. The public and sustained focus on the industry that Cisco provides enables transportation leaders to build the platforms their customers need as well as highlighting the cutting-edge initiatives the industry undertakes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

One customer shared their multi-year journey running one of the United States busiest and most critical tollway corridors. The usage and revenue statistics that this transportation leader from the Northeast shared reinforced the fact that transportation provides significant opportunity. And, more importantly, it is vital to the regional and national economy. Solving problems in transportation is like ‘a rising tide that lifts all boats’.

Some shared their vision for connectivity. Others described how they are investing to enable IT and OT collaboration, and their fundamental need to have high-performance enterprise capabilities, for example in supporting a minimum of 10GB uplink bandwidth available in a ruggedized form.

In other conversations, attendees shared what they themselves had learned during the event. For example, we were told that they hadn’t previously been aware of the full scope of services like Cisco Secure Equipment Access – which can be implemented on their transit vehicles to enable Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to in-vehicle connected equipment. They had also learnt about opportunities to partner with transportation departments on road-surface mapping using the edge computing capabilities of the Cisco Catalyst IR1800 Rugged Series Routers. One leader in particular shared how they had gained a new appreciation of the value of using Cisco end-to-end solutions – an approach that can help improve the security and reliability of their roadway infrastructure.

And we came away with some transportation trivia too, too. Use of “networking” with traffic signals – which was based on serial communications – started back in the 1970s, predating Ethernet and IP. In other words, the transportation industry was a pioneer some 50 years ago. It’s poised for even greater innovation in the years ahead, and Cisco is eager to provide the security, reliability, and visibility these organizations demand.

To learn more about how Cisco can support organizations in the transportation industry, please see the Cisco Validated Design Guides or Public Transportation, Roadways and Intersections, and Ports and Terminals.

  Industry leaders and practitioners from multiple transportation sectors shared their successes, challenges, and emerging needs for supporting existing infrastructure and modernizing to enable a more connected, electric, and sustainable future.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

A Dashboard Designed for Developers

APIs serve as the bridges that enable different software systems to communicate, facilitating the flow of data and functionality. For developers, APIs are the… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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A Dashboard Designed for Developers

APIs serve as the bridges that enable different software systems to communicate, facilitating the flow of data and functionality. For developers, APIs are the foundation upon which they build, innovate, and extend the capabilities of their applications. It’s only fitting that the tools they use to manage these APIs should be just as robust and user-friendly.

That’s where Meraki’s API & Webhook Management Page steps in. This dedicated interface is a testament to Meraki’s commitment to creating a seamless developer experience. It’s not just another feature; it’s a reflection of the understanding that developers need practical solutions to handle the complexities of APIs effectively.

Simplifying API Key Management

One of the key aspects that API developers will appreciate is the simplified API key management. With just a few clicks, developers can create and revoke the API keys they need effortlessly. With this new page, you can easily manage the keys associated with the current Dashboard user account.

Streamlining Webhook Setup

Webhooks have become an integral part of modern application development, allowing systems to react to events in real-time. The new UI offers a separate section to manage your webhook receivers, allowing you to:

Create webhook receivers across your various networks
Assign payload templates to integrate with your webhook receiver
Create a custom template in the payload template editor and test your configured webhooks.

Many external services typically demand specific headers or body properties to accept a webhook. Templates serve as a means to incorporate and modify these webhook properties to suit the particular service’s requirements. Utilize our integrated template editor for crafting and evaluating your personalized webhook integrations. Develop custom webhook templates to:

Establish custom headers to enable adaptable security options.
Experiment with different data types, like scenarios involving an access point going offline or a camera detecting motion, for testing purposes.

Connecting applications and services via webhooks has never been easier, and developers can do it with confidence, knowing that the shared Secret for webhook receivers is handled securely.

Access to Essential Documentation and Community Resources

Every developer understands the value of having comprehensive documentation and access to a supportive community. Meraki’s API & Webhook Management Dashboard Page goes a step further by providing quick links to essential documentation and community resources. This means that developers can quickly find the information they need to troubleshoot issues, explore new features, and collaborate with a like-minded community.

What’s on the Horizon?

I hope this blog post has given you a glimpse of the incredible features that Meraki’s API & Webhook Management Page brings to the table. But the innovation doesn’t stop here. Meraki’s commitment to an “API-first” approach means that new API endpoints for generating and revoking API keys will be available very soon, providing developers with even more control over their API integration.

Additionally, Meraki places a strong emphasis on security, aligning with API key security best practices. The sharedSecret for webhook receivers will no longer be visible after setting, enhancing the overall security of your API connections.

But we’re not stopping there. The roadmap ahead is filled with exciting updates and enhancements, promising to make the Meraki Dashboard an even more powerful tool for developers.

Explore Meraki’s innovative Dashboard, APIs and webhooks today with a free trial, and begin unlocking the full potential of your own network.

Let us know in the comments section below what would you like to see added to this new Dashboard page?

  The new Meraki API & Webhook Management Page gives developers practical solutions for handling the complexities of APIs effectively.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

There is a major shift in the market that is hard to miss. In fact, a Gartner report recognizes this shift indicating that 82% of IT (Information Technology) spend is now being influenced by New … Read more on Cisco Blogs

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There is a major shift in the market that is hard to miss. In fact, a Gartner report recognizes this shift indicating that 82% of IT (Information Technology) spend is now being influenced by New Customer Buying Centers. This transformation requires targeting customer conversations, beyond IT, to determine requirements relevant to these new buyers. These new buyers include Line of Business Buyers (LOB) and Application Buyers who work with IT to develop the overall business outcome. These new buyers are tasked with driving a new set of outcomes that often require integration of multiple solutions orchestrated by a new set of partners to connect the last mile.

Cisco has solved for this market shift by investing in Co-Selling with our partners. Unlike partner reselling, co-selling is a multi-partner collaborative sales engagement between an IT vendor and its partner ecosystem to deliver a differentiated joint customer outcome. By surrounding customer challenges with the right Ecosystem of partners, the entire co-sell team builds relationships with new buyers in the accounts and can (on average) increase their deal size by 6X and software mix by 2x accelerating recurring revenue while streamlining solutioning the customers challenge through collaborative efforts and integrated tools!

On our path to investing in Cisco Co-Sell we have discovered there are three key steps for Co-Sell success: Activate, Accelerate, Scale

Activate – the first step in the Co-Sell journey sets up the digital accounts to track opportunities, digital sales plans to define GTM (Go to Market) and how to target sales awareness and sales enablement content to share joint offers to prepare building pipeline for the next step. At this stage we amplify the Ecosystem offerings internally and externally while introducing our PXP Digital Co-Sell capabilities to track joint opportunities.
Accelerate – the next step is to expand pipeline building activities with Ecosystem Partners, scale Ecosystem Co-Sell opportunities with Channel Partners and grow Ecosystem Co-Sell pipeline through Demand Generation campaigns and events.
Scale – finally we replicate winning solutions and strategies, amplify awareness internally and externally and scale winning approaches to new markets.

To ensure our Cisco Co-Sell teams have the knowledge, best practices, enablement content and tools to achieve a successful collaborative Co-Selling outcome, Cisco has armed its sales force with the essential “Co-Sell Acceleration Kit.” It walks through the Activate, Accelerate and Scale steps developed to simplify the Co-Sell motion. Our partners can reap the benefits of our Co-Sell expertise through engaging with their Cisco Business Development Managers (BDMs) or Account Managers (AM).

In conclusion, Cisco Co-Selling is a proven win-win for our customers and our partner ecosystem. It streamlines solutioning for customers business outcomes by surrounding them with the right partner ecosystem, saving them time, manpower and costs while increasing business opportunity for our partner ecosystem. There are billions of dollars in potential untapped new buyer revenue and Cisco Co-Selling is the key to accessing it!

Be on the lookout for the next Co-Sell blog in the series and in the meantime, check out our Cisco Co-Sell SalesConnect Page for more information on logging your interest in becoming part of Digital Co-Sell!

Co-Selling is a Big Deal!

For more information on Co-Selling or if you have Co-Selling
questions, you can connect with a contact for your region:

digital_coSell_us@external.cisco.com  US/CAN

digital_coSell_apj@external.cisco.com APJC

digital_coSell_emea@external.cisco.com  EMEA

digital_coSell_latam@external.cisco.com   LATAM

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

Cisco Partners Facebook  |  @CiscoPartners Twitter  |  Cisco Partners LinkedIn

  Multi-partner Co-Selling is a collaborative sales engagement between an IT vendor and its partner ecosystem to deliver a differentiated joint customer outcome, leading to an average increased deal size by 6X and software mix by 2x accelerating recurring revenue.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

December 3 marks the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD). Treating all people equitably is about more than justice. Inclusivity means that everyone can achieve … Read more on Cisco Blogs

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December 3 marks the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD). Treating all people equitably is about more than justice. Inclusivity means that everyone can achieve their true potential, which is a benefit to society as a whole.

Inclusivity is at the core of Cisco Networking Academy, but challenges remain.

Merely collecting data about people with disabilities is a challenge, however. The Washington Group on Disability Statistics was established in 2001 to address the issue, with the objective of providing basic information on disability that is comparable worldwide.

A World of Untapped Resources

According to the World Health Organization, 16 percent of people globally experience significant disability, but the World Economic Forum (WEF) says only four percent of businesses are focused on making offerings inclusive of disability.

The cost of exclusion of people with disabilities is significant. The WEF suggests that eclusionary policies could cost up to seven percent of GDP in some countries. Incentives to do the right thing are strong, as disability-inclusive businesses enjoy:

28 percent higher revenue
30 percent higher profit margins
better talent acquisition and retention

And while some progress is being made towards a more inclusive work environment, there remains a lot of work to do for true equality.  For instance, employment for people with disabilities in the U.S. recently hit a record high, but that record high comes from a low base: people with disabilities remain nearly twice as likely to be unemployed.

Education also presents a barrier for people with disabilities. A 2018 UNESCO report on Education and Disability concludes that disabled people between 15 and 29 were less likely to have attended school than those without disabilities in almost all of the 37 countries for which data were available.

Partnering for an Inclusive Education

At Cisco our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all.

Benson (right) in the first cohort of students at the new Bridge Academy. Image courtesy of © Sightsavers / Joshua Wanyama

Cisco Networking Academy is committed to creating and delivering accessible curriculum designs. Our design vision is that all students should be able to access all web content. We continue to make enhancements across Skills for All, a powerful resource for our 11,700 global education partners, that align with the  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and standards, moving us toward our vision of inclusiveness.

Cisco works with wonderful partners who routinely push new boundaries in delivering an inclusive education for all.

Partners, such as Sight Savers in Kenya, do amazing work through The Bridge Academy. The impact they are having for learners like Benson, Divinah, Jacklyne, and Shanice in Nairobi, Kenya is inspirational.

And they’re not alone. Last year, I highlighted the work done by UT de Santa Catarina in Mexico, Cisco Access for the Visually Impaired in Australia, The Royal National College for the Blind in the United Kingdom, and the abilITy Cisco Networking Academy in New York.

And there are so many inspirational stories of Cisco Networking Academy graduates living with disabilities who have gone on to help others.

188 thousand students have declared disabilities at the Cisco Networking Academy since 2019​.

Success Stories

After his vision started to change and he was no longer working, Jaques enrolled at college and undertook Cisco Networking Academy studies, which lead to a job as a United Airlines Cybersecurity and Incident Response Analyst in the United States.

Jacques subsequently volunteered to mentor teams from Wheaton Warrenville South High School for the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot youth cyber education program, earning Mentor of the Year for his efforts.

In Australia, Neil studied with Cisco Networking Academy after losing 35 percent of his vision, and went on to become an instructor at Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired (CAVI) in Perth, Australia.CAVI provides information and communications technology training to students with varying and wide degrees of disability.

Neil has been a lecturer for over 13 years. He describes life before his vision loss as being carefree and feeling bulletproof.

“CAVI had a very profound effect on my life considering where I was going. I didn’t really have a pathway, as opposed to now. Having a career and a pathway, that certainly wasn’t there when I lost part of my vision.”

“My students don’t know that I’m visually impaired when I start teaching them. It usually comes out. And my running gag is that if you want to get away with anything, do it on the right side of my face so I won’t see you do it.”

One of the adaptive teaching tools Neil uses is a peg board to provide students with a tactile way to peg out an IP address which logically identifies a client on the network. And Neil’s advice for others?

“I miss having vision, but I look at what I gained by the loss, the loss is not a loss anymore.”

Learn more about Neil’s story:

What Neil gained from Cisco Networking Academy after losing 35 percent of his vision

  Cisco Networking Academy works with partners who specialize in providing education for people with disabilities to develop IT skills, powering an inclusive future for all.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Observability is high on the agenda of every C-Suite technology discussion, and for good reason. Applications have become the lifeblood of revenue extraction and growth in every business segment and… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Observability is high on the agenda of every C-Suite technology discussion, and for good reason. Applications have become the lifeblood of revenue extraction and growth in every business segment and vertical. Releasing features and functionality while maintaining the best possible customer experience is the new battlefield for competitive advantage.

There has been an explosion in cloud services and flexibility in how customer-facing applications can be developed and continually deployed in the wild in near real-time. For the highly skilled development teams and application owners, this unleashes their creativity to push the boundaries of digital customer delight.

The velocity with which these highly distributed Cloud-Native applications are being developed and released creates new challenges when issues inevitably arise. Traditionally, enterprises have invested in monitoring solutions to allow them to try to identify problem areas through changes in specific metrics like the utilization of compute resources or throughput bottlenecks. These methods can have value when the applications are monolithic and hosted in their own datacenter. In the new world of hybrid cloud microservices-based architectures, a new approach is required: Observability.

Observability builds on the capabilities of monitoring tools, which are typically focused on utilization metrics to also correlate with log data and traces. Observability or observing these applications is about understanding these complex systems’ deeper workings and internal states. The ability to correlate these different telemetry types facilitates an understanding of the performance, availability, and end-user experience of the applications being observed. Observing applications enables a more proactive and informed approach to managing, maintaining, and improving than monitoring alone.

New trend: Observability Platforms

The other significant technology trend unfolding in the observability space is the evolution from observability tools to observability platforms. The term “platform” has become a buzzword used to describe many solutions on the market. True software platforms should be more than a set of APIs that allow products to be integrated. A fully-fledged observability platform should act as a central hub that can receive telemetry data from areas of the modern enterprise’s technology landscape and correlate it to give insights greater than the tools available within each discrete domain.

In addition to this, the true litmus test of a platform is that it is extensible by anyone to create new capabilities and address additional bespoke use cases. Imagine you are a cruise ship company, and you want to visualize and correlate your ships and their infrastructure and connectivity via satellites back to the central hub. How would you do it? Most solutions on the market that call themselves platforms are just data lakes/repositories that lack the ability to model bespoke domains and observe/correlate across them.

A True Observability Platform

The Cisco Observability Platform embodies all the characteristics of a true observability platform. The basis of the platform is a freestyle modeling capability that allows for the creation of objects to represent anything that the user wishes to observe and store and correlate telemetry around. The result is you get visibility across any generalized or specialized domains end-to-end. The platform was launched with its first foundational model out-of-the-box designed to observe cloud-native applications. This solution was designed to help SREs, and Developers find the root cause of performance issues in the shortest amount of time. The model can be enhanced by enabling cost optimization, which leverages the platform’s ability for easy extension without any need to amend the base solution in a modular fashion.

The Cisco Observability Platform, released in June of 2023, is light years ahead of the competitive data lakes and repositories currently on the market. It has been designed from the ground up to store, retrieve, and analyze cross-MELT (Metrics, Events, Logs, and Traces) data in a highly performant and scalable way. The UI is designed with extension in mind–whether on the back-end model or the front-end visuals–the whole thing looks and feels more like a platform than a tool.

At the time of writing, tens of solutions are readily available via the Platform Exchange, developed by Cisco and Cisco partners to address different observability use cases and can be enabled by any platform consumer. For example, one partner developed a solution designed to enhance the efficiency of a cloud-native solution to promote sustainability and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

There is a pipeline of fifty solutions being built by Cisco and Cisco partners globally. While many Observability solutions claim to be a platform, Cisco, with its Observability Platform, is the only Tech Company with the heritage and breadth of vision that customers and partners can afford to invest in.

Learn more about the new platform and arrange a trial

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

Cisco Partners Facebook  |  @CiscoPartners Twitter  |  Cisco Partners LinkedIn

  Observability is high on the agenda of every C-Suite technology discussion, and for good reason. Applications have become the lifeblood of revenue extraction and growth in every business segment and vertical. Releasing features and functionality while maintaining the best possible customer experience is the new battlefield for competitive advantage.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

On November 27, the European Council adopted the EU Data Act. Part of the larger EU Data Strategy to infuse competition and drive more data-driven innovation within the region, the Data Act will make… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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On November 27, the European Council adopted the EU Data Act. Part of the larger EU Data Strategy to infuse competition and drive more data-driven innovation within the region, the Data Act will make data generated by connected devices and related services (industrial data) accessible to EU consumers and companies.

Rules and regulations around data governance are not new. There are already laws in place to protect personal or classified data and to open up government data for reuse. But the mandate to share industrial data and enforce cloud interoperability, as outlined in the Data Act, are truly novel areas of law.

As a leading technology company that securely connects everything to make anything possible, Cisco has been an active participant in this legislative process, and we look forward to our continued engagement. In the 20-month period between adoption and enforcement, stakeholders will work together on drafting applicable technical standards and specifications; creating appropriate and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory contractual terms; and outlining safeguards and protections for data that should not be readily shared (think trade secrets and personal data).

Given the novel aspects of this legislation, there will undoubtedly be additional compliance and design processes created in order to participate in this new data economy. But for organizations with established data governance and cloud compliance programs in place, there is a clear roadmap forward.

Cisco Data Governanace and Cloud Compliance

At its core, the Data Act is driving the three key principles of transparency, fairness, and accountability that underlie responsible privacy practices. The data might be different (personal vs. industrial), but the principles of data governance remain the same.

At Cisco, we take rigorous steps to handle data properly. In 2015, we created a dedicated privacy team to embed privacy by design as a core component of our product development methodologies. This team is responsible for conducting privacy impact assessments (PIA) on our products and solutions as part of the Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle. After completing a PIA, we create a public-facing Privacy Data Sheet to provide transparency around what personal data is being collected, why it’s being used, and how it’s protected.

Our Global Cloud Compliance team established the Cisco Cloud Controls Framework to streamline and operationalize cloud compliance and certification.  It maps relevant standards and provides guidance on supporting audit artifacts for each control.  New standards, such as those that will emerge on cloud portability and interoperability due to the Data Act, can be ingested into the framework.

These building blocks of data governance and cloud design controls can be adapted and leveraged to understand and be transparent about industrial and cloud data, how it’s used, and provide users mechanisms to access it. This evolution of processes is part of Cisco’s approach. We continually re-evaluate privacy, security and cloud design controls against a variety of regulations and industry standards to make sure Cisco products comply with regulatory, market, and customer requirements. And with the EU Data Act, we are committed to doing the same.

Because we recognize transparency is key to trust, as always, we will keep our customers, partners, and stakeholders informed as this work progresses. Together, we will drive data-centric innovation, facilitate fair and open competition, and unlock the value of data to power an inclusive future for all.

  Given the novel aspects of EU Data Act, there will undoubtedly be additional compliance and design processes created in order to participate in this new data economy. But for organizations like Cisco, with established data governance and cloud compliance programs in place, there is a clear roadmap forward.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a secure remote access service. It verifies remote users and grants them access to the right resources at the right times based on identity and context policies.… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a secure remote access service. It verifies remote users and grants them access to the right resources at the right times based on identity and context policies. This is part 3 in our blog series about ZTNA for operational technology (OT). Check out Part 1 for why ZTNA beats out always-on VPNs for OT remote access and Part 2 for how ZTNA reduces the attack surface by restricting access methods and verifying remote users’ security posture.

Video cameras are everywhere, including in facilities with the strictest physical access controls. Even if you trust an individual to enter a sensitive area, you still need to monitor their activities once they’re in the door. Seeing a suspicious activity, you can step in to stop it. And if problems crop up after the visit, reviewing a recording can help pinpoint what went wrong.

Monitoring and recording activities are equally critical when it comes to remote users accessing your OT networks. It’s not enough to verify the identity of remote employees, vendors, and contractors. Neither is it enough to know who is connected to what OT/ICS assets. You also need to know what users are doing during remote access sessions. Most organizations lack that visibility today, a shortcoming for cybersecurity compliance, governance, the ability to stop and recover from breaches, and incident investigation.

Conveniently, Cisco Secure Equipment Access (SEA) gives you an all-in-one solution to grant remote access, enforce access controls, and monitor and record remote session activity. Here are three ways you can take advantage of Cisco SEA to actively control OT remote access.

1 – Monitor, join, and terminate active sessions

See a list of all active sessions on the Cisco SEA console. By clicking on the session between ‘User A’ and ‘Asset B’ you can watch session activities as they happen, including commands sent to the asset. Watching a vendor configure an OT/ICS asset can be helpful for training, for example. And if you see something suspicious, like an attempt to change the code or a variable in a programmable logic controller (PLC), you can terminate the session with a click and disconnect the remote user. Remote session termination is required by ISA/IEC62443-3-3 FR2.

2 – Maintain a complete log of past sessions

Cybersecurity best practices require maintaining a detailed history of all past sessions, useful for security audits, forensic investigations, and regulatory compliance. The EU’s NIS2 Directive, for example, requires a full audit trail for every event that affects critical infrastructure and OT security standards such as ISA/IEC62443-3-3 require records of all login attempts. Cisco SEA logs both system-generated and user-generated events. For example, review how remote users authenticate, including usernames, time, device posture, and session activities. Or see who added new users or new assets to the system.

3 – Record sessions to see what happened

Optionally record sessions for selected assets, simply by selecting the asset on the console and checking a box. Recordings enrich your audit trail and can be particularly helpful for troubleshooting. If an asset like a robot arm, wind turbine, or highway sign stops working, for example, you might discover that a vendor recently upgraded the software or made a typo in a new configuration. Faster troubleshooting helps you put the asset back into production sooner.

Keep it simple, with an all-in-one solution for secure equipment access

Summing up, Cisco SEA gives you a single interface to protect your ICS and OT assets with ZTNA. Require all remote users to authenticate through a single point. Control which assets they can access and at what times. And do what a video camera does by monitoring all remote session activities and recording data for security audits.

Learn more about Cisco Secure Equipment Access here.

  Learn how Cisco Secure Equipment Access gives you visibility into active and past remote access sessions, lets you terminate an active session if something doesn’t look right, and record sessions for training or forensics.  Read More Cisco Blogs