Alas, we have reached the third and final part of our series. And here’s the big question: how do I make it all come together?

Well, here’s where we come in! My team and I have spent years working wit… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Alas, we have reached the third and final part of our series. And here’s the big question: how do I make it all come together?

Well, here’s where we come in! My team and I have spent years working with customers, driving Smart Buildings Transformation. As a result, we have developed a 360° end-to-end approach structured around: understanding the full spectrum of expectations, developing a customized Service Catalogue & designing the solutions, and implementing & operating the smart building. Let’s break it down!

1°- 90°: Understanding the full spectrum of expectations

Google ‘What is a smart building’; you will get 1.5 billion results. That simple exercise is the perfect indicator of the spectrum of expectations you will have to deal with.

And this is where we start, the end-user needs, not the technology! We know our customers don’t care about the tech itself, they care about what it can do for their business, and they have their own definition of ‘Smart’.

The occupants expect comfort, health & well-being, safety, and convenience. The facility managers focus on optimizing energy usage and operational efficiency. The business executives prioritize cost-effectiveness, brand equity, corporate sustainability, and overall business performance. Recognizing and addressing these diverse needs is crucial to achieving a successful transformation. It’s our responsibility – in collaboration with our customers and ecosystem of partners – to blend cutting-edge innovation with seamless user experiences; this is how we create transformative, experience-centric, and sustainable buildings.

90° – 180°: Developing a customized Service Catalogue and designing the solutions

The next step is translating those needs into a Services Catalogue. Most offer a standardized laundry list of digital solutions – we don’t! We believe there is no such thing as a ‘standard solution’ that fits both a bank in Saudi and a hotel in the UK.

Central to our approach is what we call User Journeys. Simply put, all interactions a user has with the digital solutions we design, their end-to-end experience of our technology. We first explore this through a series of immersive design-thinking workshops with the customer, structured to harmonize their aspirations with our technology expertise. Our job is to convert our clients’ digital strategies – often developed with us – into transformative and seamless user experiences. Then, technology brings them to life through the infrastructure and solutions design. This synergy between user-centric design and robust technical foundations enhances the immediate usability of the solutions and makes them future-proof.

180° – 360°: Implementing & Operating the smart building

Finally, the experience-centric Smart building we aspire to design comes to life through a meticulously crafted digital technology stack. We get there following a different approach; The conventional point-solution method, where different vendors offer fragmented solutions for specific building infrastructure aspects is an operational nightmare. So, we favor an integrated approach.

By intertwining various technology components into a unified and converged architecture with validated designs, we create a robust foundation that enables smart buildings to deliver a variety of use cases, while being sustainable. From enhanced security measures and automated processes to seamless scalability and intelligent analytics, the ICT-powered smart building becomes a convergence point for innovation and efficiency.

What does that mean for your Smart Building?

The right level of security: Having a comprehensive ICT framework allows us to put in place a sophisticated security infrastructure that encompasses physical, digital, and network security measures. This ensures that the entire building ecosystem is safeguarded against potential threats, making it safe and secure for occupants and data alike, and at the same time seamless to operate.
Simplification and Automation: From smart lighting and HVAC systems to occupancy-based energy management, the seamless integration of ICT components allows for optimized resource utilization and enhanced energy efficiency.
Ensured Scalability: Smart Building Technologies is a rapidly evolving field. Cisco’s ICT approach lays the groundwork for flexibility and adaptability, making it easier to integrate new technologies and expand capabilities without disrupting existing operations and at the same time avoid vendor lock-in for our customers.
Leveraging the power of data: Through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, customers gain valuable insights into occupancy patterns, energy consumption trends, and predictive maintenance requirements, ultimately enhancing decision-making processes and optimizing building performance.
Utilizing the full ecosystem of our partners to deliver end-to-end smart building solutions. This collaboration ensures a comprehensive and well-rounded approach, covering all aspects of building digitization.
Continuous value realization: The adoption of all implemented smart solutions is key and shall not only allow end-users to experience the differentiated value of the smart building but also enable building operators to increase energy efficiency and lower costs, thereby supporting sustainability goals.

As we wrap up this blog series, I want to leave you with this thought: Smart Buildings are not only a transformative necessity but also a huge opportunity, not only to deliver an exceptional experience to the end users but also to preserve our planet! However, in order to make your investment work, you need an end-to-end, 360° approach that takes into account your users’ needs, the journey of their interactions with the technology, AND an intelligent infrastructure. You can’t have one without the other!

Get yourself a technology partner who understands that! Better yet, get the best one in the industry: Cisco!

Take a look at what we have made possible for our customers and drop me a message if you want to explore what’s possible for your business.

You need an end-to-end, 360° approach that considers your users’ needs, the journey of their interactions with the technology, AND an intelligent infrastructure. You can’t have one without the other!

Get up-to-speed with part #1 and part #2 of the series.

  The Cisco Customer Experience guide to Smart & Sustainable Buildings  Read More Cisco Blogs 

I am proud to announce that Cisco Umbrella for Government has achieved agency ATO (authorization to operate) status under FedRAMP and is at the FedRAMP PMO. This is a key milestone in the process… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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I am proud to announce that Cisco Umbrella for Government has achieved agency ATO (authorization to operate) status under FedRAMP and is at the FedRAMP PMO. This is a key milestone in the process towards full FedRAMP ATO and reflects our commitment to provide comprehensive, reliable cloud native cybersecurity solutions to enable Secure Access Services Edge (SSE/SASE). In hyper-decentralized, hybrid work environments, Umbrella for Government is a crucial milestone in a long-term strategy to evolve to Cisco’s new full SSE solution, Cisco Secure Access. Cisco has a full SSE product family to address the challenging security reality of managing connectivity from anything to anywhere while simultaneously protecting against sophisticated, motivated threat actors.

Cisco partnered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as our sponsor to enable a holistic cloud-centric security infrastructure for government agencies that leverages Umbrella for Government as a foundational step to securely accelerate their IT (Information Technology) modernization and cloud adoption. State and local governments moving to the cloud can also gain greater efficiency and security by deploying this solution and other Cisco FedRAMP solutions.

Cisco Umbrella for Government will deliver advanced, cloud-native cybersecurity, ensuring protection and compliance for federal, state, and local government agencies to support their mission. It will significantly uplevel government cybersecurity, offering comprehensive protection that meets the unique needs and compliance requirements of government organizations and others that depend upon FedRAMP.

Umbrella for Government includes both Umbrella DNS-layer security and Secure Internet Gateway (SIG) capabilities comprised of a secure web gateway, cloud-delivered firewall, cloud access security broker (CASB), and data loss prevention (DLP) – the same capabilities available today in our widely deployed commercial Umbrella offer.

Meeting the federal government’s rigorous standards for authorization and cybersecurity requirements of government organizations, Cisco Umbrella for Government will provide numerous benefits:

Proven Protection: Cisco Umbrella is a mature, proven, and extensively validated solution, delivering advanced, cloud-native cybersecurity to 30,000 customers. This feature-rich, well-established commercial solution is now optimized to cater specifically to the security and compliance needs of government organizations, including federal, state, local governments, and others that depend upon FedRAMP authorization, supporting key capabilities like PIV-CAC and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) Protective DNS (Domain Name System).

Enhanced Security: Umbrella SIG unifies multiple security functions into a single solution and management console that protects roaming users, secures branch offices, and controls the usage of cloud-based applications.

Umbrella meets the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) program and mandate for Protective DNS, and extends DNS-layer security with a differentiated recursive DNS-powered intelligence that quickly blocks threats over any port and protocol, protecting users and devices, no matter where they are located, in the office or remote. With over 30,000 customers already choosing Cisco Umbrella as their trusted partner in DNS security, organizations can be confident their users will be better protected through their ongoing hybrid work and cloud transformation.

Building on DNS-layer security, the SIG capabilities of secure web gateway, cloud-delivered firewall, cloud access security broker (CASB), and data loss prevention (DLP) provide comprehensive protection against cyber threats.

Secure web gateway protects, logs, and inspects web traffic for visibility and provides URL/application-level controls for advanced threat protection.
Cloud-delivered firewall provides visibility and control for all traffic across all ports and protocols including mobile apps, peer-to-peer file sharing, collaboration applications, and any non-web or non-DNS traffic. It logs activity and blocks unwanted traffic using IP, port, and protocol rules (layer 3/4 firewall), application rules (layer 7 firewall), and Snort 3 intrusion prevention system (IPS) rules.
CASB detects and reports on cloud applications in use across your environment, exposing shadow IT quicker and more efficiently.
DLP analyzes sensitive data for visibility and control and blocks the transfer of that sensitive data before it leaves your organization.

Compliance: Umbrella for Government was designed to meet the stringent FedRAMP requirements, ensuring compliance with enhanced government cybersecurity mandates. As an example – Umbrella provides advanced threat protections and secure communications that align with TIC (Trusted Internet Connections) 3.0 Policy Enforcement Points for User, Traditional, Branch office and Cloud Use cases; Executive Order 14028 on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Moving the US Government toward Zero Trust OMB Memo M-22-09. US based customer support enables rapid response times for critical issues.

It also helps state and local governments to meet their enhanced security mandates such as CONUS (Continental US Data Residency), FIPs 140 level encryption, and full implementation of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) controls. Details on additional cybersecurity mandates such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and how Cisco complies with them are available here.

Scalability: Umbrella for Government’s robust and flexible infrastructure is designed to address specific regulatory and compliance requirements of US government agencies at the federal, state, and local level. It can support organizations of any size, enabling seamless expansion as needed with the reliability and performance to support mission critical workloads.

Flexibility: Umbrella for Government can be deployed with other Cisco FedRAMP Moderate authorized offers, such as Duo and Cisco SD-WAN (software defined wide area network), (software defined wide area network), providing a complete zero-trust cybersecurity ecosystem tailored to government needs. The Cisco SD-WAN and Umbrella integration enables you to integrate Umbrella’s effective cloud-delivered security throughout your SD-WAN fabric. This is the core of Cisco’s secure access service edge (SASE) architecture, consolidating networking and security functions in the cloud for seamless, secure access to applications, anywhere users work.

Both Duo and Umbrella offer cloud-delivered security to protect roaming users. Umbrella provides the first line of defense against threats on the internet, delivering visibility into all cloud services in use across your environment, with the ability to block risky applications. Duo’s multi-factor authentication (MFA) lets you verify the identity of all users — before granting access to business applications.

Ease of Deployment and Use: Umbrella cloud-delivered security means there is no hardware to install or maintain. Multiple security technologies are available in a single solution, managed by a single browser interface for rapid configuration and easy day-to-day management. Customers tell us that setting up DNS security is a simple process; in a few hours they were able to enhance branch office protection and protect their users globally. Umbrella’s ease of deployment can show near-immediate value in defending against modern threats.

Customers with existing Cisco Secure Client (formerly AnyConnect) deployments can enable DNS security without the installation of additional client software, providing Protective DNS integration for roaming users.

Open architecture: Umbrella for Government’s open, integrated architecture enables other third-party integrations which have achieved FedRAMP Moderate status to be integrated to extend, enhance, and amplify the power of your existing security investment.

Achieving FedRAMP authorization is an important milestone in Cisco’s commitment to securely connect users, branches, and cloud instances securely to provide an optimal end-user experience. Achieving FedRAMP certification is a high bar, and we can apply the lessons we learned to similar certification and compliance programs for Cisco Secure Access. For now, I thank the teams involved for their hard work and successes.

For additional information, please visit the following resources:

Cisco Umbrella: Cybersecurity for Government and Public Sector

Cisco Umbrella now integrates with Protective DNS

Cisco FedRAMP Authorized solutions

Cisco Modernizing Government Security

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

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  Cisco Umbrella for Government has achieved agency ATO (authorization to operate) status under FedRAMP and is at the FedRAMP PMO.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Climate Week NYC, one of the largest annual climate events since 2009, brings together international leaders from business, government, and civil society to showcase global climate action. This… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Climate Week NYC, one of the largest annual climate events since 2009, brings together international leaders from business, government, and civil society to showcase global climate action. This year’s theme is “We Can. We Will,” focusing on an action to drive a more sustainable future together. Participants will use the full week of more than 400 scheduled events as a rallying call to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and to be on a path to net-zero by 2050.

Cisco and the Cisco Foundation, along with our Climate grantee and investee partners, understand that the sustainable future we want to move towards is one that is inclusive, resilient, and regenerative. Together, we focus on innovation as a key avenue to foster more inclusive communities, more resilient bioregions, and circular and regenerative economies. That is why we asked some of our grantee and investee partnership leaders, “How does it benefit your organization to participate in Climate Week, and what are you looking forward to most about the event?” This is what they had to say.

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps

“The climate crisis disproportionately affects the communities Mercy Corps works with – people facing poverty, conflict, environmental degradation, and more frequent and unpredictable extreme weather. And the individuals most impacted by climate change have often contributed the least to it.

We partner with local communities on climate solutions, from adaptation to sustainable energy, that bring practical, meaningful change at the local level, then mobilize our global team to scale and replicate them worldwide.

Climate Week is an opportunity for us to learn from peer and partner organizations, build new partnerships, and unlock new ideas and opportunities for collaboration across sectors to tackle the greatest threat of our time. 

No single organization can solve the complex issues facing the world today – and it will take all of us, across all sectors to advance the climate action our world needs now. This is why we champion partnerships that bring together expertise, ideas, tools, and resources in support of the shared goal of creating a better world – that’s what we’re most looking forward to.

The new commitments, ideas, and partnerships that come out of Climate Week will make a difference in protecting our planet and people already experiencing the consequences of the climate crisis.”

Lance Pierce, CEO of NetHope

Lance Pierce, CEO of NetHope

“NetHope‘s participation in Climate Week is bigger than just building awareness. The crux of our Climate Interactions program lies in our community of humanitarian and preservation organizations, their ecosystems, thematic initiatives, local and marginalized communities, and technology partners. Our vision is to help minimize or reduce the impact of climate change on vulnerable people through more effective and innovative use of digital technologies for resilience and adaptation. NetHope is a consortium of leading global nonprofits with over 60 nonprofit Member organizations who collectively serve over 1.67 billion people in 190 countries, and more than 50 corporate technology partners that collaboratively work to tackle global challenges by leveraging digital solutions.

NetHope believes we can help reduce or minimize some of the shorter-term impacts of climate change by leveraging the combined experience and knowledge of our community. The catastrophic threat posed by climate change, with the potential to nullify decades of humanitarian advancement, has catapulted it to one of the 5 top priorities we have at NetHope and is shared by our humanitarian and conservation Members.

Tackling the climate crisis, requires bold, collective action. NetHope looks forward to Climate Week, to COP28, and beyond, working with likeminded partners to help leverage the reach of the NetHope community via digital, data, and partnerships to help more people in more places in the face of certain climate change.”

Kelly Erhart, Co-founder and President of Vesta

Kelly Erhart, President of Vesta

“Vesta looks forward to the solutions-oriented and connective nature of Climate Week.

Vesta’s strength as an organization comes from the immense cross-sector collaboration we have mobilized to advance Coastal Carbon Capture as a nature-based carbon removal solution.

Climate Week offers a unique opportunity to connect with corporates, investors, technical experts, and other organizations in the space to advance industry knowledge and workshop solutions to key development blockers.

Climate Week is a vital touch point for Vesta with the larger environmental community and offers unparalleled opportunities for us to establish additional partnerships in order to advance Coastal Carbon Capture along its path to becoming the most scalable, cost effective, and energy efficient form of permanent carbon removal.”  

Cecilia Foxworthy, CEO of Agora Partnerships

Cecilia Foxworthy, CEO of Agora Partnerships

“Participation in Climate Week helps Agora Partnerships be on the vanguard of climate technologies, innovations, and models as we develop our Cisco Foundation-supported digital repository of eco innovations for SMEs in Latin America.

These spaces of interchange where the climate is at the center of discussions, are of extreme importance to our organization, not only to learn from the titans and innovators of the industry but also to share our point of view and ensure the challenges and opportunities related to climate in Latin America are being talked about.

We look forward to meeting old partners we’ve worked with over the years, and to meeting new friends as we exchange ideas and collaborate to protect our planet and all its beings.”

Deborah Stern, Co-Founder of Capital for Climate

Deborah Stern, Co-Founder of Capital for Climate

“Capital for Climate’s purpose is to guide and accelerate capital allocation to achieve a net zero, nature positive, just transition. With Cisco Foundation’s partnership, we’re creating the world’s most comprehensive Nature-based Solution (NbS) Investment Platform – powering the network of NbS opportunity-focused investors to confidently allocate with the right data, tools and community. Mobilizing capital to Brazil’s NbS is one urgent focus.

“Climate Week – gotta love it. It offers an amazing crucible to make mission-critical connections – from white-board sessions with our closest collaborators (some we’ve never met in person!), to forming new relationships at a myriad of events.

Exposed to a wealth of information, people, projects, we get to see an ever-richer map of the ‘tribe’ and to tap into the stream of emerging narratives … that can…that will…that are…speeding our collective success. 

On the flip side – Climate Week can be utterly dizzying.  So, I plan my agenda, but especially look forward to the serendipities that often yield remarkable connections, enabling quantum leaps for my work and our collective mission.” 

Eric Berlow, CEO of Vibrant Data Labs

Eric Berlow, CEO of Vibrant Data Labs

“Vibrant Data Labs (VDL) is proud to be on the ground for Climate Week this year and our mission is clear: help all the disparate hands that are working on the existential crisis of our time, come together to collaborate more effectively and strategically toward global climate justice outcomes. 

VDL has been requested as a featured presenter alongside leading climate finance investors, philanthropists, scientists, and movement builders. At these events, we will showcase how we bring our unique ecological perspective and novel data science approaches to building tools that lead to greater collaboration across the climate change ecosystem. 

Throughout the week, we will have the opportunity to engage with our long-time partners in person, meet new leaders, and learn from the field.

We hope to bring a rare combination of science and hope as we all look forward to the challenges ahead. Being present at Climate Week will help VDL continue to understand and define the biggest impact role our team can have in this growing field.”

Nicole Etchart, Co-Founder and CEO of NESsT

Nicole Etchart, CEO of NESsT

“This year, during Climate Week, NESsT will collaborate with leaders from various sectors across the Amazon, including government representatives, Indigenous and traditional communities, investors, and local businesses, to launch the Pan-Amazonian Network on Bioeconomy.

At the event, we will collectively present the recommendations generated by 300 participants and 100 institutions who took part in the Belem Panamazonia Bioeconomy Conference on June 21st and 22nd, 2023. The launch aims to underscore the importance of conserving the Amazon and promoting sustainable development, with a specific focus on climate-smart approaches that strengthen biodiversity and involve traditional communities in the region.

As part of the Pan-Amazonian network on Bioeconomy, NESsT seeks to amplify the voices of Indigenous and traditional communities in the bioeconomy and connect more local, environmentally conscious businesses in the rainforest to sustainable markets.

Through the NESsT Amazonia Initiative, we currently support a portfolio of 48 enterprises that are driving bioeconomy solutions and enhancing the well-being of traditional communities while safeguarding the environment. This portfolio encompasses a diverse range of solutions, from Indigenous-led initiatives supporting Amazon River fishers to early-stage tech companies dedicated to delivering and expanding climate solutions in the Amazon.”

Katherine Lucey, Founder and CEO of Solar Sister

Katherine Lucey, Founder & CEO of Solar Sister

“Attending Climate Week is a great opportunity to engage with diverse stakeholders involved in climate justice. Solar Sister emphasizes women’s crucial role in implementing and adopting clean energy solutions, especially in rural and underserved areas, and we are deeply committed as a key player in the intersection of climate change, women’s empowerment, and clean energy. By showcasing how women’s economic empowerment and clean energy go hand-in-hand, Solar Sister underscores the message that tackling climate change and gender inequality is a synergistic effort. 

Climate Week provides a prominent platform to amplify the importance of Solar Sister’s mission to a global audience. Attending offers a good opportunity to meet with potential partners, donors, and other stakeholders to foster collaborations, funding opportunities, and new initiatives. Additionally, Climate Week is an excellent forum to learn valuable insights into the latest technologies, best practices, and policies in the clean energy sector from other industry leaders and innovators. 

As CEO of Solar Sister, I look forward to leveraging the opportunities that Climate Week offers to advance our mission, foster collaborations, and inspire greater change in the fight against climate change and gender inequality. It is inspiring to reconnect with colleagues working towards a more sustainable future.” 

  Cisco's grantee and investee partnership leaders participating in Climate Week NYC share what they look forward to most at this year's event.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

I began at Cisco as a contractor, but as soon as I entered the Customer Experience (CX) organization, I knew Cisco was where I wanted to build my career long-term. There’s a magnetic pull that comes f… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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I began at Cisco as a contractor, but as soon as I entered the Customer Experience (CX) organization, I knew Cisco was where I wanted to build my career long-term. There’s a magnetic pull that comes from not only our peers but the leaders of this company. It’s just one of the many reasons why Cisco was named the #1 Best Company to Work for in the U.S. in 2023 by Fortune and Great Place to Work – for the third year in a row.

Cisco is also the largest organization I have ever worked for, and something unique I’ve experienced in my almost four years here is Cisco Illuminate — a quarterly, engaging experience connecting employees with relevant people, information, and skills to confidently move forward in the organization.

Whenever Cisco Illuminate is offered, a calendar invite goes out to all Cisco employees to collectively block our calendars and join together in several days of learning, engaging discussions, and, often, internal reflection.

Each session has featured fabulous keynote speakers and roundtable discussions with our executives, uncovering the truths about what it’s like to move around in your career. It has been discussed in detail how careers are not linear, and sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward and how to propel yourself through the art of networking.

When they say it starts at the top, it truly does with Cisco. From executive leadership down and across, the values Cisco executives demonstrate are second to none. And during this past Illuminate cycle, much of the conversation surrounded building your network by reaching up and reaching out across all organizations within the company.

This got me thinking there are other organizations within Cisco, not just CX! So, I set out on my own journey of networking, propelled by our top leaders encouraging us to facilitate new conversations and learn more about other roles and unconventional career paths.

“When you stop looking through your own eyes and look through the eyes of another, the real magic begins to happen.”
— Laercio Albuquerque, VP Theatre Lead, LatAm

I also applied to be part of the Executive Shadowing Program, which matches our executive leaders to employees at various levels for career growth, learning, and exploration.

I was chosen for the program. But that’s not the amazing part. The amazing part is that 500 people were selected for the program because 500 executives signed up to sponsor a Cisco individual! My executive connection is with Laercio Albuquerque, VP Theatre Lead LatAm, whose quote you saw above.

As a part of the Executive Shadowing Program, I had the opportunity to attend several of his large team meetings, where he had the team speak English since I am not bilingual in Spanish. This gave me the opportunity to feel the warmth of his team and really watch his leadership style. Even better, the LatAm sales team had a booth at Cisco Live 2023, and I was extremely fortunate to meet formally with Laercio. His many kind words while we were together left me feeling inner power and control over my career. And when I saw him around the conference informally, his smile was always infectious, letting me know someone cared about my well-being.

But it doesn’t end there. Because of Illuminate, I began reaching up and reaching out to learn more about the organizations that I think would be a great fit for me as I move forward in my career, and I wasn’t shy about reaching for the stars. My requests were sent out to the executive administrators of Cisco Vice Presidents and Senior Directors. Within days, sometimes hours, I received a response and a calendar invite to meet with these leaders 1:1 for a half hour.

The conversations I have had so far have been incredible. I have been so impressed with how the executives within Cisco are “people” first. Their titles never set the tone of the conversations or dictate the flow. Within a short time, my new connections and I have related to one another on a personal level. We have talked about our kids, who happen to be the same ages, the struggles of parenting, how we feel about the world post-pandemic, and even met each other’s cats virtually as they sat on our laps during our calls. I’ve been able to share my aspirations with individuals who genuinely listen and want to promote my career growth. After each call, I have always received a recommendation for someone else I should reach out to, and it’s an ever-growing vine of connections that I have begun to weave. The best part is that we are encouraged to network. We are encouraged to reach out with no fear of judgment from our current management because, at the end of the day, they want what is best for us, too!

Because of these opportunities, I have never been more confident in my future at Cisco. I don’t think I’ll ever have a final destination in mind, but I do know that Cisco is one company with many career options. Through the networking and connections I have made, I know that I have a large network of people invested in my success, executives included!  Never stop growing, never stop learning, and never let your fear of rank scare you into not having a conversation. Our executives are like us; they have families, friends, hobbies, and pets! At our core, we, as humans, crave interaction. Reach up and reach out. There are plenty of great people waiting to meet you!

Are you ready to meet our great people? Find an opportunity now!

Subscribe to the We Are Cisco Blog.

  Inspired by Cisco Illuminate, Strategy & Planning Manager Wendy S. is taking bold steps to join the Executive Shadow Program and network with other Cisco leaders.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

The wildfire smoke that blanketed much of the Northeast and Central U.S. this past summer underscores the importance of air quality in office buildings. With increased awareness about safety and… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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The wildfire smoke that blanketed much of the Northeast and Central U.S. this past summer underscores the importance of air quality in office buildings. With increased awareness about safety and well-being post-pandemic, employees want assurance that their workplaces are safe.

A study by Carbon Lighthouse found that 82 percent of millennials felt safer returning to offices with real-time indoor air quality monitoring. Luckily, today’s state-of-the-art air quality solutions allow enterprises to track and provide employees with a real-time look at indoor factors like air quality, temperature, humidity, and building occupancy. In addition to monitoring, enterprises can also enable solutions that turn their buildings into spaces that are safer, smarter, and more energy efficient.

Digital signage at the Cisco offices displays real-time indoor air quality and building occupancy information.

At most Cisco offices, employees and guests are greeted by digital signage when they walk in, showing an overview of indoor air quality, including total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), temperature and humidity, and ambient noise levels, in addition to how many people are in the building.

Given the ongoing situation with wildfire smoke, our indoor air quality monitoring solution has come as a big relief to employees, especially in our New York City offices. While much of the outdoor air remains “very unhealthy” or “hazardous,” and employees must resort to wearing N95 respirators to protect themselves when outdoors, they are reassured when they have a clear understanding of the indoor air quality.

In addition to air quality information, these interactive touch screens can also display vacant meeting rooms and amenities within the building, allowing employees to choose a room based on their comfort preferences.

Employees at the Cisco office in New York are reassured knowing the air inside their office is breathable, even as wildfire smoke blankets the city in haze.

Air quality monitoring is not just about helping employees. Facilities teams receive real-time insights on the ambient conditions of the workplace and monitor air quality within the building, on specific floors, or even within individual rooms (displayed on a 3D map) through the Cisco Spaces web-based dashboard.

If the air quality falls outside the preset normal range, the system automatically sends out an alert to building managers so they can take necessary action. In the case of wildfires, since outdoor air is polluted, building managers can close off outdoor ventilation and improve filter efficiency. Likewise, if an indoor pollutant source is identified, they can increase outdoor ventilation by letting more fresh air in to improve air quality. Cisco Spaces also provides historical analytics on all the above, allowing for better decision-making by facilities and environmental health and sustainability teams and adherence to building certifications.

Facilities teams can monitor real-time air quality levels as well as occupancy within the building or specific rooms.

Working behind the scenes to enable all of this is our robust Cisco network and collaboration hardware and a smart spaces cloud platform, Cisco Spaces.

Cisco Spaces leverages the following Cisco hardware and devices as a sensor for creating safer spaces, without the need to deploy expensive proprietary overlay solutions:

Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series Access Points have built-in environmental sensors
Cloud-managed Meraki MT indoor air quality sensors
Cisco Webex comes embedded with a set of environmental sensors to understand the environment workers are in
Cisco Spaces IoT Device Marketplace offers compatible third-party air quality, temperature, humidity, and Co2 sensors, as well as occupancy sensors

In addition to indoor air quality, Cisco Spaces enables real-time occupancy monitoring for workspaces to monitor real-time occupancy (another crucial safety metric) and sends out alerts to relevant teams when overcrowding is detected.

Indoor air quality beyond health and safety

Employees are now cautious about how much time they spend inside the office. Knowing that the air they are breathing is safe or the floor they are working on is not crowded is a welcome assurance. In addition, this data can be used for reporting to adhere to building certifications, standards, and guidelines.

Beyond health and safety, recent studies have shown that air quality can impact productivity and cognition. A study by Harvard University researchers found that increased concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and lower ventilation rates impacted employees’ cognitive function, ability to focus and overall productivity.

A European Union Commission study found that buildings contribute to 33 percent of greenhouse emissions and 40 percent of global energy consumption. Most buildings operate on set points with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and are typically programmed based on assumptions of when occupants will be in the building.

With hybrid working, predicting occupancy becomes difficult. Cisco Spaces leverages Cisco network infrastructure to provide occupancy data that can be used to optimize HVAC and lighting systems, ensuring energy is used only where and when it’s needed. Through integrations with building management systems such as Honeywell and Schneider Electric, real-time and historical indoor location data from Cisco Spaces is used to make actionable and predictive decisions that can help reduce operational costs and achieve energy and occupant-experience goals. In a study by Sensible Building Science, education customers have reduced total energy savings by up to 22 percent using occupancy data from Cisco hardware and Cisco Spaces to adjust building HVAC.

Most buildings also operate maintenance and cleaning on preset schedules. But this is not always the most efficient use of resources. With Cisco Spaces, real-time and historical occupancy data is analyzed to make informed decisions on resource allocation for cleaning, maintenance, and catering.

Smarter spaces are safer spaces

Wildfires or not, employees deserve the assurance that their workplaces are safe, and assuring them of healthy, breathable air, is an important step in that direction. Cisco Spaces is continuously evolving to predict the growing needs of hybrid workplaces and improve the workplace experience. In addition to air quality monitoring, with outcomes like improved productivity with a digital meeting room finder, occupancy-based energy management, and office space optimization, Cisco Spaces gives new meaning to the term “smart buildings.”

Want to understand and manage indoor air quality and occupancy in your buildings?

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We’re all aware that user experience has become the most important KPI for today’s digital businesses. Applications are the engines that power these experiences, and if a digital interaction is sub… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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We’re all aware that user experience has become the most important KPI for today’s digital businesses. Applications are the engines that power these experiences, and if a digital interaction is sub-par, customers are unforgiving.  Consider the situation of a prominent bank that recently suffered a series of downtimes on its mobile applications. Their users were not happy and  rival credit unions were advertising, highlighting their level of service compared to the “mega-bank.”  Churning customers due to digital blips is a NO-NO today. Organizations need visibility, context and control, so they can ensure that their customers are empowered with the best experiences possible. But true observability requires more than a “one size fits all” approach. Today’s application environments are highly specialized, built to support specific industries and business processes.

Observability tailored to fit specific use cases

Given the diversity and complexity of today’s modern apps, how can organizations fully align their technology to specific use case needs? Cisco FSO Platform brings data together from multiple domains including application, networking, infrastructure, security, cloud, sustainability, and business sources. It is an open and extensible, API-driven platform focused on OpenTelemetry and anchored on metrics, events, logs, and traces (MELT), providing AI/ML driven analytics.

The Cisco ecosystem of partners plays a key role in enabling this flexibility by creating custom observability solutions that help customers drive business outcomes with specific use cases. Let’s take a closer look at the Evolutio Fintech module, built by a key Cisco technology partner.

Evolutio Fintech gives holistic visibility to online financial transactions

Every moment matters in financial services, especially in online and point of sale transactions. Financial services organizations need to be able to see the full picture—and take action with insight.

The Evolutio Fintech module correlates infrastructure health with credit card authorization data. It helps organizations reduce revenue losses resulting from credit card authorization failures by figuring out the impact of infrastructure health on the credit card authorization.

“We developed a Fintech solution for the banking sector, around credit card processing,” said, Laura Vetter, CTO and Co-Founder of Evolutio. “It looks at credit card processing, how much money is running through, and the number of transactions, split by customer region data centers, which is most relevant to the business. If someone calls in and has an issue with processing, it’s easy to look at that specific company’s data and determine whether the issue involves the whole company, or just one region.”

Evolutio lets financial organizations view credit card authorization projects by region, to spot issues like falling numbers of authorizations, or regions that have stopped reporting data.Evolutio lets organizations view KPIs and insights grouped and aggregated based on metadata like region, schemas, infrastructure components, and merchant name, to understand how their system is behaving as a whole.

A powerful partnership for technology innovators

For our technology partners, Cisco FSO Platform presents an excellent opportunity to bring new solutions to market fast, supporting specific domain and vertical use cases.

“Cisco has provided a very easy way to interact with the platform,” said Vetter. “It’s basically just a schema that you interact with and extend to make it happen. My team keeps telling me about the tight partnership that we have had throughout this entire journey.”

Our customers win, too, gaining the interoperability, agility, and flexibility of an adaptable, highly modular platform.

Together, Cisco FSO Platform and its partner modules deliver a comprehensive solution that scales as businesses scale—and easily extends everywhere, across the infrastructure and the application life cycle.

Watch the full interview between Laura Vetter, CTO & Co-founder, Evolutio and Sunder Parameswaran, VP, Products, Cisco FSO

Learn more about Cisco FSO Platform and the Evolutio Fintech Module

  Reducing credit card authorization failures equals happier customers and more business revenue. Evolutio Fintech on Cisco FSO Platform can help you spot points of failure.  Read More Cisco Blogs