Making an informed decision on the appropriate industrial switches can have a profound impact on the overall success of your industrial operations. The right switch is essential for maintaining… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Making an informed decision on the appropriate industrial switches can have a profound impact on the overall success of your industrial operations. The right switch is essential for maintaining reliable communications, optimizing network performance, ensuring security, and achieving operational excellence in industrial environments.

The term Industry 4.0 which has been with us at least since 2015, has been a topic of discussion in many forums and has helped shape industrial, economic, and political policies across the world. It has huge implications for society and promises a profound transformation of manufacturing and industrial processes through the integration of advanced digital technologies.

Networking is of paramount importance for Industry 4.0, as it forms the foundation upon which the entire framework of this industrial revolution is built. Industry 4.0 is characterized by the integration of digital technologies, automation, and data exchange in manufacturing processes, and networking is the glue that holds these elements together.

5 key switching features vital for Industry 4.0

Industrial switches are vital for operations networks. These unassuming devices serve as the unsung heroes behind the scenes, playing a crucial role in the seamless connectivity, communication, and data exchange that power the smart operations of the future. In this blog post, we’ll explore the role of industrial switches and five key characteristics to look for when you are selecting switches for your own operations.

Industrial strength

Industrial operations have exacting requirements for their network components. Industrial switches must be able to withstand extreme conditions, such as high temperatures, humidity, vibrations, potential exposure to dust and chemicals, electric and magnetic fields (EMF), and power surges. They must be engineered with durable components, ensuring their reliability and longevity to meet the long operational lifecycle requirements, and available in a variety of form factors to fit all possible use cases. Moreover, they must include redundancy features like ring topologies and rapid failover mechanisms to minimize downtime and maintain continuous operations. Also read Why industrial ethernet switches? Putting the “purpose” in purpose-built.

Support for OT protocols

Industrial assets were traditionally connected directly to their controllers relying on specific communication protocols such as Modbus, PROFINET, and EtherNet/IP that are specifically designed to meet the unique communication requirements of industrial environments. But these assets, being part of a network, now connect through a switch. Therefore, industrial switches must seamlessly support these protocols to ensure seamless communication, reliable data exchange, optimized performance, and compatibility with existing industrial devices and systems. To get more details on what it means to support industrial protocols, please read Cisco Industrial Ethernet, speaking the language.

Enterprise grade security

Gaining all the benefits of industry 4.0 technologies requires seamless communications between IT, cloud, and industrial networks, potentially exposing operations to cyber threats. Solutions designed to secure industrial networks are typically based on dedicated security appliances which can quickly become too complex and costly to deploy throughout the industrial network. Industrial switches can offer a scalable solution, providing advanced visibility and security features such as asset and traffic identification, VLANs, port security, network access control, and microsegmentation techniques to isolate and secure network segments, effectively turning the network into both a security sensor and enforcer. See also, Building industrial networks that are secure by design.

Edge-compute capable

Edge computing is highly useful in industrial switches as they are closest to connected assets and carry their communications traffic. Some of this traffic, also called East-West traffic, stays between machines or controllers, and needs to be captured right where it is generated. Therefore, these switches are in the ideal position to capture and analyze this traffic. This ability can be useful to write applications that extract information about the health of the device, detect potential threats, or even allow remote access into the machines themselves. Typically, such applications carry data back and forth between connected assets and applications in the cloud. See how this capability is helping midstream oil and gas operators.

Easy to deploy and operate

Given its critical role, the network can determine how scalable and agile your operations can be, how quickly you can add new production lines, or how rapidly you can change your product mix. Moreover, any fault in the network can quickly translate into lost productivity and income. Therefore, it is important that industrial switches be managed with tools available that ease onboarding of new switches, reconfigure as necessary, and troubleshoot and fix issues before they become real problems. For more on this, read: Five lessons manufacturing operations can learn from enterprise IT teams.

Get started now

Get the lowdown on Cisco industrial switches. Listen to Cisco experts, Paul Didier, Senior Manufacturing Solutions Leader, Albert Mitchell, Industrial IoT Technical Marketing Leader, and Manmeet Singh, Industrial IoT Product Management Leader, as they discuss key characteristics no industrial switch should be without. Register and watch now.

Listen to this podcast on Cisco Champion Radio, available on your favorite podcast provider, as the Champions host Albert Mitchell in a conversation on industrial switches and how to set your manufacturing operations up for success.

Visit Cisco industrial switching homepage, view our complete portfolio, use the Switch Selector tool to sort through our offers and choose the right switch for your use case, or setup some free no-obligation time to discuss your specific requirements with one of our experts.

Get your network ready for Industry 4.0 and build a pathway to even more exciting innovations being considered for Industry 5.0 and beyond.

  Choosing the right switch is essential for maintaining reliable communications, optimizing network performance, ensuring security, and achieving operational excellence in industrial environments.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

At Cisco, we believe in powering an inclusive future for all by bringing communities together and creating meaningful change for everyone, including our planet. This is also clearly reflected in our… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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At Cisco, we believe in powering an inclusive future for all by bringing communities together and creating meaningful change for everyone, including our planet. This is also clearly reflected in our culture of giving back. Each employee gets paid time off called Time2Give which they can use to volunteer for a cause that matters to them. I used one of these days last year to participate in a cleanup event in the Netherlands during World Cleanup Day.

Doing good for the planet does not only have to involve big actions, like buying an electric vehicle or switching to solar. Small actions are also impactful, especially when people work together.

The various actions you can take during World Cleanup Day every mid-September are a great example. On World Cleanup Day, millions of people from all around the world come together with their communities to make the world a bit cleaner. The event originated in Estonia in 2018, when 50,000 people united to clean up their country in just a few hours. This sparked a global movement and the idea spread fast.

Now, many different events are organized worldwide, and lots of locals are contributing by cleaning up their own neighborhood.

During last year’s World Cleanup Day, 15 million people participated in 190 different countries. The beauty of the event is that we’re not only making the earth a bit cleaner, but also the cooperation and collaboration between different communities is wonderful to see as well. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on all the litter in your area and how it got there. You’ll be surprised by all the things you can find while cleaning up your neighborhood.

Cisco team and friends during World Cleanup day in The Hague.

The Cisco Amsterdam office has participated in this event for the past four years. Cisco Netherlands has raised thousands of euros for their charity partner the Plastic Soup Foundation. For the past three years we’ve been donating to this charity when we hold cleanup events, because the mission of this charity aligns with the mission of World Cleanup Day; to stop plastic pollution.

The Cisco Netherland’s team marked World Cleanup Day in 2022 through multiple cleanup activities. Over a four-day period, Cisco colleagues gathered in five different places across the Netherlands to clean up litter.

From gathering litter around the office area, to different cities like Amsterdam, Alkmaar, The Hague and Haarlem, nearly one-hundred people in total joined the cleanup activities!

Volunteering to pick up litter is not only impactful for your local community but can also be a fun group activity to get to know people, or in this case your colleagues.

Cisco teams during World Cleanup Day 2022, in Haarlem (L) and Alkmaar (R)

I joined the cleanup event in the city of Hague. This was the first time that I participated in a cleanup activity since joining Cisco. After hearing about World Cleanup Day, I researched about litter in my country and the results shocked me. It is estimated that every year in the Netherlands, 50 million kilo of litter end up on the streets or the environment (source)! This made me think twice about all the litter that’s probably out on the streets in my area and motivated me even more to join the cleanup.

It was a very pleasant experience; I met new people and had great conversations with them while cleaning up. We had a lot to talk about since we ended up finding a lot of weird items, like an abandoned backpack with cigars. Guessing the background story of random items was a fun activity. We finished the day together with a snack to celebrate. It left me with a great feeling, and I knew I wanted to do activities like this more often. I now realize that doing it together with people is what makes an activity like this such a great experience.

Are you planning on participating in the next World Cleanup Day on September 16th? Here are some easy ways to get involved:

Gather your friends, family, or colleagues and unite to clean up your community
Help make your own environment a bit cleaner by picking up any litter you come across while taking a walk or even running errands
Spread the word! Be an advocate for this great initiative by talking about it with others and sharing information about your cleanups on social media

  Are you planning on participating in World Cleanup Day on September 16th? Learn more about a Cisco employee's experience last year.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

The promise of IMPACT 2023 has been fulfilled, and its message rings clear in our ears: this is our moment. It’s time to surge ahead of the competition, break free from the pack, and seize the lead.… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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The promise of IMPACT 2023 has been fulfilled, and its message rings clear in our ears: this is our moment. It’s time to surge ahead of the competition, break free from the pack, and seize the lead. We have not just permission but a mandate to succeed—and an obligation to (and with) our esteemed partners.

That’s precisely what we are doing. The full might of Cisco’s energy was on display at IMPACT, resonating with strength and an unyielding determination to win. We stand in the perfect position not only to strive but to thrive, as evidenced by the remarkable progress, collaborative efforts, and concrete roadmaps that are already shaping our future. The well-oiled machinery of Cisco—the brilliance of our talent and partners—has undeniably been hard at work, propelling us into a new era of growth.

Among the many takeaways from IMPACT, the notion reverberated about genuine connections as a key source to our momentous progress. Perhaps there’s something serendipitous about the timely message, given this month celebrates both National Day of Encouragement and National IT Professionals Day.

Embracing Humanity in a Digital World

Among the themes at IMPACT was the notion of “being human.” Although it may sound lofty, it serves as a humble reminder to refocus on creating experiences that resonate with people’s core purpose. In our now normal hybrid work environment, the once-distinct lines between “work” and “life” have blurred, daily routines have outpaced our own speed, and digital communication implies a sense of transactional immediacy. While Cisco excels at innovating agile technology to manage even the most intricate tasks, we must not forget that the human experience thrives on the most fundamental element: genuine social connection. After all, more than 93 percent of all communication is nonverbal, making meaningful interactions even that much more critical to success.

The Significance of “Why”

While we take immense pride in the fact that many of Global Partner Engineering’s programs and initiatives involve collaborating with partners, ranging from partner feedback loops to co-innovation and co-ideation, the “being human” theme at IMPACT echoed profoundly. It underscores the importance of what we’re already excelling at and compels us to reflect on our “why,” igniting ideas to further enhance the symbiotic success we have with partners and customers.

At its core, our “why” is about making someone else’s life better. It’s an immensely powerful concept, one that’s entirely achievable in our everyday experiences. As discussed across various IMPACT stages, when we are imbued with the mindset to assist others, we naturally step forward to care for each other. In practical terms, especially within the complexity of Cisco’s cross-functional, multifaceted, global team approach, the authenticity of being human emerges as the winning strategy time and again.

Fostering Authentic Connections for Innovative Solutions

At Cisco, we boast the best teams, lead in innovation, and possess the industry’s most comprehensive and complete portfolio. This potent combination, aligned with our crystal-clear vision and unwavering ambition, sets the stage for an electrifying future for Cisco, our partners, and our shared customers to compete with even greater vigor. From our robust product and platform strategies to the infusion of AI throughout the portfolio, to the progress in orchestration, integration, and automation, it’s evident that partner collaboration and technology are not only on the right course, but that Cisco is forging ahead as a technology trailblazer and market leader.

Embracing a More Collaborative Future

Reaching and surpassing this point requires innovative teamwork. Internal teams are increasingly converging, exemplified by the innovative strides sales and development teams in addressing specific customer challenges. This success hinges on the strength of our connection with our partners, a point consistently emphasized at IMPACT. Partners are not just necessary; they are the core of our business strategy as we boldly venture into new routes to market.

As we relentlessly pursue staying at the forefront of technological advancements, the power of co-innovation with our esteemed partners will ensure we tackle the ever-evolving industry challenges. Our collaborative journey, exploring “what if” scenarios and transforming possibilities into tangible realities, consistently leads to superior outcomes that unlock partners’ full potential and that of our mutual customers. Only by seamlessly combining Cisco’s robust technology stack with partners’ industry-specific knowledge and domain expertise can we create groundbreaking solutions that shape the future.

And only if we continue strengthening the outcomes with our partners will we continue turning the page to all that is possible.

You can find our amazing Partners to work with here!

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  The full might of Cisco's energy was on display at IMPACT, resonating with strength and an unyielding determination to win. We stand in the perfect position not only to strive but to thrive, as evidenced by the remarkable progress, collaborative efforts, and concrete roadmaps that are already shaping our future.  Read More Cisco Blogs