Five things that are bigger than the Internet: Findings from this year’s Global Cloud Index

The scale of the Internet is awe-inspiring. By 2021, there will be 4.6 billion people and 27 billion devices connected to the Internet, and Internet traffic will reach 2.8 trillion Gigabytes (or 2.8 Zettabytes) per year.

Even with multiple Zettabytes crossing the network each year, there are some things that dwarf even the Internet. We started the Global Cloud Index (GCI) seven years ago in order to capture the scale of data more generally, as it relates to the advent of the cloud. In our most recent report, there are five categories of data that meet or exceed Internet traffic volume by 2021.

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Better design for simpler, more effective security

Few will contest the notion that security is complex.

Evolving threats.  Clever, motivated attackers.   And all too often, vendor-inflicted complexity of managing security from the mismatched consoles from dozens of vendors.

In this case, not only must users jump between consoles but the actions that become familiar in one console are not at all helpful or relevant in another.  Each new console amounts to a new security management process – adding to greater complexity.

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Secure by Design: Enhanced Interfaces Improve Email Security and Malware Analysis

In the infosec world, it’s well established that time is a precious commodity. Time to detection and time to resolution are critical concepts that can mean the difference between a minor incident and making the news. In order to be effective, security teams need to be able to quickly access data, gather insights and take the necessary actions to keep their organizations safe. To that end, we’re committed to simplifying our user interfaces and making it easier to manage security effectively across an enterprise. Cisco Email Security and Cisco Threat Grid are two prime examples.

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Cisco Container Platform – Kubernetes for the Enterprise

Developed by Google to shepherd their in-house container clusters, Kubernetes has been vying for the attention and adoption of cloud architects. For the past several years, Docker Swarm, Mesos and Kubernetes have engaged in the duel to bring orchestration nirvana to containerized applications. While there are other participants in the fray and while Mesos has had a longer showing, Kubernetes seems to be capturing the pole position according to this research. This assertion is reinforced by the recent addition of support for Kubernetes to Apache Mesos, to Pivotal Container Service and to Cloud Foundry. The most recent admission of market realities is Docker’s seamless integration of Kubernetes into their Enterprise Edition offering. Whichever container orchestrator eventually arises as the de facto standard, it is clear that enterprises are looking for more and more infrastructure abstraction so they can laser focus on core business objectives.

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Network Visibility for Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions bring major challenges to nearly every aspect of a business, but integrating two different networks while maintaining enterprise security is perhaps one of the most demanding trials an organization can undergo.

Every organization has their own security policies, and applying new ones to hundreds or even thousands of new machines and users can be a logistical nightmare. On top of that, increasing the size of a network also increases its threat surface, potentially giving attackers new avenues to gain access and compromise sensitive data.

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Cisco and IBM: Partnering for Better Security

Considering the spate of cyber threats faced by customers, the need to more easily prioritize these threats, understand the scope and veracity of the attacks, and subsequently automate the responses, has never been more critical. While many security vendors exist to address some challenges, no single technology or vendor provides the complete security customers require. Therefore, providing this extended protection often requires a collaborative ecosystem of security vendors.

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Cisco Operational Insights: A New Way of Seeing Operations

Businesses thrive when they create value for their shareholder and stakeholders by maximizing revenues and minimizing costs. Technology, especially wireless and IoT, can be invaluable tools to achieve these goals. But, when it comes to operating costs, these IT pillars, while incredibly valuable, only address part of the challenge.

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