Pave the Way for New Revenue with Transport Slicing Automation and Assurance

Excellence in service matters. Whether you are a mom-and-pop operation or a multibillion-dollar business spanning multiple industries, keeping customers happy and satisfied is essential. No one knows this better than telecommunication (telecom) providers—who experience close to 40% customer churn due to network quality issues, according to McKinsey.

For telecom providers, delivering an outstanding digital experience means smarter troubleshooting, better problem-solving, and a faster route to market for innovative and differentiated services. As if delighting customers and generating new revenue weren’t enough, there is also the added pressure of keeping operational costs low.

For operators of mass-scale networks, that can be a tall order. The good news is that innovative solutions like transport slicing and automated assurance are creating opportunities for service providers to build new revenue streams and differentiate services on quality of experience (QoE) with competitive service-level agreements (SLAs). In this blog post, we will explore how transport slicing and automated assurance can revolutionize the network landscape and transform service delivery, paving the way for financial growth.

Simplify and transform service delivery

Despite ongoing transformation efforts, telecom and high-performance enterprise networks are becoming increasingly complex and challenging to manage. Operations for multivendor networks can be even more complicated, with their various domains, multiple layers of the OSI stack, numerous cloud services, and commitment to end-to-end service delivery.

Complexity also impacts service performance visibility and how quickly you can find, troubleshoot, and fix issues before customer QoE is impacted. To understand the customer experience and differentiate services with competitive enterprise SLAs, you need real-time, KPI-level insights into network connections across domains and end-to-end service visibility. To confront these challenges, many service providers have been attempting to simplify network operations while reducing the cost of service delivery and assurance.

So, how do you streamline increasingly busy transport network operations? For one, advanced automation and orchestration tools can automate intent-based service provisioning, continuously monitor SLAs, and take corrective action to maintain service intent. Automated assurance, for example, can proactively monitor service performance, as well as predict and remediate issues before customers are impacted. This reduces manual work and allows for quicker reaction times to events that impact service.

With leading-edge platform and automation capabilities, you can deliver a wide range of use cases with a unified interface for visualization and control to manage network services effectively. This makes complex multidomain transport networks more accessible and easier to operate, which can help improve capital efficiency, enhance OpEx utilization, and accelerate new service launches.

The operational agility created by simplifying network operations allows you to adapt quickly to market changes and customer needs. You can assure services while securing new revenue streams and capitalizing on emerging service delivery opportunities.

Leverage transport slicing for the best outcomes

Simplifying network operations is only one part, because the one-size-fits-all approach to network infrastructure is no longer sufficient as your customers demand more personalized, flexible, and efficient services. This is where transport slicing can help, by offering a new level of customization and efficiency that directly impacts the service quality and service guarantees you can offer.

Network slicing is typically associated with delivering ultra-reliable 5G network services, but the advantages of transport slicing reach well beyond these areas. Network as a service (NaaS), for example, addresses enterprise customers’ need for more dynamic, personalized networks that are provisioned on demand, like cloud services. Using transport slicing, you can create customized virtual networks that provide customers with tailored services and control, while simplifying network management.

For telecom providers, transport slicing and automation will be critical to managing service level objectives (SLOs) of diverse, slice-based networks at scale. The transport layer plays a critical role in service delivery, and automation is essential to simplify operations and reduce manual workflows as slicing and enterprise services based on slicing become more complex.

Together, transport slicing and automation fundamentally change how network services are delivered and consumed. And while the slicing market is still in early stages of adoption, end-to-end slicing across domains offers a level of efficiency that translates into direct benefits through faster service deployment, enhanced performance, cost savings, and the ability to scale services quickly.

A complete, end-to-end automated slicing and assurance solution

Traditionally, the service monitoring and telemetry required to do any service-level assurance was an afterthought—built separately and not easily integrated into the service itself. Now, you can leverage the power of network slicing while ensuring each slice meets the stringent performance criteria your customers expect, as well as enable closed-loop automation based on end-user experiences at microsecond speeds. For example, tight integration between Cisco Crosswork Network Automation and Accedian’s performance monitoring solution provides a more complete, end-to-end automated slicing and assurance approach.

You can create and modify network slices based on real-time demand, and then leverage performance monitoring tools to not only assure the health and efficiency of these slices, but also provide empirical data to validate SLAs. You can use predictive analytics and real-time insights to identify and mitigate issues before they impact service quality, enabling increased network uptime and enhancing customer experience.

A proactive approach towards network management helps you use resources more efficiently, decrease complexity, and ensure customer satisfaction is prioritized—all while creating new opportunities for innovative revenue streams through highly differentiated and competitive service offerings. Ultimately, automated slicing and assurance drives greater operational excellence.

Fix problems before customers notice

Competition remains fierce in the telecom market, as service providers strive to meet B2B customers’ demand for high-quality services, fast service provisioning, and performance transparency. Speed is a differentiator, and customers notice immediately when service disrupts. Customers are willing to pay a premium for critical network performance, service insights, and enhanced SLAs that promise immediate resolution. To meet this demand, you need the ability to find and fix problems before customers notice.

Transport slicing and automated assurance are at the forefront of this challenge, enabling service providers to not only deliver services faster and more reliably, but to also have confidence those services will have the performance and QoE that customers expect.

The right network automation capabilities can drive simplified, end-to-end lifecycle operations, including service assurance that’s dynamic, intelligent, and automated. This paves the way for revenue-generating, premium services and delivering the outstanding experiences your customers expect.

Source: cisco.com

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Mastering CCNP Security 300-740 Exam: An In-Depth Look

In the ever-evolving field of network security, standing out as an IT professional requires not just skill, but validation of that skill. The CCNP Security 300-740 certification emerges as a beacon for those dedicated to mastering Cisco networks' security. This coveted credential is more than a certificate; it's a badge of honor that signifies your prowess in deploying and managing cutting-edge security measures in the cyber world.

Diving Deep into the CCNP Security 300-740 Exam

At the heart of the CCNP Security certification lies the 300-740 exam, a rigorous test that probes your knowledge across various pivotal security domains such as secure network access, content security, and navigating the complexities of cloud security. Crafted meticulously, the 300-740 SCAZT exam ensures that those who pass can shield network infrastructures against the threats of today and tomorrow.

300-740 SCAZT Exam Breakdown:

• Duration: 90 minutes

• Question Count: Between 55 to 65

• Passing Score: Typically falls between 750 and 850 out of 1000

• Format: A mix of multiple-choice and simulation-based questions

• Validity: 3 years before renewal is required

CCNP Security Exam Preparation Pathways

• Official Cisco Resources: Dive into the wealth of knowledge provided through Cisco's own training courses. These not only cover the theoretical aspects but also offer practical lab exercises.

• Comprehensive Study Guides: Bolster your preparation with detailed study materials that go in-depth into each 300-740 exam topic.

• Practice Makes Perfect: Regular practice exams are invaluable. They pinpoint areas needing improvement and familiarize you with the Cisco SCAZT exam's structure and pacing.

• Community Engagement: Connect with peers through forums and study groups. Sharing insights and experiences can provide unique perspectives and study tips.

Best Tips to 300-740 Triumph

• Know What's Expected: Thoroughly understanding the 300-740 SCAZT exam objectives can give you a clear roadmap of what to study.

• Strategic Study Plan: Allocate your study time wisely, ensuring each topic gets the attention it deserves, with regular reviews.

• Real-World Application: There's no substitute for hands-on experience. Create a lab environment to practice real-world security scenarios on Cisco networks.

• Stay Informed: The cybersecurity landscape is dynamic. Keep abreast of the latest trends and technologies that could be included in the CCNP Security exam.

Career Advancement Post-Certification

Earning the CCNP Security 300-740 certification can significantly propel your career forward, marking you as a seasoned professional ready to tackle complex security challenges. Career doors that may open include roles as a Network Security Engineer, Security Analyst, Cybersecurity Specialist, or Network Administrator with a security focus.

Benefits of Being CCNP Security Certified:

• Industry Credibility: CCNP Security certification is a gold standard in IT, highlighting your expertise in Cisco's security solutions.

• Career Growth: It paves the way for advanced roles, showcasing your dedication to professional growth and security mastery.

• Skill Enhancement: Preparing for the 300-740 SCAZT exam deepens your understanding of network security, from principles to best practices.

• Salary Upside: Certified professionals often enjoy higher salaries and better job prospects.

• Global Recognition: Cisco's certifications are acknowledged worldwide, opening international career opportunities.

Considering the Challenges:

• Investment Required: Achieving certification comes with its costs, including exam fees and study materials.

• Time Management: The extensive study required demands a significant time commitment.

• Keeping Pace with Technology: As security technologies evolve, so must your knowledge, necessitating continuous learning.

• Exam Rigor: The CCNP Security exam's challenging nature demands a solid grasp of complex concepts and hands-on experience.

• Specialization: While highly valuable for those in network security, it might not offer the same benefits for individuals in non-Cisco environments or different IT areas.

Conclusion

The journey towards obtaining the CCNP Security 300-740 certification requires dedication, consistent studying, and practical application. It is a path that not only enhances your professional life but also distinguishes you as an expert in the vital field of network security. By embracing the challenge and making the most of the resources available, you can unlock a new realm of career opportunities and personal growth in the IT security domain.

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Hiding in Plain Sight: How Subdomain Attacks Use Your Email Authentication Against You

For years, analysts, security specialists, and security architects alike have been encouraging organizations to become DMARC compliant. This involves deploying email authentication to ensure their legitimate email has the best chance of getting to the intended recipients, and for domain owners to be quickly notified of any unauthorized usage of their domains. While together we are making progress thanks to DMARC adoption and reporting services such as Cisco’s OnDMARC offering, there’s an opportunity to do better particularly with on-going monitoring to address new and emerging threats, such as this Subdo campaign.

What’s happened?

Recently a totally new attack type has been seen that takes advantage of the complacency that an organization may have when they approached their DMARC rollout with a ‘ticked the box’ mindset.

The SubdoMailing (Subdo) campaign has been ongoing for about two years now. It sends malicious mail – that is typically authenticated – from domains and subdomains that have been compromised through domain takeover and dangling DNS issues.

These attacks were initially reported by Guardio Labs who reported the discovery of 8,000 domains and 13,000 subdomains being used for these types of attacks since 2022.

Several weeks before that, Cisco’s new DMARC partner, Red Sift, discovered what they initially thought was an isolated incident of bad senders passing SPF checks and sending emails fraudulently on behalf of one of their customers. In the customer’s instance of Red Sift OnDMARC, they noticed email was coming from a sender with a poor reputation and a subdomain that appeared unrelated to their customer’s main domain. But these emails had fully passed SPF checks with the customer’s current SPF record. Upon alerting the customer who then investigated all the ‘includes’ in their SPF record, several outdated CNAME addresses were found that had been taken over by attackers, which is what caused the issue.

What should I look out for?

The bad actors in this campaign are capitalizing on stale, forgotten or misconfigured records that were wrongfully included in DNS to send unauthorized emails. The attackers then send phishing emails as images to avoid text-based spam detection.

It is this oversight that has seen many notable organizations be impacted by these new subdomain attacks in the last few months, solely because they have not been actively monitoring in the right areas.

Proactive steps to start today:

1. Don’t let your domain names expire – these are what provide fraudsters the opportunity to carry out the attack.

2. Keep your DNS clean – Remove resource records from your DNS that are no longer in use and remove third-party dependencies from your DNS when they become redundant.

3. Use a trusted email protection provider – It makes sense to use a vendor for DMARC, DKIM and SPF requirements but be sure to use a trusted vendor with the capability to proactively identify problems, such as when part of a SPF policy is void or insecure.

4. Check for dangling DNS records – Have an inventory of hostnames that are monitored continuously for dangling resource records and third-party services. When identified, remove them immediately from your DNS.

5. Monitor what sources are sending from owned domains – If the domain or subdomain is taken over for sending, then it is important to know if mail is being sent from it as quickly as possible.

What else should I do?

If you are wondering if you have been impacted by SubdoMailing, the best place to start is Red Sift Investigate, this will provide you with a review of your domain such as can be seen below:

Should this valuable tool reveal any ‘SubdoMailers’ – also known as poisoned includes – the Red Sift SPF Checker allows you to visualize them in a dynamic ‘SPF tree’, allowing you to quickly pinpoint where they are and speed up remediation efforts, an example of a dynamic SPF tree can be seen below: –

The OnDMARC Adoption and Reporting Solution that Cisco partners with Red Sift on has already been updated to uncover exactly these issues directly within the tool to ensure our customers are protected.

If you’d like to learn more then sign up for a free SubDo vulnerability scan to get in-depth insight into your current threat landscape, covering email and domain security, and uncover any potential DNS vulnerabilities.

If you’re a Cisco Secure Email customer, find out how you can quickly add Red Sift domain protection to your security suite and better detect that image-based spam.

Source: cisco.com

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SD-Routing: Unlock Agility and Efficiency for the Secure WAN Edge

Many Cisco enterprise customers have decades of Cisco Catalyst routing and security capabilities functioning at branch locations. However, many of their traditional network management solutions can’t keep up with the demands of cloud adoption, remote work, and ever-growing user expectations. This translates to poor user experience, sluggish applications, and possible security vulnerabilities. These factors are driving the need for a transformation across applications, networks, and security.

This operational paradigm shift aims to seamlessly connect users anywhere to any application and secure user access by protecting against evolving threats. The answer to these operational challenges is Cisco’s software-defined routing (SD-Routing) solution. It goes beyond traditional per-device-based management by enabling full frictionless lifecycle device management, monitoring, configuration, and troubleshooting—as well as robust, next-generation firewall security integrations—from a single dashboard that doesn’t require any changes to your existing environment.

Figure 1. SD-Routing solution overview

Let’s explore some key use cases of SD-Routing that can transform your network:

Frictionless device lifecycle management. Simplify and prepare your network for the future with one management platform. SD-Routing, controlled through the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager dashboard, can:

• Unify management: Manage device software upgrades, monitoring, and troubleshooting through the intuitive Catalyst SD-WAN Manager dashboard. This simplifies network operations and empowers you to manage both traditional routing and Catalyst SD-WAN environments.
• Tame legacy challenges: Simplify complex legacy operations with SD-Routing. Basic troubleshooting tools within the manager help you maintain and optimize performance. Continuous updates ensure your network stays ahead of the curve.
• Combat configuration drift: Manage and track changes with a unified platform. Use the manager to create configuration templates for standardized deployments and future SD-WAN migration.

Network administrators might be using homegrown automation or third-party vendor tools to solve these problems. You can continue to use these tools, but you don’t need to invest further. Rather, take advantage of SD-WAN Manager, which comes as a part of Catalyst licensing.

Security

Configuring diverse IOS XE security features through the command-line interface (CLI) or customized ad hoc scripts has historically been a complex, labor-intensive process that is prone to errors. This is especially true for defining granular security policies across zones and containers. With the introduction of SD-Routing guided security workflows, customers aiming to implement robust, next-generation firewall (NGFW) security on their on-premises routers will find this a valuable addition, allowing for consistent policy application across deployments. Many customers want Direct Internet Access (DIA) at their branch offices, but security concerns hold them back. SD-Routing can streamline secure DIA deployment on WAN edge routers, offering a simpler approach to securing distributed networks.

Cloud on-ramp for multicloud

Traditional network teams often struggle to securely extend their WANs to cloud providers, where key enterprise applications may reside. SD-Routing simplifies this process, especially for those who are hesitant to adopt it. With SD-Routing, you can securely connect to cloud providers like AWS and Azure following best practices, without months of learning complex, cloud-specific configurations. This empowers you to seamlessly connect to cloud providers and focus on your business outcomes.

As you tackle the modern network challenges, explore SD-Routing to simplify, streamline, secure, and future-proof your WAN environment. The single management platform for Catalyst SD-WAN and SD-Routing saves time and operational expenses with agile and automated workflows that quickly respond to network changes.

Beyond these immediate benefits, SD-Routing also can help strategically position your network for simplified future migrations to SD-WAN, depending on where you are in your digital transformation journey.

Whether you have existing enterprise networking equipment in your WAN or are considering a future purchase of Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms, Cisco 1000 Series Integrated Service Routers, Cisco 1000 Series Aggregation Service Routers, or Industrial Routers, SD-Routing can unlock their full potential. Even better, if you’re already using Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, you can leverage the same platform to manage your SD-Routing deployments.

Source: cisco.com

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GenAI will Transform B2B Interactions and Solutions in the Year Ahead with New Depth of Context and Control

Human-like interaction with B2B solutions, bespoke multimodal LLMs for better accuracy and precision, curated workflow automation via LAMs and customized B2B applications will become the norm as GenAI expands in the business sphere.

With the rapid launch of new solutions powered by generative AI (GenAI), the business-to-business (B2B) landscape is being reshaped in front of our eyes. Many organizations have taken a cautious and meticulously planned approach to widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), however the Cisco AI Readiness Index reveals just how much pressure they are now feeling.

Adverse business impacts are anticipated by 61% of organizations if they have not implemented an AI strategy within the next year. In some cases, the window may even be narrower as competitors pull away, leaving very little time to properly execute plans. The clock is ticking, and the call for AI integration – especially GenAI – is now louder than ever.

In her predictions of tech trends for the new year, Chief Strategy Officer and GM of Applications, Liz Centoni said GenAI-powered Natural Language Interfaces (NLIs) will become the norm for new products and services. “NLIs powered by GenAI will be expected for new products and more than half will have this by default by the end of 2024.”

NLIs allow users to interact with applications and systems using normal language and spoken commands as with AI assistants, for instance, to instigate functionality and dig for deeper understanding. This capability will become available across most business-to-consumer (B2C) applications and services in 2024, especially for question-and-answer (Q&A) type of interactions between a human and a “machine”. However, associated B2B workflows and dependencies will require additional context and control for GenAI solutions to effectively elevate the overall business.

The point-and-click approach enabled by graphic user interfaces (GUIs) effectively binds users to a limited set of capabilities, and a restricted view of data that is based on the GUI requirements set by the business at the point of design. Multi-modal prompt interfaces (mainly text and audio) are fast changing that paradigm and expanding the UI/UX potential and scope. In the coming year, we’ll see B2B organizations increasingly leverage NLIs and context to “ask” specific questions about available data, freeing them from traditional constraints and offering a faster path to insight for complex queries and interactions.

A good example of this is the contact center and its system support chatbots as a B2C interface. Their user experience will continue to be transformed by GenAI-enabled NLIs and multi-modal assistants in 2024, but the natural next step is to enrich GenAI with additional context, enabling it to augment B2B dependencies (like services) and back-end systems interactions, like application programming interfaces (APIs) to further boost accuracy and reach, minimize response time, and enhance user satisfaction.

Meanwhile, as the relevance of in-context faster paths to insights increases and the associated GenAI-enabled data flows become mainstream, large action models (LAMs) will start to be considered as a potential future step to automate some of enterprise workflows, most likely starting in the realm of IT, security, and auditing and compliance.

Additional B2B considerations with GenAI

As Centoni said, GenAI will be increasingly leveraged in B2B interactions with users demanding more contextualized, personalized, and integrated solutions. “GenAI will offer APIs, interfaces, and services to access, analyze, and visualize data and insights, becoming pervasive across areas such as project management, software quality and testing, compliance assessments, and recruitment efforts. As a result, observability for AI will grow.”

As the use of GenAI grows exponentially, this will simultaneously amplify the need for comprehensive and deeper observability. AI revolutionizes the way we analyze and process data, and observability too is fast evolving with it to offer an even more intelligent and automated approach from monitoring and triage across real-time dependencies up to troubleshooting of complex systems and the deployment of automated actions and responses.

Observability over modern applications and systems, including those that are powered by or leverage AI capabilities, will be increasingly augmented by GenAI for root-cause analysis, predictive analysis and, for example, to drill down on multi-cloud resource allocation and costs, as well as the performance and security of digital experiences.

Driven by growing demand for integrated solutions they can adapt to their specific needs, B2B providers are turning to GenAI to power services that boost productivity and accomplish tasks more efficiently than their current systems and implementations. Among these is the ability to access and analyze vast volumes of data to derive insights that can be used to develop new products, optimize dependencies, as well as design and refine the digital experiences supported by applications.

Starting in 2024, GenAI will be an integral part of business context, therefore observability will naturally need to extend to it, making the full stack observability scope a bit wider. Besides costs, GenAI-enabled B2B interactions will be particularly sensitive to both latency and jitter. This fact alone will drive significant growth in demand over the coming year for end-to-end observability – including the internet, as well as critical networks, empowering these B2B interactions to keep AI-powered applications running at peak performance.

On the other hand, as businesses recognize potential pitfalls and seek increased control and flexibility over their AI models training, data retention, and expendability processes, the demand for either bespoke or both domain-specific GenAI large language models (LLMs) will also increase significantly in 2024. As a result, organizations will pick up the pace of adapting GenAI LLM models to their specific requirements and contexts by leveraging private data and introducing up-to-date information via retrieval augmented generation (RAG), fine-tuning parameters, and scaling models appropriately.

Moving fast towards contextual understanding and reasoning

GenAI has already evolved from reliance on a single data modality to include training on text, images, video, audio, and other inputs simultaneously. Just as humans learn by taking in multiple types of data to create more complete understanding, the growing ability of GenAI to consume multiple modalities is another significant step towards greater contextual understanding.

These multi-modal capabilities are still in the early stages, although they are already being considered for business interactions. Multi-modality is also key to the future of LAMs – sometimes called AI agents – as they bring complex reasoning and provide multi-hop thinking and the ability to generate actionable outputs.

True multi-modality not only improves overall accuracy, but it also exponentially expands the possible use cases, including for B2B applications. Consider a customer sentiment model tied to a forecast trending application that can capture and interpret audio, text, and video for complete insight that includes context such as tone of voice and body language, instead of simply transcribing the audio. Recent advances allow RAG to handle both text and images. In a multi-modal setup, images can be retrieved from a vector database and passed through a large multimodal model (LMM) for generation. The RAG method thus enhances the efficiency of tasks as it can be fine-tuned, and its knowledge can be updated easily without requiring entire model retraining.

With RAG in the picture, consider now a model that identifies and analyzes commonalities and patterns in job interviews data by consuming resumes, job requisitions across the industry (from peers and competitors), online activities (from social media up to posted lectures in video) but then being augmented by also consuming the candidate-recruiter emails interactions as well the actual interview video calls.   That example shows how both RAG and responsible AI will be in high demand during 2024.

In summary, in the year ahead we will begin to see a more robust emergence of specialized, domain-specific AI models. There will be a shift towards smaller, specialized LLMs that offer higher levels of accuracy, relevancy, precision, and efficiency for individual organizations and needs, along with niche domain understanding.

RAG and specialized LLMs and LMMs complement each other. RAG ensures accuracy and context, while smaller LLMs optimize efficiency and domain-specific performance. Still in the year ahead, LAM development and relevance will grow, focusing on the automation of user workflows while aiming to cover the “actions” aspect missing from LLMs.

The next frontier of GenAI will see evolutionary change and totally new aspects in B2B solutions.  Reshaping business processes, user experience, observability, security, and automated actions, this new AI-driven era is shaping itself up as we speak and 2024 will be an inflection point in that process.   Exciting times!

Source: cisco.com

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Increase Market Share Quickly with Cisco Specializations and GTM Tools

Your Managed Services opportunity with Cisco is exploding, with a total addressable market of $161 Billion by 2027. Within that, the SMB segment is growing 1.6 times faster than other segments. However, you may not realize how quickly and easily we can help you capture more of this market. Here’s how the Cisco Partner Program and incentives help:

• Differentiate yourself from your competition by earning more Cisco Powered Services Specializations and pave your way to Gold-level advantages.
• Use your market development funds for business development, demand generation, funding headcount, and internal training.
• Leverage ready-made marketing kits and templates and get access to experts to help you grow your business.
• Earn greater pricing incentives and discounts that help you reach your revenue goals faster. Cisco continuously updates and adds marketing resources, so you can maximize your earning potential as your sales grow.

Growth drivers

Customers want speed and flexibility when achieving their targeted business outcomes, and with managed services as part of your value proposition, you can deliver both. Organizations across all industries face a common set of business challenges: lean IT staffs in complex IT environments, IT skills gaps, and a lack of resources needed to manage, optimize, and automate their networks. On top of that, security issues can arise when policies do not encompass both on-prem and cloud environments. Often, traditional on-prem consumption models do not align with cloud solutions and marketplaces. As a managed service provider, you can close these gaps, address your customer’s business challenges, and help them achieve their goals.

Greater Together

By working together closely and partnering to create unrivaled value for customers around their needs, we can capture more managed services opportunities. Building on Cisco’s industry-leading platforms and technologies like Cisco Powered Services, you can create and deliver your own innovations that help customers accomplish their specific business outcomes. We can achieve more innovation faster than ever across platforms, networking, security, collaboration, and optimized applications. Together we have a unique advantage, the ability to serve customers of every size and industry segment solving their biggest technology challenges.

Create marketplace differentiation with Cisco

With Cisco Powered Services specializations, you can elevate your organization above your competition. These recognized technology credentials help you build greater demand for your services and win new customers. They showcase your ability to build, provision, manage, and support managed services using industry-leading Cisco technologies that deliver the business outcomes your customers need. Grow your organization’s skills efficiently by building repeatable and scalable managed services. In addition, Cisco Powered Services give you:

• Proven blueprints: Validate your competency in areas including Power Hybrid Work, Secure the Enterprise, Transform Infrastructure, and Reimagine Applications.
• Quicker path to advancement: Meet specialization training requirements with up to 40 percent cost reductions. Role-share using CCIEs and CCNPs helps you meet Provider-level requirements faster.
• Showcase capabilities: Once you achieve these specializations, you gain access to industry-recognized logos and exclusive go-to-market resources to build successful solutions and services for Managed SD-WAN, Meraki, SASE, FSO, and many more.
• Sales acceleration: Expand your Cisco Powered Services portfolio and earn greater rewards within the Provider role, including exclusive upfront discounts and market development funds.

New resources available

You don’t need a large marketing team to reach current and potential customers. Cisco provides a variety of marketing materials and creative assets to help you highlight your unique capabilities. These ready-made materials will help you build targeted campaigns quicker and reach your customers faster. Newly added assets within Marketing Velocity Learning include a video and a companion guide with step-by-step guidance to help you grow your managed services business more quickly.

Source: cisco.com

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Transforming the Economics of Superfast Broadband with Cisco Routed PON

Today marks the launch of Cisco Routed PON, a truly disruptive solution that enables agile, differentiated broadband services through a software-defined broadband network. It’s part of our ongoing mission to transform the economics of networking for the benefit of communication service providers and communities worldwide. Routed PON drastically improves the cost of broadband deployment in rural, suburban, and urban areas, to help bring reliable, superfast connectivity to both residential and business customers.

In July 2016, the United Nations declared the internet a basic human right. Recognizing the importance of high-speed internet access in improving people’s lives and growing the digital economy, governments worldwide are investing heavily in broadband builds. The $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) fund in the U.S. is just one example. Its goal is to ensure that every American can reap the benefits of high-speed internet access.

Communication service providers have welcomed initiatives like this because of the high cost of building new infrastructure and declining ARPU. Yet, bridging the digital divide and meeting both consumers’ and businesses’ growing bandwidth demands requires more than just public funding. It calls for a complete rethink of how broadband networks are built. That’s why we developed Cisco Routed PON—to help communication service providers and municipalities to deploy broadband networks in a better and simpler way.

Why can’t we just keep doing things the old way?

In today’s hyperconnected world—where hybrid work is the new normal, artificial intelligence (AI) innovation is accelerating, and new bandwidth-hungry applications continue to emerge—rolling out and managing profitable, high-performance broadband access networks is difficult and complex. And, it’s going to become even more difficult as bandwidth growth continues—from 10G, 25G and to 100G, and beyond.

The challenges are about connectivity and the services that broadband solutions enable. Our customers want to deliver services in an agile and cost-effective way, but they are increasingly constrained by traditional broadband architectures with large, dedicated optical line terminal (OLT) chassis that require dedicated space and power. Additionally, these chassis are separate from the access router, so they require separate layer management that can be costly. Traditional broadband architectures also offer less flexibility because they come as an integrated solution from a single vendor.

What sets Routed PON apart?

Unlike traditional chassis-based solutions, Cisco Routed PON enables communication service providers to put a small form factor PON pluggable in a router and converge FTTx access with their end-to-end network. It has three building blocks, all underpinned by a software-defined end-to-end architecture based on the IOS XR operating system.

1. Cisco Routed PON OLT Pluggable – A pluggable 10G OLT that replaces traditional stand-alone OLT chassis and connects the PON network to Layer 3 routing and services through a small form factor pluggable (SFP+) port on the router. The SFP is a cost optimized and power efficient way to deliver 10G symmetrical upstream and downstream data. Open and compliant with the OMCI standard, the OLT pluggable is compatible with any optical network terminal (ONT), helping customers avoid vendor lock-in.

2. Cisco Routed PON Controller – A stateless management controller that runs as a container on the router, configuring and monitoring end points in the PON network. It applies configurations to OLT and ONT devices and collects state information, statistics, alarms and logs from devices, and reports the information to higher layer applications.

3. Cisco Routed PON Manager – A WebUI application that acts as a graphical user interface for the PON network. The PON Manager facilitates device and service provisioning, and enables the management of users, databases, and alarms.

Flexibility, service differentiation, and investment protection

The capabilities of Cisco Routed PON lead to multiple positive business outcomes. The innovative architecture offers customers more flexibility because it’s interoperable with many ONTs. So, communication service providers can decide for themselves which ONT best meets their requirements and cost targets, upgrade to new features as needed, and not be tied to a single vendor’s roadmap.

Cisco Routed PON also makes their end-to-end architecture much simpler to manage, which in turn lowers OpEx. Instead of having separate systems and processes for PON, communication service providers can converge it with other access technologies on IP routers like active Ethernet – all unified by a common operating system, IOS XR, and automation.

At a time when reducing churn and growing revenue is critical, Cisco Routed PON helps customers stand out from competition and monetize their network investments in a smarter way. Thanks to its end-to-end architecture—with powerful IOS XR capabilities, such as segment routing and EVPN—it improves subscriber experience.

These capabilities also enable communication service providers to offer differentiated services for business and residential customers, such as ultra-low latency connectivity or additional security features. Crucially, Cisco Routed PON protects communication service providers’ investments as they build the Internet for the Future – ready for 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G, and beyond. When new higher-bandwidth Cisco pluggable OLTs become available, customers can simply plug them into their router on a port-by-port basis.

I’m proud of how Cisco keeps pushing the boundaries of routing and optical innovation to enable our customers to create more efficient and profitable network architectures. I see Cisco Routed PON as a further demonstration of how we are transforming and simplifying networking like we have done previously with Routed Optical Networking. I look forward to working with our customers as they leverage this new solution to accelerate the deployment of high-speed broadband in cities and rural communities around the world to bridge the digital divide.

Source: cisco.com

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