350-701 plan - Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies (SCOR) Updated: 2024

Cisco is betting big on its so-called "Internet for the Future" strategy. Here's what you should know about its new products and what these announcements means for the market.

Going Big

Cisco Systems is putting its chips on the table -- literally.

The networking giant last week revealed its roadmap for the next decade of networking. In the process, Cisco revealed a major shift in its networking strategy with the introduction of a new networking silicon architecture called Cisco Silicon One and a new high-performance router platform, the Cisco 8000.

Cisco is betting big on its new strategy, which it is referring to as its plan for the "Internet for the Future." That's because future applications are going to reach beyond what current internet infrastructure can viably support. As such, Cisco has been working on a technology strategy that centers on silicon, optics and software, that will help support customers in an advance digital world, the San Jose, Calif.-based vendor said.

Here's some added color around Cisco's latest strategy and its new products and what these announcements means for the market, channel partners, and end customers.

Cisco Silicon One

In a surprising announcement last week, Cisco revealed that it is entering a brand-new market with the introduction of Cisco Silicon One, its own programable ASIC for high-performance networking.

Cisco said that the new chip will bring performance up to 25 terabits per second and will be available to third-party companies, such as cloud and service providers, looking to add high-performance networking to their infrastructures. The move is laying the foundation for Cisco's long term goal, which is to support future applications and services that will emerge onto the scene once 5G has been widely adopted, according to Cisco.

Cisco 8000 Series carrier class routers

Alongside Silicon One, Cisco also introduced a new high-performance router platform, the Cisco 8000, which is based on Cisco Silicon One and the company's new IOS XR7 networking operating system, and said it is qualifying its networking optics technology for use with Cisco and non-Cisco hosts. Cisco said the router has been in development for the past five years.

Cisco's largest customers have historically been cloud and telecom service providers, but the service provider business has been waning in exact years as these providers focus their efforts on virtualizing their networks. The new technology demonstrates that Cisco hasn't given up on its hyperscale customers, despite its service provider revenue falling 13 percent year over year during Q1 2020, the company's most exact fiscal quarter.

What it means for 5G

Cisco said that the new technology, especially its new Cisco 8000 router platform, will help service providers keep cost down when building out and operating large-scale networks. It will become even more useful as carriers design and build their massive 5G networks, according to Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins.

Many service providers are currently focused on building out consumer-based 5G services, but Cisco believes its service provider segment will Strengthen when the carriers turn to Cisco for help building out their 5G enterprise networks that will require higher throughput for more traffic, which will likely happen by the end of 2021, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said during the company's Q1 2020 earnings call.

“The technology that we brought forward today will enable 5G to realize the potential that has been talked about for the last six or seven years,” Robbins said.

Upending The White-Box Movement

Cisco Silicon One will be available for white-box vendors or hyperscale providers that are designing their own networks -- a first for Cisco. The new technology puts Cisco in competition with silicon players such as Broadcom and Intel, as well as others, such as Arista Networks.

Cisco Silicon One will help businesses build infrastructure that meet the performance requirements of new applications including virtual and augmented reality, high-speed streaming, artificial intelligence, 5G networking, adaptive and predictive cybersecurity, IoT, and others yet to be developed, Cisco said.

The technology is giving the market "clean sheet silicon," or silicon that does not reuse any technology from previous generations, said Jonathan Davidson, senior vice president and general manager of service provider business at Cisco.

"Cisco Silicon One was built to be an architecture with all the features you would expect," Davidson told CRN. "But we also wanted to be power-efficient and compact."

Cisco Silicon One will also be critical in helping the company take on smaller vendors who are nimble and innovative, and are focused on software-defined features that run on any hardware, including white-box gear.

Cisco's Future product roadmap

Cisco's new direction with the introduction of Cisco Silicon One and its so-called "Internet for the Future" strategy is the most ambitious development project the company has ever undertaken, said David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager of the networking and security business at Cisco.

“Pushing the boundaries of innovation to the next level — far beyond what we experience today — is critical for the future and we believe silicon, optics and software are the technology levers that will deliver this outcome,” he said. “Cisco’s technology strategy is not about the next-generation of a single product area. We have spent the past several years investing in whole categories of independent technologies that we believe will converge in the future — and ultimately will allow us to solve the hardest problems on the verge of eroding the advancement of digital innovation."

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 3, 2024 / Cisco Systems Inc.
By Stacy Betts

Embracing sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint has been a longstanding priority at Cisco. For almost two decades, Cisco has set transparent, publicly declared objectives as benchmarks, diligently tracking our progress and holding ourselves accountable. Additionally, we've developed comprehensive programs to empower customers to achieve their sustainability goals.

We understand that sustainability is a collaborative effort, and success requires leveraging our extensive partner network. Collaboration is essential, and it's through working with our partners that we foster innovation and gain support across the value chain. To this end, Cisco has developed several sustainability-focused programs that enable partners to offer customers end-to-end solutions designed with sustainability in mind, while also enhancing deal profitability.

Net zero by 2040

Cisco has embarked on an ambitious journey towards sustainability, aiming to achieve net-zero status by the year 2040. This goal has not been mere words but supported by continuous improvement and innovation across our entire business landscape. Our primary focus has been on delivering tangible, data-validated advancements that lead us closer to the realization of all our sustainability goals, ultimately culminating in our net-zero goal.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed. The approval of our net-zero goal by Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) stands as a testament to the robustness of our plan, the allocation of resources, and the soundness of our strategic approach. This validation confirms our determination to truly meet these targets, helping to forge a path towards a more sustainable future.

As for our partners, whether you are just starting this journey or already investing, there are four key Cisco programs to consider, through which we work together to meet our sustainability objectives.

Story continues

Earn Your Cisco Environmental Sustainability Specialization

Launched in 2022, the Environmental Sustainability Specialization (ESS) equips partners with Cisco-specific sustainability knowledge. It covers key sustainability terms, the technology behind our Sustainable Solutions, Cisco's commitment to a circular economy, and supporting programs. Only one person in the company needs to complete this training and exam. For others in the partner organization, we have additional efforts to educate partner sellers on these topics. If you're not the one going through formal training, we'll summarize the partner programs you should leverage in this blog.

Leverage the Cisco Takeback & Reuse Program Plus Incentive

Cisco's Takeback and Reuse program is integral to CEO Chuck Robbins' commitment to reclaim 100% of customer gear at no cost while providing partners with discount incentives. This program is an important step towards a circular economy, ensuring the responsible end-of-life management of returned equipment, with a remarkable 99.9% material recycling or reuse success rate.

Partners benefit from this initiative through a stackable discount of up to 7% on Refresh deals, applied to new equipment when replacing older gear. To learn more, visit our Takeback and Reuse Program page. Please note that this incentive is exclusively available to partners with ESS certification and program enrollment, so ensure your company is specialized to take advantage of it.

Strategically Position Cisco Refresh

With Takeback products, we seize the opportunity to remanufacture gear based on their life stage, making them available through the Cisco Refresh program. This refurbished gear supports the circular economy, meeting rigorous quality and performance standards, and is readily available with no lead times. It's cost-effective and environmentally friendly, and has a lower carbon impact than purchasing newly manufactured products. Explore available products on the Cisco Refresh list - the more we take back, the more we can offer!

Utilize Cisco Green Pay

Cisco Green Pay, through Cisco Capital, offers a flexible payment plan for solutions designed with sustainability in mind, covering hardware, software, and services with a set contract term. At term's end, Cisco reclaims the hardware to support the circular economy, helping support a more sustainable lifecycle. Cisco's ownership guarantees gear return, providing a consistent refresh cycle and benefits akin to the Takeback program. All of this is offered to the customer, requiring minimal effort from partners. Plus, customers receive a 5% discount when opting for Green Pay.

Let's Get Started Helping the Planet Together!

Ready to begin? First, become specialized under the ESS and enroll in the Takeback Program. Inform your Cisco team of your interest. We have partner sustainability certified to assist you in integrating sustainability into your sales approach and boosting your confidence in discussing your customers' sustainability goals. Prepare for these conversations by researching your customers' public sustainability goals on their websites.

Although we've made progress in reaching our sustainability goals, we recognize that much more work needs to be done to ensure that people and ecosystems can thrive together on a livable planet. There's no time like the present to get started.

For further information, visit our Environmental Sustainability Products and Solutions webpage or consult your Cisco team for specialist guidance.

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:
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SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com

Tyler Lacoma has worked as a writer and editor for several years after graduating from George Fox University with a degree in business management and writing/literature. He works on business and technology Topics for clients such as Obsessable, EBSCO, Drop.io, The TAC Group, Anaxos, Dynamic Page Solutions and others, specializing in ecology, marketing and modern trends.

Cisco today unveiled further details behind its technology strategy for building a new internet — one designed to push digital innovation beyond the performance, economic and power consumption limitations of current infrastructure. A multi-year approach that is defining the Internet for decades to come, Cisco’s strategy is already delivering technology breakthroughs to pave the way for the world’s developers to create applications and services they have only begun to imagine.

Cisco introduced its latest innovation including Cisco Silicon OneTM, the industry’s only networking silicon architecture of its kind; released the new Cisco 8000 Series, the world’s most powerful carrier class routers built on the new silicon; and announced new purchasing options that enable customers to consume the company’s technology through disaggregated business models.

“Innovation requires focused investment, the right team and a culture that values imagination," said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco. "We are dedicated to transforming the industry to build a new internet for the 5G era. Our latest solutions in silicon, optics and software represent the continued innovation we're driving that helps our customers stay ahead of the curve and create new, ground-breaking experiences for their customers and end users for decades to come.”

Building Blocks for the Internet for the Future

Over the next decade, digital experiences will be created with advanced technologies — virtual and augmented reality, 16K streaming, AI, 5G, 10G, quantum computing, adaptive and predictive cybersecurity, intelligent IOT, and others not yet invented. These future generations of applications will drive complexity beyond the capabilities current internet infrastructure can viably support.

For the past five years, Cisco has driven a technology strategy that is building the internet our customers will need for the future success of their business in an advanced digital world. Aimed at solving the toughest problems that will emerge as digital transformation taxes current infrastructure to its breaking point, this strategy will lead to the next-generation of internet infrastructure that combines Cisco’s new silicon architecture with its next-generation of optics. Cisco’s strategy will change the economics behind how the internet will be built to support the demands of future, digital applications and will enable customers to operate their businesses with simpler, more cost-effective networks.

Cisco’s strategy is based on development and investments in three key technology areas: silicon, optics and software.

“Pushing the boundaries of innovation to the next level — far beyond what we experience today — is critical for the future and we believe silicon, optics and software are the technology levers that will deliver this outcome,” said David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager of the Networking and Security Business at Cisco. “Cisco’s technology strategy is not about the next-generation of a single product area. We have spent the past several years investing in whole categories of independent technologies that we believe will converge in the future — and ultimately will allow us to solve the hardest problems on the verge of eroding the advancement of digital innovation. This strategy is delivering the most ambitious development project the company has ever achieved.”

Introducing Cisco Silicon One – Breakthrough Unified, Programmable Silicon Architecture

The new Cisco Silicon One will be the foundation of Cisco’s routing portfolio going forward, with expected near-term performance availability up to 25 Terabits per second (Tbps). This

is the industry’s first networking chip designed to be universally adaptable across service provider and web-scale markets. Designed for both fixed and modular platforms, it can manage the most

challenging requirements in a way that’s never been done before. The first Cisco Silicon One ‘Q100’ model surpasses the 10 Tbps routing milestone for network bandwidth without sacrificing programmability, buffering, power efficiency, scale or feature flexibility.

Traditionally, multiple types of silicon with different capabilities are used across a network and even within a single device. Developing new features and testing can be lengthy and expensive. Unified and programmable silicon will allow for network operators to greatly reduce costs of operations and reduce time-to-value for new services.

“We look forward to working with Cisco as it enters the high-end routing silicon space, collaborating to help meet the next generation of network demands for higher speeds and greater capacity,” said Amin Vahdat, fellow and vice president of Systems Infrastructure, Google Cloud.

“Facebook has been a strong advocate for network disaggregation and open ecosystems, launching key industry initiatives such as the Open Compute Project and the Telecom Infrastructure Project to transform the networking industry,” said Najam Ahmad, vice president, Network Engineering at Facebook. “Cisco’s new Silicon One architecture is aligned with this vision, and we believe this model offers network operators diverse and flexible options through a disaggregated approach.”

“Cisco is changing the economics of powering the Internet, innovating across hardware, software, optics and silicon to help its customers better manage the operational costs to function on a larger scale for the next phase of the Internet,” said Ray Mota, CEO and principal analyst at ACG Research. “As we move to 2020, the timing of delivering operational efficiency will be vital.”

Introducing: Cisco 8000 Series Platform Powered by Cisco Silicon One– Industry Leading Performance

The new Cisco 8000 series is the first platform built with Cisco Silicon One Q100. It is engineered to help service providers and web-scale companies reduce the costs of building and operating mass-scale networks for the 5G, AI and IOT era. Standout features include:

• Optimized for 400 Gbps and beyond, starting at 10.8 Tbps in just a single rack unit

• Powered by the new, cloud-enhanced Cisco IOS XR7 networking operating system software, designed to simplify operations and lower operational costs

• Offers enhanced cybersecurity with integrated trust technology for real-time insights into the trustworthiness of your critical infrastructure

• Service providers gain more bandwidth scale and programmability to deliver Tbps in even the most power and space constrained network locations

Global Customer Deployments and Trials

Cisco is working with a group of pioneering customers on deployments and trials of the Cisco 8000 Series. STC, the leading telecom services provider in the Middle East, Northern Africa region, marks the first customer deploying the new technology. Ongoing trials include Comcast and NTTCom among others.

Optics for 400G and Beyond

Building a new internet that can support future digital innovation will depend on continued breakthroughs in silicon and optics technologies. Cisco is unique in the industry with advanced intellectual property in both areas.

As port rates increase from 100G to 400G and beyond, optics become an increasingly larger portion of the cost to build and operate internet infrastructure. Cisco is investing organically to assure our customers that as router and switch port rates continue to increase, optics will be designed to meet the industry’s stringent reliability and quality standards.

Through the company’s qualification program, Cisco will test its optics to comply with industry standards and operate in Cisco – and non-Cisco hosts. With this program, customers can utilize Cisco optics in applications where non-Cisco hosts have been deployed and have confidence that the optics will meet the reliability and quality standards that they have come to expect from Cisco.

In addition, as silicon and silicon photonics advance, functions that were traditionally delivered in separate chassis-based solutions will soon be available in pluggable form factors. This transition has significant potential benefits for network operators in terms of operational simplicity. Cisco is investing in silicon photonics technologies to effect architectural transitions in datacenter networks and service provider networks that will drive down cost, reduce power and space, and simplify network operations.

Changing the Economics of the Internet with Flexible Business Models

Cisco also announced plans to offer flexible consumption models first established with Cisco’s Optics portfolio, followed by the disaggregation of the Cisco IOS-XR software, and now including Cisco Silicon One. This new model is highly adaptable and offers customers choice of components, white box, or integrated systems to build their networks. This approach matches the evolving nature of operators selecting discrete or aggregated technology elements for their buildout and creates new economics of the Internet to provide significant business value.

Earning specialized certifications is a surefire way to advance your career in the IT field, regardless of industry or current career level. The right certification validates your skills and knowledge, which makes you more desirable to future employers who want to attract and retain the best employees. Below, we’ll explore the top IT certifications and share how to examine your goals to choose the right path forward. 

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