Cisco Systems Inc. specializes in networking and communications products and services. The company is probably best known for its business routing and switching products, which direct data, voice, and video traffic across networks around the world. However, Cisco also offers storage networking, applications for unified communications, telepresence and collaboration (WebEx), and an array of services from simple product support to complete solutions for data centers and cloud management.

To ensure that IT professionals have the skills and knowledge necessary to support Cisco products and solve customers’ technology problems on many fronts, the Cisco Career Certification program is all-embracing. That is, it begins at the entry level, then advances to associate, professional, and expert levels, and (in some certification areas) caps things off at the architect level.

Each level offers one or more credentials. Obtaining a credential usually involves passing one or more certification exams. Most Cisco exams are delivered by Pearson VUE. For higher-level credentials, candidates must also prove they meet necessary prerequisites. The higher the level of certification, the more credentials and prerequisites one needs to meet those requirements.

The need for today’s organizations to share information, along with proliferation of high-speed broadband, has driven the global unified communications (UC) market for the past decade, if not longer. UC streamlines communications so that geologically-dispersed employees can interact digitally as if they’re in the same office, even if they’re located thousands of miles apart.

Centralized administration also makes UC popular with IT managers because it reduces the time and effort needed to support and secure corporate communications of all kinds. Because of a need for specialized skills to make large-scale UC implementations run their best, top UC vendors offer certifications to buttress and boost workforce capability and quality.

Simply Hired lists $91,623 as the average salary for a UC engineer’s role, with highest salaries reported at $139,737. Glassdoor lists UC salaries as high as $166,000 for senior and UC engineer positions. UC engineer salaries declined slightly from previous years with the average down from $94,354 to $91,623 (a dip of just under three percent). While this dip could just represent normal market fluctuations, it is a trend worth watching because we also observed a slight salary decrease last year.

We dug into various job boards to see how many UC jobs are available, specifically targeting jobs that called out one or more of our top five certifications: Avaya ACSS, CCIE Collaboration, CCNP Collaboration, IBM Sametime and MCSE: Productivity.

CRNtv

[Video: Cisco's Robbins Compelled To Fire Back At Nutanix]

Partners: Leaba Semiconductor Acquisition Gives Cisco Competitive Edge In R&D
Cisco is acquiring networking chip designer Leaba Semiconductor for $320 million, a move channel partners say will give Cisco a competitive advantage in research and development.

CRN Exclusive: Cisco's Wendy Bahr Talks Dell-EMC, Digitization And What To Expect At Partner Summit
Cisco Channel Chief Wendy Bahr gives CRN an exclusive look into what channel partners should expect heading into Cisco Partner Summit 2016 in San Diego next week.

Cisco Security Exec: Vendors Like Palo Alto, FireEye Are Selling 'Legacy Technology'
Cisco plans to transform the security marketplace with a holistic approach, saying competitors can no longer effectively compete with the networking leader.

10 Moneymaking Opportunities For Cisco Partners From Its New DNA
Cisco is offering channel partners an array of professional services with the launch of its new service-centric Digital Network Architecture. Here are 10 ways to make money springing from DNA.

Cisco Launches The Next Evolution Of Its Partner Strategy
Cisco channel chief Wendy Bahr unveiled at Cisco Partner Summit 2016 the next evolution of the company's channel partner strategy with the launch of new software roles, digital marketing services and a simplification of its VIP program.

Partners Applaud Cisco's Launch Of 'Incredible' New Line Of Nexus Switches, Software
Cisco revealed a new line of 'future-proof' Nexus switches armed with its ASIC technology at Cisco Partner Summit 2016.

Cisco Snapping Up CliQr For $260 Million To Better Manage Hybrid Clouds
Cisco is acquiring cloud management vendor CliQr to bring an orchestration layer to its data center portfolio.

Cisco Giving Partners More Firepower To Win Deals, Launches UCS Promotion Against HPE Servers
Cisco is upping its game when it comes to better enabling channel partners to win competitive deals in the sales trenches, such as against HPE in the server market.

15 Scenes From Cisco Partner Summit You Need To See
Reminiscing about a rappin' CEO, a story about a shoeshine from an airline owner, sipping morning cocktails and hanging out at a hippie blowout. CRN captured some of the memorable moments and off-the-wall happenings onstage and behind the scenes at this year's Cisco Partner Summit in San Diego.

CRN Exclusive: Cisco's New CTO Explains His Technology Road Map And Why Partners Should Focus On Containers
'There's a fantastic opportunity' for Cisco and its partners, said Zorawar Biri Singh of Cisco's vision to build a container-friendly stack, among other technology goals for the networking giant.

Rick Snyder: Cisco Is Opening Account Planning Data To Channel
Cisco's Americas channel chief talked about the new Cisco Ready For Partner Account Planning tool, which will soon be released to the channel, at the Cisco Partner Summit.

Cisco CEO Robbins Talks Nutanix, InterCloud, Open Compute Project And The Biggest Partner Summit Takeaways
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins took questions at the 2016 Cisco Partner Summit and sounded off on Nutanix, the channel takeaway from Partner Summit and the difference between himself and former CEO John Chambers.

Cisco Systems CEO Fires Back At Nutanix, Defends Track Record Entering New Tech Markets
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins has heard startup Nutanix's trash talk about his new hyper-converged infrastructure offering, but insists Cisco has had a good track record when making big bets on new technology.

Cisco Launches New Digital Architecture That Will 'Change The DNA Of The Channel'
Cisco is significantly changing its enterprise networking model from hardware to a software, service-centric approach with the launch of its new Digital Network Architecture (DNA) unveiled at Cisco Partner Summit 2016.

Cisco Teams With Startup Springpath, Sets Sights On Total Dominance Of The Hyper-Convergence Market
Cisco may be late to the red-hot hyper-convergence market, but now it's in the game with a new partnership with startup Springpath and an offering it says is the fastest out there.

Startup Nutanix To Cisco: Welcome To Hyper-Convergence Market, Good Luck Catching Up With Us

Hyper-convergence startup Nutanix has responded to Cisco's entry to its turf, pointing out that Cisco has a checkered past when it comes to entering new technology markets.

— -- Cisco Systems wants to turn the enterprise data network into an electricity meter.

Using open standards, the company wants to get server and storage vendors to collect and share information about their equipment and send it to Cisco routers and switches. The data could include power consumption, operating temperature and more. It's becoming a critical job, and because the network touches all IT resources across the enterprise, data collection should happen there, according to Paul Marcoux, vice president of green engineering.

Marcoux joined Cisco from American Power Conversion only about six weeks ago, after Cisco created the position to overlook energy issues across all parts of the company. Networking gear itself makes up a much smaller portion of IT power consumption than do servers or storage, but Cisco plans to go beyond just making its own products more efficient.

Power is a growing issue in data centers as the cost of energy rises and concerns about global climate change increase. Being able to collect and analyze information about power usage is a big part of the battle and becoming more crucial in the age of virtualization, according to Marcoux. Distributing storage and processing cycles without regard for power issues is not just inefficient, it's dangerous, he said.

If virtualization software looks at a process that requires more computing power or storage space, then enlists servers or storage devices that are near to overheating or running out of power, it could send a rack of servers over the edge and shut it down, Marcoux said. For that reason, the virtualization system needs to know the power status of all the resources it may call upon, he said.

By the same token, consolidated data centers typically serve many departments of an enterprise and consume a lot of power, but those groups generally don't have to pay for their part of the power. In fact, the electricity bill often bypasses even the IT department, going to building management instead, Marcoux said. Collecting data about the power consumed by each device, and eventually by individual transactions, would allow enterprises to bill each department for the power it uses, he said.

Software on routers and switches would collect the information and then take actions or forward it on to separate building management, energy management or virtualization control systems, Marcoux said. Given the large amount of energy data to be processed, Cisco may introduce daughtercards for its platforms to provide extra computing power, he said. He hopes the technology will be in place and collecting information in enterprises within three years.

Because data centers contain gear from so many vendors, open standards are the only way to make such a system work, according to Cisco. Fortunately, there already are several available standards, Marcoux said. Having standards already in place will help speed up adoption, Marcoux said.

"We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, we're just trying now to utilize the wheel," Marcoux said.

Cisco's proposal would represent a whole new role for networks beyond communications, said Burton Group analyst Dave Passmore. Server vendors might go along with the plan, but Cisco can't count on smooth sailing, he said. Centralized power regulation would play a role in overall management of the data center, an area where Cisco is attempting to make inroads with other initiatives as well.

"Who controls virtualization in the data center is going to be the new battleground," Passmore said.

As the demands and realities of hybrid work start to become more apparent, companies are beginning to face new issues. In particular, there’s growing recognition of the many challenges that organizations are going to face as they begin to integrate more combinations of in-house and remote workers. In short, things were much easier when virtually everyone was remote, but they’re about to get a lot harder.

A big part of the problem has to do with the existing installed base of videoconferencing equipment that companies have within their meeting and conference rooms. The vast majority of the equipment is dedicated and will only work with a single collaboration software package—in many cases, it’s for the quickly disappearing Skype platform.

Recognizing this challenge, Cisco and Google have come together in a major new partnership to offer interoperability for their respective conference room hardware and collaboration software tools. Specifically, as of Q4, you’ll be able to seamlessly join Cisco’s Webex meetings directly from Google Meet hardware (including some intriguing new options that were just introduced today). Conversely, you be able to join Google Meet meetings from Cisco’s line of Webex hardware.

On the one hand, it’s easy to argue that this type of collaboration for the sake of collaboration was absolutely essential, because using multiple videoconferencing tools has become the accepted norm. As the two companies pointed out in a pre-briefing on the announcement, even organizations that have picked one or the other as their corporate standard will almost certainly run into situations where customers and/or partners will be using a different platform. Having room-based hardware that only supports a single platform, therefore, is quickly becoming an untenable option.

Still, it is impressive to see Google and Cisco overcome not only the technical hurdles necessary to make their systems interoperate, but the competitive challenges that these types of co-opetition arrangements inevitably raise. Of course, what we really need is hardware that can also integrate with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but this is a very important first step towards cross-platform interoperability that I’m sure (or, at least, strongly hope!) will be replicated many times over in the coming months.

What’s particularly noteworthy about this announcement is that the companies moved well beyond simple sharing of audio and video streams. Cisco and Google worked to incorporate many critical hardware-based capabilities, including things like automatically muting of extraneous audio, blurring backgrounds, leveraging automatic camera zooming tools to the current speaker, and much more. Even more interestingly, on the software side, they thought through details like overlaying Webex-style controls during Google Meet meetings if you join from a Cisco device and vice versa if you join from a Google hardware device into a Webex meeting. They’ve also made the ability to join meetings with a single touch work seamlessly across either platform. While these details may seem somewhat subtle, they reflect how the companies want to leverage the comfort that their existing users have with their method of operation, while still offering the ability to connect to other platforms. In my mind, that’s a very nice touch.

On top of that, the companies were also able to integrate some of the native capabilities of one platform into another. For example, the voice-based assistants that each platform offers natively, such as Webex Voice Assistant and Hey Google, can be used while connecting to meetings on the other platform. To be sure, there’s more work to be done, especially in areas like leveraging add-on whiteboarding and other collaboration software tools that extend the capabilities of these platforms. Still, it’s clear that the two companies are dedicated to addressing issues over time.

Another interesting implication of this collaboration has to do with the overall philosophy and approach that will be needed to certain interoperability in the future. For a while, many in the industry have discussed the need to coordinate or federate communications across platforms at the server or cloud level. With this announcement, however, the focus is shifting towards an endpoint-based solution that can interoperate with existing server and cloud-based tools. How this ultimately works out remains to be seen, but it certainly does appear to be a significant step in a new direction.

As mentioned earlier, alongside this announcement, Google also debuted some new Google Meet hardware devices. The Google Series One Desk 27 is Google’s standalone hardware solution, incorporating a 27” high-resolution QVGA (2,560 x 1,440) touch-capable display, along with a 2,560 x 1,920 resolution webcam with a 100° field of view, built-in soundbar and adjustable stand. Priced at $1,999, the Desk 27 also features multiple USB-C ports, allowing it to also be utilized as a second monitor for a laptop or other PC. The company’s new integrated display room solution is the $6,999 Series One Board 65, which incorporates a 4K resolution 65” touch-capable display, a 4K, 12 MegaPixel camera, a stereo sound bar and similar USB-C connectivity. Both devices come with styli for easier whiteboarding support with the integrated JamBoard software, and include autoframing of the video, voice-based operation with Hey Google, and automatic noise removal, among other capabilities. All told, it’s an impressive set of offerings that puts Google on par with some of the best videoconferencing hardware from Cisco and Microsoft.

Leveraging multiple videoconferencing tools on PCs has become second nature for virtually everyone that has worked remotely, but as more employees start to return to the office, the need to make the room-based tools equally simple to interoperate across platforms is quickly going to become critical. As a result, it’s great to see Cisco and Google come together to take this important first step in improving hybrid work collaboration. While there are more companies that need to be involved and more work that needs to be done, this looks to be a great first effort.

Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a tech industry market research and consulting firm and, like all companies in that field, works with many technology vendors as clients, some of whom may be listed in this article.

July 20, 2023, 09:20 AM EDT

Ahead of the end of the tech giant’s fiscal 2023, Cisco has issued more layoff notices to employees as part of its effort to ‘rebalance’ its investment priorities, the company tells CRN. Reports from Cisco employees say the layoffs span several business units, including collaboration, security and data center.

Cisco Systems reportedly began cutting jobs across some of its biggest business segments this week, according to a flurry of posts on TheLayoff.com and Blind, a tech career-focused message board.

The number of employees being let go is unclear and the layoffs began Monday, Blind said in an email to CRN, citing reports from Verified former and current Cisco employees.

Cisco in November said that it would lay off approximately 4,000 employees, or about 5 percent of its workforce, and reduce some of its real estate in an effort to right-size some of its business units, including the collaboration segment. The tech giant told CRN that the latest layoff notifications are part of the November rebalancing effort.

“As we announced then, this is not about cost savings as we have roughly the same number of employees as we did before the process began. This rebalancing is about prioritizing investments in our transformation to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations in the changing technology landscape. We will continue to do everything we can to help place affected employees in open roles and offer extensive support including generous severance packages,” a Cisco spokesperson told CRN in an email.

[Related: Cohesity Expands Cloud Services Reach Through Cisco, HPE Partnerships ]

The reported job cuts are across a variety of business segments, including collaboration; security; data center services and solutions; servers, or the company’s Unified Computing System (UCS) division; and Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) group, Blind told CRN.

Cisco, for its part, did not confirm to CRN which business units were being impacted..

Cisco’s last round of layoffs occured in January when the company revealed that it was cutting 673 jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of its plan to maximize cost savings announced in 2022. The company at the time eliminated 371 jobs at its San Jose location, 222 jobs in Milpitas and 80 in San Francisco, with the majority of the layoffs impacting software engineers, technical engineers, hardware engineers, product managers and supervisors, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications filed with the state of California in January.

Cisco is expected to report its full fiscal year 2023 earnings on Aug. 16.

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 26, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.

As a global tech leader with more than 83,000 employees across 95 countries, it is critical for Cisco to operate in a way that protects human rights; facilitates diversity, inclusion, and equitable opportunity; empowers vulnerable communities; and protects the planet.

Our holistic approach to environmental sustainability includes how we operate our business, how we engage with suppliers, and how we help customers and communities reduce their environmental impacts and adapt to a changing world.

Today, the world is more connected than ever before, but we're suffering from new forms of disconnection: from each other, from our health, and from the health of the planet.

As a company, we're committed to leveraging our unique strengths to power an inclusive future for all. But we can't have any kind of future if we don't have a healthy planet. That's why we're focusing on not just a sustainable future, but a regenerative one. Regeneration means moving beyond a "doing no harm" mindset to one in which we build the capacity of our social and environmental systems to heal and thrive.

Earth just had its hottest June on record. If we don't limit global temperature rise to less than 1.5° Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, we will face dramatic consequences, as natural disasters such as floods, more severe and frequent weather events, longer and more severe droughts, and food shortages can be exacerbated by a changing climate.

How do we limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C? In short, the world must reach zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. If that sounds hard, it's because it will be. But the science says we can get there if we act now and act with urgency.

We must build a sustainable future: one in which we can phase out our reliance on fossil fuels, address a century's worth of pollution, provide economic opportunity to communities around the world, and align our activities with the physical boundaries of our Earth.

Story continues

We believe that future is possible, and Cisco can help get us there. We have a plan:

• It is possible to power the world with affordable clean energy, so we are helping to digitize smart grids and smart buildings.

• It is possible to design out waste, so we are re-building products from used ones.

• It is possible to strengthen nature with technology, so we are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to protect the world's biodiversity.

This is The Plan for Possible, Cisco's next generation environmental sustainability strategy.

The progress we make in this decade will be critical for future generations. We're aligning our environmental strategy to rise to this challenge.

Priority 1: Transition to clean energy

To power the world with renewables, the grid requires updated digital infrastructure to connect diverse, decentralized sources of clean energy. But even as the world electrifies, we must simultaneously reduce the amount of energy used by a connected economy. As a part of this priority, we've also set a goal to reach Net Zero across our value chain by 2040, which includes both our supplier and our customer use of energy.

How we'll do it:

• Lead in energy efficiency innovation

• Connect clean energy and digitize the grid

• Collaborate with our customers, partners, and suppliers to accelerate the energy transition

Examples of where we've already made an impact:

Priority 2: Evolve the business to circular

Now is the time to transition from an economy that extracts resources and eventually wastes them, to a circular one which finds new uses for products and their inputs. We aim to transform our business to extend the useful life of our products and provide ongoing services.

How we'll do it:

• Adopt and scale business models to extend the value of our products and reduce environmental impacts

• Invest in technology incubation to be at pace with environmental science

• Champion a digital, nature-positive value chain leveraging our role as one of the largest telecom device companies in the world

Examples of where we've already made an impact:

• Incorporating circular design principles into 100 percent of new products and packaging by 2025

• Offering the Cisco Takeback and Reuse Program, which lets customers return hardware that has reached end-of-use, at no cost.

• Creating the Green Pay circular IT payment solution, increasing value for our customers and our resale business

• Remanufacturing devices through Cisco Refresh to give them a new life for our business and planet

Priority 3: Invest in resilient ecosystems

Thriving economies depend on stable environments and inclusive societies. Our value chains benefit from resilient ecosystems, both financial and ecological. It is in our shared interest to help humans and nature navigate a changing climate by investing in regenerative technologies, workforces, and nature itself.

How we'll do it:

• Enable communities to adapt to climate realities

• Cultivate skills and talent for the regenerative economy

• Deploy Cisco technology to protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity

• Harness artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, and blockchain to advance regenerative models, powered by energy-efficient infrastructure

Examples of where we've already made an impact:

• Powering Vibrant Planet's Data Commons platform to better manage local land use and plan for risks like wildfires**

• Enhancing London's Canary Wharf with a connected landscape to optimize the space for engaging with nature

• Providing analysis capabilities for Vesta to optimize placement of its low-energy carbon sequestration**

• Supporting Kara Solar in training Indigenous peoples in the Amazon to build and operate solar-powered boats**

Powering possible with enhanced governance

We are embedding sustainability into the way we operate. We intend to stay aligned with the pace of science while ensuring support from the entire organization. The holistic pursuit of equity and sustainability is the only path forward that allows us to maintain the public's trust in our values.

By pursuing what's possible, we can accelerate the transition into the digital age while maintaining the health of the planet - and a climate future we all need and desire for future generations to come.

Visit our ESG Reporting Hub for more details on our environmental initiatives.

* We have a goal that 80% of Cisco component, manufacturing, and logistics suppliers by spend have a public, absolute GHG emissions reduction target by FY25. We are at 78% as of FY22.

**Cisco Foundation initiative

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