HITS

Cisco continues to focus this year on the intent-based, intuitive networking strategy using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning that it introduced in 2017, according to Sachin Gupta, SVP-product management for enterprise networking at Cisco.

“The ability for our customers to automate the network” and “to apply policy consistently and secure the network” are important elements that the intent-based technology provides, he said Feb. 26 at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.

Announcements that Cisco made in Barcelona, Spain, at Mobile World Congress also underscore the importance of the strategy, he said. Unlocking “the power of the data from this network to do things like provide assurance” — to do things like make sure “all wireless users are getting a good experience” or “make sure all my apps are performing correctly”— are important to Cisco customers, he said.

“If we can help reduce the cost of operating the network, that’s significant value for our customer,” and it also “creates significant stickiness with the overall architecture,” he said.

Cisco, meanwhile, announced at Mobile World Congress that it was “continuing on its path to disrupt the industry by redefining the network” by announcing its “5G Now” portfolio for service providers “ready to go full throttle on their 5G roadmap.”

“5G services promise to offer emerging new services at significantly faster speeds, expanded capacity and stronger coverage to accommodate the more than 27 billion connected devices expected on service provider networks by 2021,” it said in a news release. Starting in 2020, 5G connections will grow more than 1,000%, from 2.3 million in 2020 to more than 25 million in 2021, it projected.

Cisco is “committed to showing service providers and mobile operators why 5G is important to plan for, and what they can really do with it,” the company said, adding its role is focused on three things: 

• Services: Planning for new 5G-enabled services Cisco can help deliver.
• Infrastructure: Mapping the right 5G infrastructure to their needs.
• Automation: Helping to make the mass network scaling for 5G simpler to manage, operate and secure.

Cisco “uniquely offers its customers a cloud-to-client approach for 5G networking, resulting from its investments and commitment to developing cloud applications and services, to help customers unify multi-vendor solutions into a single, standards-based architecture,” it said.

“Key elements” in the Cisco 5G Now portfolio, it said, include: multi-cloud initiatives helping customers manage workloads across a full ecosystem of private, public, and hybrid clouds to connect enterprise, consumers, and service providers; client services; security; and professional services.

More than 20 global service provider and mobile operator customers globally are advancing their 5G action plans with Cisco, including Saudi Telecom Company, Cisco said.

“4G was about buying connectivity, and 5G is about buying experiences,” Yvette Kanouff, SVP and GM of Cisco’s Service Provider Business, said in the news release.  She added: “5G creates a new environment for service creation, giving operators what they need to deliver next-level entertainment experiences. Only Cisco has the services, infrastructure and automation portfolio to support our global customers with their 5G initiatives.”